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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 03/23/2004 - SPRING 2004 LAND USE CODE CHANGESDATE: March 23, 2004 STAFF: Ted Shepard STUDY SESSION ITEM FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION Spring 2004 Land Use Code Changes. GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED The purpose of this study session is to introduce to Council the proposed revisions and clarifications to the Land Use Code for Spring of 2004. In addition, two carryover items from fall of 2003 are summarized. The Land Use Code team encourages any questions or comments regarding any of these proposed changes. Our experience is that discussion with Council is most efficient prior to First Reading of the Ordinance so that any questions may be answered or any suggestions may be incorporated without delay to the adoption schedule. In the past, it has been our custom to highlight those proposed changes that may be considered more substantive than others. (Please note that Item 545 is scheduled for a separate upcoming study session.) Briefly, for this round of changes, four such changes are: 1. Issue Number 596: Add Small Reception Center in the Urban Estate Zone. Adds a permitted land use and includes ten performance standards designed to ensure compatibility. 2. Issue Number 613: Add definitions of “Adjacent” and “Abutting.” Clarifies that “adjacent” means “nearby but not necessarily touching” and distinguishes that it does not mean the same as “abutting” or “adjoining.” Clarifies all 136 references in the Code so that the terms “adjacent” and “abutting” mean what we want them to mean as per the new definitions. 3. Issue Number 637: Amend “Contextual Height” to “Transitional Height.” Works in conjunction with Item 613 and includes changing “adjacent” to ”abutting” to remove the ambiguity associated with interpreting this standard. 4. Issue Number 626: Amend Annexation of Illegal Uses. Allows enclave annexations to proceed even though the certain properties within the annexation may include illegal land uses. SMALL SCALE RECEPTION CENTERS IN THE URBAN ESTATE ZONE This is a continuation of the Fall 2003 biannual revisions, clarifications and additions to the Land Use Code for consideration of adding small scale reception centers, with performance standards, to the Urban Estate Zone District BACKGROUND: On December 2, 2003, during consideration of the Fall 2003 Land Use Code Revisions, Council voted to remand this one particular issue back to the Planning and Zoning Board for further consideration. Since that time, Staff has worked closely with two private parties on expanding and refining the performance standards that would be necessary in order to ensure neighborhood compatibility within the Urban Estate zone district. SUMMARY: The proposed code changes are summarized as follows: • Add Small Scale Reception Centers as a Type Two permitted use within the Urban Estate zone district (Article Four). • Add Performance Standards for Small Scale Reception Centers as a supplemental regulation (Article Three). • Add a minimum parking requirement for Small Scale Reception Centers (Article Three). • Amend the existing definition of Small Scale Reception Centers to add the word “graduations” for further descriptive clarity (Article Five). DESCRIPTION OF THE CODE CHANGES: 1. Amended Definition: The definition was adopted by City Council in December of 2003. Since that time, Staff has learned that a Small Scale Reception Center could potentially host graduation parties. In order to make the definition more precise, Staff decided to take this opportunity to amend the existing definition to add “graduations” as one of the described uses along with “weddings and anniversaries,” and to replace “gatherings with “other special occasions.” The definition of "small scale reception center" contained in Section 5.2.1 of the Land Use Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Small scale reception center shall mean a place of assembly that may include a building or structure containing a hall, auditorium or ballroom used for celebrations or gatherings other special occasions such as weddings, graduations or anniversaries). The building or structure may also include meeting rooms and facilities for serving food. Outdoor spaces such as lawns, plazas, gazebos, and/or terraces used for social gatherings or ceremonies are a common component of the center. A small scale reception center shall not include sporting events or concerts. 2. New Performance Standards: Staff has worked closely with representatives of the wedding planning businesses. In addition, Staff has investigated a similar use in Loveland (McCreery House). Finally, Staff has researched the zoning codes of several front range municipalities. The result is the Performance Standards for Small Scale Reception Centers. The primary issue has been how best to reconcile the need for the reception centers to be located in pastoral, rural-type settings with the protection of neighboring properties in the Urban Estate zone. The fundamental aspect of the Performance Standards is that they will effectively prohibit such centers within existing semi-rural subdivisions that were approved in the County and annexed into the City, or eligible to be annexed based on the City’s Structure Plan Map. Staff is confident that these standards are thorough and rigorous. They are designed to work in conjunction with the general compatibility standards of Section 3.5.1 as well as the nuisance section of the City Code. Section 3.5.1 allows the Board to consider such compatibility attributes as architectural character, building size, height, bulk, mass and