AUBURN — The City Council on Tuesday approved changing the effective date of zoning changes in the Lake Auburn watershed overlay district to give landowners more time to learn about and meet the new standards.

On Dec. 4, the council approved the effective date of the changes as of that day. When the newly elected council met Dec. 18, it decided to allow more time for landowners to absorb the new standards and the council and other committees to further study environmental impacts.

On Tuesday, the councilors unanimously approved July 1 as the effective date for rezoning 60 acres on Gracelawn Road from agriculture and resource protection to general business.

The council tabled setting an effective date for changes to a swath of standards relating primarily to updated private sewage disposal systems, but also to agriculture, buffers and setbacks and subsurface wastewater.

Instead, the council amended an order for the city manager and staff to work with the Agriculture Working Group and other committees and groups to review the December amendments and find any necessary changes, “no later than the second regular city council meeting in April 2024.”

The amendment, along with the amended language presented by Ward 4 Councilor Benjamin Weisner, passed unanimously.

The change addresses concerns from city staff that a date as late as July 1 would be detrimental for current developments already designing and implementing the new standards for disposal systems. An effective date may stall projects for developers who want a clear understanding of what standards they will be held to. It also addresses public concerns that some agricultural practices relatively environmentally friendly to the watershed would be prohibited.

Any changes the collaboration finds would be subject to the usual process of an advertised public meeting with the Agriculture Working Group, a working meeting with the group, a Planning Board workshop, a council workshop and a Planning Board public hearing and recommendation from the Planning Board.

In other news, the council also passed an order authorizing staff to waive permit fees for storm damage repairs and to allocate an additional $1 million from the undesignated fund balance to go toward workers’ compensation costs.

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