Late Salemtown Questions on Germantown Overlay

The time has pretty much passed for any public feedback to Metro Council on the Germantown Overlay as proposed by Historic Germantown, Inc. and CM Erica Gilmore because the public hearing was held last week. However, the night before the public hearing at the Salemtown Neighbors Neighborhood Association meeting questions were raised about possible building height allowances of six stories in the overlay along Hume Street (which separates G-town and S-town).

Metro Planning official David Kleinfelter was at the SNNA meeting, and he later wrote Salemtown leaders the following answer to the building height question:

The issue came up at the community meeting about whether the changes to the Germantown DNDP were going to allow 6-story buildings along Hume Street. As best I can tell, that is NOT happening. Here is a link to the amendment to the DNDP, which was adopted by the Commission at its last meeting: Germantown_DNDP_Amendment_03_23_08.pdf

The end of Amendment 5, which is at the top of page 4, seems to indicate that within the "Neighborhood Urban" policy areas that aren't otherwise identified, new buildings are to be from 1-3 stories tall.

I'm sure that a number of Salemtown residents are relieved by this news. It would not have helped relations between the two associations if the height restrictions between the two neighborhoods had been relaxed, especially since Historic Germantown, Inc. leaders had assured SNNA leaders some time ago that there were no such plans in the overlay proposal.