HomeMy WebLinkAboutA006 - Council Action Form dated December 20, 1995 ITEM #:
DATE: 12/20/95
COUNCIL ACTION FORM
SUBJECT: REQUEST FROM NORTH GRAND MALL TO INITIATE A CHANGE IN
THE PARKING REQUIREMENT FOR THEATERS WITHIN SHOPPING CENTERS.
ACTION FORM SUMMARY: This is a request to change the parking requirement for
theaters within shopping centers. This change would require the same amount of
parking for theaters as for other retail and commercial service uses within the
shopping center that have over 200,000 square feet of gross leasable area.
Recommend approval of this amendment.
BACKGROUND:
The City Council has initiated a change in the parking requirements for theaters within
shopping centers. This change is the result of a request from the manager of North
Grand Mall where they would like to convert 15,000 square feet of space within the
mall, formerly occupied by the Linda Glantz furniture store and the Iowa Department of
Transportation License Examining Station, into additional theater space with 1 ,000
seats. The conversion of this part of the mall into theater space presents a parking
dilemma since the off-street parking requirement for a theater within a shopping center
is determined separately from the general shopping center parking. The applicable
parking requirements in the Zoning Ordinance currently reads as follows:
Section 29.40 (12) Parking for Shopping Centers, Exclusive of Theaters,
Office or Grocery Store Uses: There shall be provided a minimum of 5.5
parking spaces for each one thousand (1,000) square feet of gross leasable
area.
Section 29.40 (4)(b) Theaters, Auditoriums, Sports Areas, Stadiums, or
Gymnasiums: One (1) Parking space for every five (5) persons for which
seating is provided.
Because of the two distinct parking requirements, the proposed theater use cannot
replace the existing uses without additional parking being provided on the site. This
situation has caused staff to look into whether the current requirements may be
excessive for shopping centers. The specific parking requirements for shopping
centers went into effect in 1983, however, these requirements have not been applied
to a theater situation within a shopping center until now.
For the proposed 1 ,000 seats in the new theater space a total of 200 parking spaces
would be required. With credit given for 72 existing parking spaces already provided
for this 15,000 square feet area in the existing shopping center, using the existing
parking ratio of 4.81 parking spaces/1 ,000 gross square feet, there would be a
shortfall of 128 parking spaces for the proposed theater. Additional credit can be
given for sharing parking with the banks on the site that are not open at the same time
as the theaters. As per Section 29.42 not more than 50% of parking spaces for
theaters can be shared with banks not normally open at the same time as the theater.
An additional 14 parking spaces can be credited to the proposed theater use by using
the shared parking provision of the Ordinance. Therefore, under the current
regulations the total number of additional parking spaces needed for the proposed
theater expansion would be 114 parking spaces.
ANALYSIS:
As of November 1 , 1995 there was a total of 2,184 parking spaces for the entire North
Grand Mall area including the offices at 803 24th Street; the Kwik Shop, Pizza Hut,
and Mayfair Cleaners development; and the parking area surrounding the north and
south portions of North Grand Mall. The parking ratio on this site is 4.81 parking
spaces per 1 ,000 square feet of gross floor area.
Staff has reviewed several zoning ordinances from other cities in Iowa and from some
suburban cities around Kansas City and the Minneapolis-St. Paul area to determine
whether additional parking for a theater use in a shopping center is typically required
beyond what is required for the shopping center. None of the zoning ordinances for
these cities required additional parking for a theater use in a shopping center. The
requirement in the Ames Zoning Ordinance appears to be unique.
The developers of North Grand Mall recently have expanded theater space in three
existing malls in three other cities in Iowa (Marshalltown, Muscatine and West
Burlington), and in those instances additional parking was not required for the change
in use.
Experience has shown that except for the peak shopping period before Christmas,
there is a large amount of excess parking within the mall parking lot. Therefore to
address this situation, the Zoning Ordinance could be amended to delete the exclusion
of theaters from the general parking requirement for shopping centers. It would be
prudent for the change to apply only to shopping centers over a certain size so that
smaller shopping areas with theaters still would have adequate parking for shoppers
as well as theater goers. It is suggested that the exclusion of theaters be deleted
from the parking requirement for shopping centers with a gross floor area of 200,000
square feet and over. Based on the 5.5 parking spaces per 1 ,000 square feet of
gross leasable area, shopping centers of this size would have a minimum of 1 ,100
parking spaces. The following ordinance change is recommended by staff:
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Proposed: Section 29.40(12) Parking for Shopping Centers [Add: Over
200,000 Square Feet in Gross Floor Area], Exclusive of [Delete:
Theaters] Office or Grocery Store Uses: There shall be provided
a minimum of 5.5 parking spaces for each one thousand (1,000)
square feet of gross leasable floor area.
The effect of this proposed ordinance amendment is that theaters in shopping centers
with over 200,000 square of gross leasable area would not have a separate parking
requirement. No other change is suggested to this section of the ordinance. Grocery
stores and offices would still have to meet their individual parking requirements of one
parking space per 150 square feet of gross floor area for grocery stores and one
parking space for each 250 square feet of floor area for offices on the first floor and
one parking space for each 300 square feet for offices on any other floor. Shopping
areas under 200,000 square feet in size would meet the specific parking requirements
for retail stores and personal service establishments, theaters, offices and grocery
stores, as applicable.
As far as North Grand Mall is concerned, if this proposed ordinance amendment is
adopted, the additional theater seats could go into the mall without providing additional
parking because it would not be considered a change in use as far as parking is
concerned. Note: the current parking ratio of 4.81 in the mall area is less than the 5.5
parking spaces per 1,000 square feet currently required.
PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed this request at their meeting of
December 6, 1995 and recommended that this amendment be approved.
ALTERNATIVES:
1 . That the City Council approve the proposed amendment to Section 29.40 (12),
which is the parking requirement for shopping centers, as stated above.
2. That the City Council not change Section 29.40 (12).
3. That the City Council approve a change to Section 29.40 (12) with modifications.
4. Table this request for additional information from City staff.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Adoption of Alternative #1 . This would approve the amendment to Section 29.40 (12),
which would delete theaters as an exclusion from the parking requirement of 5.5
parking spaces per 1 ,000 square feet for shopping centers. This proposed
amendment would also further define when the special parking requirements for
shopping centers are applied utilizing a minimum amount of gross leasable area.
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