scale, privacy, building materials, building color, building height, and operational issues. In particular, nothing in these standards diminishes the ability of the City to take enforcement action on any standard in the nuisance section. These standards will be added to the Supplementary Regulations in Section 3.8.26 of the Land Use Code as follows: 3.8.26 Performance Standards for Small Scale Reception Center in the UE, Urban Estate Zone District (A) Lot Size. Minimum lot size shall be seven (7) acres. (B) Building Size. The total floor area of any new building shall not exceed seven thousand five hundred (7,500) square feet and the total aggregate floor area of new and existing buildings shall not exceed fifteen thousand (15,000) square feet. (C) Building Location and Separation from Residential Areas. All buildings shall be located a minimum of three hundred (300) feet from the nearest dwelling on any adjoining property, except that in cases where there are no dwellings on such adjoining property, all buildings shall be located a minimum of two hundred fifty (250) feet from the nearest property line of such adjoining property. (D) Outdoor Spaces Location and Separation from Residential Areas. All outdoor spaces such as lawns, plazas, gazebos, and/or terraces used for social gatherings or ceremonies associated with the reception center shall be located within one hundred (100) feet of the primary building and shall be located a minimum of three hundred (300) feet from the nearest dwelling on any adjoining property, except that in cases where there are no dwellings on such adjoining property, all outdoor spaces, as described above, shall be located a minimum of two hundred fifty (250) feet from the nearest property line of such adjoining property. (E) Non-Residential Abutment. At least one-sixth of the reception center=s property boundary must be contiguous to property which is zoned in one or more of the following non-residential zone districts within the City: D, Downtown; RDR, River Downtown Redevelopment; CC, Community Commercial; CCN, Community Commercial-North College; CCR, Community Commercial-Poudre River District; C, Commercial; CN, Commercial-North College; NC, Neighborhood Commercial; CL, Limited Commercial; HC, Harmony Commercial; E, Employment; I, Industrial (F) Access. Vehicular access to the reception center shall be only directly from an arterial street. (G) Buffering. If the reception center is located adjacent to a single family dwelling or property zoned for such activity, buffering shall be established between the two land uses sufficient to screen the building, parking, outdoors lighting and associated outdoor activity from view. A combination of setbacks, landscaping, building placement, fences or walls and elevation changes and/or berming shall be utilized to achieve appropriate buffering. (H) Hours of Operation. Hours of operation shall be limited to 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. (I) Noise. Sound amplifying equipment used in the operation of a reception center shall generally be prohibited out of doors, except as follows: (1) During weddings ceremonies. (2) Speakers with a maximum power rating of 50 watts permanently installed as part of the design of outdoor spaces such as lawns, plazas, gazebos and/or terraces used for social gatherings or ceremonies. Nothing in this section shall (a.) prohibit the use of speakers or sound amplifying equipment within a completely enclosed structure or (b.) permit any noise in violation of Chapter 20, Article II of the City Code. Music that is not amplified (such as stringed quartets or acoustic guitars) will be allowed out of doors but shall end no later than 8:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 9:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. (J) On-site Caretaker. There shall be a manager or owner on site during all hours of operation. (K) Parking Lot Lighting. Parking lot lighting, if used at all, shall conform to the requirements contained in Section 3.2.4, and shall be further restricted such that (a) the lighting shall be of high pressure sodium only and does not exceed seventy (70) watts and one hundred twenty (120) volts; and (b) the fixture does not exceed a height of fourteen (14) feet above ground level. 3. New Parking Minimum Requirement: Small Scale Reception Centers, in the Urban Estate zone only, will be required to provide a minimum of one parking space per four persons maximum rated occupancy as determined by the Building Code. This is consistent with schools, places of worship or assembly and child care centers. This standard will be placed within the parking section of Article Three as opposed to in the newly created Performance Standards. The new standard would be as follows: (i) Small Scale Reception Centers in the UE, Urban Estate District. For each reception center there shall be one (1) parking space per four (4) persons maximum rated occupancy as determined by the building code. 4. Urban Estate Zone District: Based on the proposed revised definition and recommended Performance Standards, Staff is recommending that the land use, Small Scale Reception Centers, be added to permitted use list in the Urban Estate zone. The use would be subject to Planning and Zoning Board review (Type Two). As a Type Two use, neighborhood information meetings are required. The Code would amend Section 4.1(B)(3)(c) of the Land Use Code as follows: 6. Small scale reception centers. 5. February 19, 2004 Planning and Zoning Board Action: At the February 19, 2004 P & Z hearing, the Board voted 6 – 1 to approve the recommended changes. 