Fewer New Regulations Expected in 2013 | Video

Evan Kruegel | 1/14/2013

City leaders said goodbye to the temporary in 2012 by banning temporary restaurants, temporary housing structures and temporary mobile housing. "2012 was kind of a catch-up year in some senses, to get regulations in place that we needed to control the growth, now we`re looking more toward the future,” said Mayor Ward Koeser.

And 2013 will be all about the permanent goals of the future. "I think what you`ll see happen in 2013 is more regulations and rules in place to make sure the future growth is consistent with what our goals, ideals, and objectives are."

Any major regulations will be development related, starting with the downtown business district. Officials want the downtown area to be a bigger destination, and that means a healthy mix of retail, restaurant and housing.

"We have a request for a proposal out to do a plan on the whole area, to make sure we know how much should be reserved for retail, how much should we have as office, what can we do as parking, so once that plan comes out there may be some rules and regulations put in place to make sure our development is appropriate."

The downtown area will be undergoing a complete renovation early next year, so officials want any zoning regulations to be figured out beforehand. "As we develop the downtown and do the ‘streetscape’ project in 2014, I think that will really encourage people to come down there and invest down there."

Compared to last year, the regulations will be very minimal, as city leaders continue to look for ways to make Williston a more permanent community.

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