The Calera City Council suggested a few changes to the city’s proposed zoning ordinance during a Jan. 12 special work session.

During the meeting, the council agreed to reword some of the suggested lot sizes and acreage requirements proposed in the ordinance.

The proposed zoning ordinance, which will likely come to a council vote in early February, required a 50-foot lot for rear-loading townhomes built in the city. Townhomes with driveways and garages in the front would require a 60-foot lot per unit.

However, council members agreed to amend the proposed ordinance to make the lot requirements the same for both front- and rear-loading townhomes.

“I think we should definitely make rear-loading units an option, but I think we should keep it at 60 feet for both types of townhomes,” said Councilman Mike Roberson.

The council also agreed the proposed ordinance should lower the planned urban development land requirement from 200 acres to 150 acres.

Though the ordinance would allow developers to build planned urban developments on smaller tracts of land, the council would require developers to present detailed project plans to the city before the council approved the development.

“It’s not about how much acreage you require, it’s about what the developer does with what they’ve got,” said Jason Fondren, an employee with the KPS Group, a planning and urban design group hired by Calera to help draft the new ordinance.