6. Schedule: Since this item was a carryover from Fall 2003, and because the two private parties have indicated that the issue is time-sensitive due to pending real estate transactions, Staff is recommending that the item be brought to City Council for First Reading on April 6, 2004. Item #613 B ADD DEFINITIONS OF AADJACENT@ AND AABUTTING@ Add a definition of AAdjacent@ to clarify that it means Anearby but not necessarily touching@ and to distinguish that it does not mean the same as Aabutting@ or Aadjoining.@ BACKGROUND: This proposed change was also part of the Fall 2003 cycle and was presented to the City Council at its study session of October 28, 2003. At that study session, it was decided more work needed to be done. The Planning and Zoning Board agreed and in November of 2003, voted to continue the item to Spring of 2004. At the First Reading on December 2, 2003, Staff recommended continuing the item for further clarification of "adjacent" until Spring 2004 because of the time it will take to review each LUC provision in which the term is used. At that time Staff cautioned that, in the end, we will need some flexibility in defining what we mean by "nearby" and we should at least be able to explain the kinds of variables we will take into consideration in making that determination on a case by case basis. DISCUSSION: A search of the Code was done to identify the various contexts in which the word is used. It is used 136 times. The contexts range from references to adjacent land uses to adjacent streets to adjacent districts, developments, lots, properties, property owners, walls, rights-of-way, sites, buffer zones, natural habitats and features, historic buildings, neighborhoods, developed areas, public parks, etc. Usually, the context suggests that we do not mean abutting, adjoining or touching. We are instead referring to other properties or features within the immediate vicinity of the proposed development that may be particularly affected by the development. (In some places, we even say "adjacent or abutting" to clarify that adjacent doesn't mean abutting in that context.) In some places, though, we talk about "the adjacent street," or "the adjacent wall," in which case we probably do mean the abutting streets and walls, rather than all the streets and walls in the immediate vicinity of the development. To remedy this, we clarified two things: 1. We have defined exactly what we mean whenever we use the term "adjacent.@ It shall mean Anearby but not necessarily touching,@ and 2. When we do not mean "touching," just how close something must be in order to be considered "nearby." With regard to this latter question, staff recommends that some flexibility is needed in determining how close is close enough to be "nearby," because what is within the "impact zone" of a particular proposed use may vary widely. The degree of variance depends primarily upon the nature of the proposed use and the kinds of areas or features that we think may be affected by that use. Staff has completed the following tasks: 1. Reviewed each one of the 136 references to "adjacent." 2. Where we mean "abutting," we have changed to "abutting." 3. We have defined "adjacent" to mean "nearby, but not necessarily touching," and that the determination of what is "nearby" shall be made on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the context in which the term is used and the variables (such as but not limited to size, mass, scale, bulk, visibility, nature of use, intensity of use, etc.) that may be relevant to deciding what is "nearby" in that particular context. Further, adjacency shall not be affected by the existence of a platted street or alley, a public or private right-of-way, a public or private transportation right-of-way or area. 4. We have defined Aabutting@ to mean Atouching.@ 5. We have closed the potential loophole where a developer owns a tract of developable land (call it tract A) and then tries to create a new strip of land (call it tract B) that causes tract A to no longer be abutting to a public street. In this case, the developer of tract A could possibly argue that since no portion of the property to be developed abuts the public street, there would be no obligation to construct the necessary public improvements associated with a public street. This would be considered a rare occurrence but could be a potential loophole nonetheless. To make sure this does not happen, the definition of Aabutting@ includes a sentence that an abutting condition is not affected by parcelization or division of land that results in an incidental, non-buildable, remnant lot, tract or parcel. CODE REVISIONS 1. All 136 references to Aadjacent@ have been either retained or switched to Aabutting@ in accordance with the new definitions. 2. The definition of Aadjacent@ shall be: Adjacent shall mean nearby, but not necessarily touching. The determination of Anearby@ shall be made on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the context in which the term is used and the variables (such as but not limited to size, mass, scale, bulk, visibility, nature of use, intensity of use) that may be relevant to deciding what is "nearby" in that particular context. Adjacency shall not be affected by the existence of a platted street or alley, a public or private right-of-way, a public or private transportation right-of-way or area. 3. The definition of Aabutting@ shall be: Abutting shall mean touching. An abutting condition shall not affected by the parcelization or division of land that results in an incidental, non-buildable, remnant lot, tract or parcel. Item # 637: Amend 3.8.17(A)(3) B Contextual Height B to change AContextual@ to ATransitional@ and change Aadjacent@ to Aabutting@ for clarity. Correlated to AAdjacent versus Abutting@ issue. Problem