During its May 27 meeting, Montgomery City Council voted 4-1 to approve variance requests for the lot sizes, lot width, front yard setbacks and side yard setbacks for the Villages at Montgomery, a residential and commercial development set to be located in downtown. Council member Tom Czulewicz voted against, citing concerns with traffic and housing density.

In a nutshell

According to the May 27 agenda packet, the approved variances are as follows:
  • 10-foot front yard setbacks from the typical 25-foot setbacks
  • 5-foot side yard setbacks from the typical 10-foot setbacks
  • 4,950-square-foot minimum lot sizes from the typical 9,000-square-foot lot sizes
  • 45-foot lot widths and 110-foot lot depths from the typical 75-foot widths and 120-foot lot depths
Parkside Capital is developing the project, which will include 7.3 acres of commercial development and 42.7 acres of single-family residential development, according to the agenda packet. The development will include:
  • Residential homes with enhanced streetscapes with landscaping, trees and other elements
  • A boulevard road with landscaped medians, which will prevent on-street parking for alley-loaded homes
The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission also recommended approval of the variance requests, with the condition that parking is not permitted in the proposed alleys.

Also of note

City Engineer Chris Roznovsky said that approval of the variance requests does not mean the approval of the development’s plans or of a development agreement.


“Their development is not typical single-family development in the city, so in order for them to really be able to move forward, they need to get these variances in place, so then they can do their platting, they can go through the planning process,” Roznovsky said.

What they’re saying
  • “Where are we going to stop this rapid growth? This growth is driving us crazy,” Czulewicz said.
  • “This is a different product and we have already said we want this product here,” Mayor Sara Countryman said. “This is part of the process moving forward.”
  • “It is a lot more density. We’ve talked about the density. With the area that it’s in, I think it can handle it. We’ve talked with the developers, we’ve all agreed that we like the product,” council member Casey Olsen said.


Note: This map is an estimation and may not reflect exact boundaries.