The ongoing process to revise guidelines related to architectural design in the community will next be discussed by the Pella City Council at policy and planning this week. In November 2021, the council approved an agreement with SHYFT Collective to work with the Community Development Committee to revise and update standards.

The Architectural Design Guidelines manual has been subject to open houses and other meetings in the past year, and was approved by the Community Development Committee in December for presentation to the Pella City Council. Following one of those hearings, Pella Planning and Zoning Director Gerald Buydos said the aim of the project was to update design standards throughout the community, while at the same time, maintain several regulations in place to help keep the feel of the town in tact.

The proposed guidelines utilize the following districts to determine the level of architectural standards for the design permit:
District I – Historic Dutch
District II – Transitional
District III – Contemporary

No formal action will be taken, but the Pella City Council will get the chance to publicly comment on the changes made and determine a direction about potential adopting of the updated Architectural Design Guidelines manual moving forward. The meeting begins Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Pella Public Safety Complex, and can be viewed online.