The board has 11 key recommendations to make the current law better, according to Zoning Board Chairman Henry Hofschneider.
These include requiring adult businesses in overlay zones to be separated from each other by 500 feet; increasing the number of lots in a minor subdivision to simplify applications and speed up processing; providing exemptions on signs and lighting and clarifying standards for ground signs, banners and window signs; establishing a cut off date after which all nonconforming banners and portable signs will have to be removed; adding procedures for lot line adjustments to streamline processing; adding standards for fences and retaining walls; relaxing road standards and providing more flexibility to address individual circumstances; reducing minimum area, width and yard standards for certain residential developments; providing an easier way of approving microbreweries and home day care centers; and formalizing the authority of the Zoning Board to approve zones and some editorial and technical corrections.
In a transmittal letter to the Saipan lawmakers, the Zoning Board said these proposals are based on the recommendations of local businesses other agencies and the board’s staff.
The board noted that since the zoning law took effect last year, “new buildings turned more attractive and pedestrian friendly; parking lots and road accesses are safer and more attractive; signs are more durable and interesting; auto shops, poker arcades, manufacturing, charcoal burning and other commercial developments are being kept out of villages, neighborhoods, commercial; industrial development are being separated; and subdivisions are being designed with streets wide enough for cars to pass and turnaround.”