Statement The overall intent of this standard has not been clear. One particular problem is that the term Aadjacent@ has been construed in different ways. Staff interprets the intent as to allow for a transitional building height in the rare case where zoning would require a shorter new building next door to an existing taller building that would otherwise loom over the new building in a disproportional manner. This points out another problem with the wording. The phrase Aany point between@ does not provide a transition because the new building could be, for example, one inch lower than the existing taller building. Then, the new building would simply loom over the next building in line in the same manner the standard is apparently trying to mitigate. This would not form a transition. Proposed Solution Overview The code change would clarify the intent. The intent is to allow for a transitional height in a building proposed next door to a lot that has a taller building than is allowed on the subject lot. (Presumably the taller building would be there because it preceded current zoning, or because a zone district line would separate two side-by-side lots.) The term Aadjacent@ should be replaced with the term Aabutting@=, along with a side-by-side reference as well. The phrase Aany point between@ should be clarified to split the difference between the two heights in question. Code Revision 3.8.17(A)(3) Contextual Transitional Height. (3) Contextual Transitional Height. Regardless of the maximum building height limit imposed by the zone district standards of this Land Use Code, applicants shall be allowed to use a contextual Atransitional" height limit. The allowed contextual Atransitional" height may fall at any or below the mid- point between the zone district maximum height limit and the height, in feet, of a building that exists on a lot that is adjacent to abutting the subject lot and faces the same street as the building on the subject lot. This provision shall not be interpreted as requiring greater minimum heights or lower maximum heights than imposed by the underlying zone district. Transitional Height Idea ITEM #626 AMEND ANNEXATION OF ILLEGAL USES SO THAT ENCLAVE ANNEXATIONS CAN PROCEED EVEN THOUGH THE ANNEXATION MAY INCLUDE ILLEGAL USES Problem Statement: Section 2.12.4 requires that the City not be allowed to annex parcels that contain any land uses that are not legally permitted by the County. If any parcel is being considered for annexation and contains illegal land uses, such uses must cease and desist prior to Second Reading. The City is continually in the process of annexing eligible parcels in accordance with the Intergovernmental Agreement with Larimer County. Typically, this means annexing individual parcels on a voluntary basis. In addition, however, an annexation may include multiple parcels as in the case of enclave annexations. Enclaves are County parcels that have been surrounded by the City for three years. There is one existing enclave that is 2.5 square miles in size. The problem is that there may be individual properties within large multiple-parcel enclave annexations that may contain illegal land uses. The existence of illegal land uses on these individual parcels may render the entire annexation ineligible to be annexed. As a public policy, however, it may be that it is more advantageous to the City to annex large multiple-parcel enclave annexations even though they contain illegal land uses. Changing Section 2.12.4 would give the City flexibility to weigh the merits of each annexation based on severity of the illegal land use versus the benefit of controlling land uses within the Growth Management Area. Proposed Solution Overview: The proposed solution would be to amend Section 2.12.4 to allow the City to annex multiple-parcel enclaves even though individual properties within the boundaries of the annexation may include illegal land uses. Code Revision: 2.12.4 Annexation of Illegal Uses Any use that exists on property outside the City and that is not legally permitted by the county must cease and be discontinued before the City Council adopts, on second reading, an annexation ordinance annexing any such property except as provided herein. In the event that a property containing a use that is not legal pursuant to county regulations is proposed to be annexed into the city and placed into a zone district wherein such use is a permitted use, said use must be reviewed and processed as set forth in Article 4 (i.e., Type 1 review or Type 2 review) for the zone district in which the land is proposed to be located, and shall comply with the applicable standards contained in Articles 3 and 4. A development application for such review must be filed with the city within sixty (60) days following the effective date of the annexation. Such use shall be temporarily permitted for a period not to exceed six (6) months following the effective date of the annexation. In the event that the development application is not approved within said six-month period, then the use shall be discontinued within thirty (30) days following the date of the decision of denial or expiration of said six-month period, whichever first occurs, except that the Director may grant one (1) extension of the foregoing six-month requirement, which extension may not exceed three (3) months in length. In the event that the development application is approved, then such use shall be brought into full compliance with this Land Use Code and the decision made thereunder by the decision maker within sixty (60) days following the date of the decision. This section shall not apply to annexation of enclaves consisting of more than one separately owned parcel.