HUNTINGTON -- Huntington City Council passed several policy changes at its meeting on Monday, in an effort to give residents and property owners better notification of proposed zoning changes in their neighborhoods.

For years, the city has notified property owners within 200 feet of the property that is subject to a special permit or zoning change. The two ordinances passed Monday night extend that distance to 400 feet and require that the city notify renters in addition to property owners.

Councilman Mark Bates, chairman of the Council's Planning Commission, said the changes stem from an incident in early December when a developer wanted to build apartments and low-income housing in Huntington's South Side. The majority of the people who would have been affected by the development, Bates said, were not notified.

South Side residents expressed their concerns about the lack of notification, Bates said.

"Hearing those concerns, we began working to move the radius out to 400 feet as well as notifying the property owners and the renters," Bates said. "We strongly advise any partitioner to let the residents in that area know what their plans are and get them on board."

The project in the South Side, Bates said, was halted when the property owner withdrew the offer to sell the property to the developer.

Increasing the radius and including renters in the notification process means more funds would be needed. Under the ordinances, the added notification costs would be passed on to the applicant wanting a special permit or zoning change, Bates said.

Council also passed an ordinance that increases the costs of special permit applications, occupancy certificates and rezoning applications to defray notification costs. Averaged out, Bates said the additional 200 feet would cost about $50 more to notify the people in the area.

Councilwoman Frances Jackson voted against all three ordinances, which were the only negative votes for any of the ordinances. Jackson said she was opposed to the ordinances because they added additional expenses to developers wanting to start projects in Huntington.

While she supported the radius increase, Jackson said, notifying every renter was unnecessary.

"The majority of (renters) do not have a vested interest in that particular neighborhood," Jackson said. "They might live here a year or two."

Jackson added, "I just didn't see that they necessarily should be notified because, first of all, it's going to get around the neighborhood anyhow."

Council also approved the purchase of six new Chevrolet Impalas for the Huntington Police Department's Detective Bureau.

The $103,180 contract went to Hurricane Chevrolet. Funding for the vehicles comes from the city's illegal drug proceeds forfeiture account.

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