HomeMy WebLinkAboutA038 - Council Action Summary from January 25, 2000 meeting, Items 26a and 26b COUNCIL ACTION SUMMARY
Meeting Date: 1125/00
Agenda Item #: 2 6 a &b
SUBJECT: Text Changes to Zoning Ordinance
ACTION TAKEN: Approved the staff's recommended changes for "Trucks and
Equipment Parking and Storage" dealing with zoning districts "Agricultural" (A) to
"Neighborhood Commercial" (NC).
MOTION BY: Cross
SECOND BY: Goodhue
VOTING AYE: Campbell, Cross, Goodhue, Hoffman, Quirmbach, Wirth
VOTING NAY: None
ABSENT: None
ACTION TAKEN: Directed staff to add the definition language for "Trucks and
Equipment Parking and Storage" to Sections 29.201 and 29.406 of the Zoning
Ordinance.
MOTION BY: Cross
SECOND BY: Wirth
VOTING AYE: Campbell, Cross, Goodhue, Hoffman, Quirmbach, Wirth
VOTING NAY: None
ABSENT: None
ACTION TAKEN: Approved the staff s recommended changes to the Neighborhood
Commercial (NC) Zone Standards.
MOTION BY: Cross
SECOND BY: Wirth
VOTING AYE: Campbell, Cross, Goodhue, Hoffman, Quirmbach, Wirth
VOTING NAY: None
ABSENT: None
By:� t�1�1� xL
Diane Voss, City Clerk
Copy to: Brian O'Connell
STAFF REPORT
(Changes to the Text of the Proposed Zoning Ordinance)
The City Council has directed that staff examine certain provisions of the
proposed Zoning Ordinance to address concerns with ordinance standards for
the following:
1. Standards for Trucks and Equipment Parking and Storage; and,
2. Zone Development Standards for Neighborhood Commercial (NC).
Trucks and Equipment Parking and Storage:
The purpose for regulating the parking and storage of trucks and equipment is to
prevent trucks and equipment, which by their size, could be viewed as
undesirable in certain commercial and residential areas of the community.
Examples could include: buses, large vans, and other high profile vehicles.
First, the City Council must decide if they want to have standards for
"trucks and equipment parking and storage" in the ordinance. If it is
decided that standards are needed, then staff would recommend the
changes described in this staff report.
Changes would be needed to the following sections of the proposed Zoning
Ordinance:
• Section 29.201 :
✓ Add a definition of "Trucks and Equipment".
• Section 29.406(19):
✓ Change the development standards for "Trucks and Equipment to
clarify which classes of vehicles and equipment are not restricted by
the standards.
• Tables for Zone Development Standards:
✓ Change the permissibility of "trucks and equipment parking and
storage" in the tables describing the Zone Development Standards for
several of the zoning districts.
Changes Proposed to Section 29.201 of the Zoning Ordinance. The
ordinance uses the terms: `light', `medium', and `heavy `truck and equipment
parking and storage. These terms are presently not defined in the Zoning
Ordinance. To clarify what is meant by these terms, staff has used vehicle class
definitions obtained from the City of Ames Equipment Services Division and also
used by the Iowa Department of Transportation. The vehicle classes are
described as follows: (See the attached graphic for an illustration of the types of
vehicles included in each class.)
• Classes 1 and 2 are vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight of 10,000 lbs.,
or less. ( Staff recommendations would not prohibit the parking and storage
of these vehicles in any of the zoning districts.)
• Classes 3, 4, and 5 are vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight of 10,000
to 19,499 lbs. (Staff recommendations would classify these vehicles and
equipment as "Light" trucks and equipment.)
• Class 6 vehicles have a gross vehicle weight of 19,500 to 26,000 lbs. (Staff
recommendations would classify these vehicles and equipment as "Medium"
trucks and equipment.)
• Class 7 vehicles have a gross vehicle weight of 26,001 to 33,000 lbs. (Staff
recommendations would classify these vehicles and equipment as "Heavy"
trucks and equipment.)
• Class 8 vehicles have a gross vehicle weight of 33.001 lbs., or over. (Staff
recommendations would classify these vehicles and equipment as "Heavy"
trucks and equipment.)
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Section 29.201 of the Zoning Ordinance would be amended to add a definition of
"Trucks and Equipment". The definition would read as follows:
Trucks and Equipment include light, medium and heavy trucks and
equipment that are categorized by class and by gross vehicle weight.
• Trucks and Equipment that fall within Class 3, 4, or 5, or have a
gross vehicle weight of 10,000 to 19,499 lbs. are defined as
"Light" trucks and equipment.
• Trucks and Equipment that fall within Class 6, or have a gross
vehicle weight of 19,500 to 26,000 lbs. are defined as "Medium"
trucks and equipment.
• Trucks and Equipment that fall within Class 7 or 8, or have a
gross vehicle weight of 26,001 lbs., or greater, are defined as
"Heavy" trucks and equipment.
Changes Proposed to Section 29.406(19) of the Zoning Ordinance. To
clarify which classes of vehicles will not be restricted by the standards for "trucks
and equipment parking and storage", changes are needed to this section.
Section 29.406(19) would be amended to read as follows (Note: Changes
proposed by staff are shown in bold type.):
(19) Trucks and Equipment Parking and Storage. The standards for truck and
equipment parking apply to business vehicles and equipment that are
parked regularly at a site. The regulations do not apply to pickup and
delivery activities, to the use of vehicles during construction, or to services
at the site which occur on an intermittent and short-term basis.
Vehicles and equipment that fall within Class 1 or 2, or have a gross
vehicle weight of 10,000 lbs., or less, are not restricted by the "trucks
and equipment parking and storage" standards in the "Zone
Development Standards" table for each zoning district. Permissibility
of light, medium and heavy truck parking and storage is covered in the
individual Zone Development Standards Tables for each Zoning District.
3
Changes Proposed to the Zone Development Standards Table in Each
Zoning District. The individual Zone Development Standards Tables address
the permissibility of "Trucks and Equipment Parking and Storage", as described
in this table. Staff recommends the changes as shown under the "Proposed"
heading:
Trucks and Equipment Parking and Storage
Zoning District Current f2aulation Pro osed Re ulation
Agricultural A Yes Light, Medium and Heavy
Residential No No
Low Density RL
Residential Light Only, no advertising** No
Medium Density RM
Urban Core Residential Light Only, no advertising** No*
Medium Density UCRM
Residential Light Only, no advertising** No
High Density RH
Residential Light Only, no advertising** No
Low Density Park RLP
Neighborhood No No
Commercial NC
--� Community Commercial Light and Medium Only Light and Medium Only
Node CCN
Downtown/Campustown Light and Medium Only Light Only
Service Center DCSC
Highway-Oriented Light and Medium Only Light and Medium Only
Commercial HOC
Planned Regional Light and Medium Only Light and Medium Only
Commercial PRC
General Industrial GI All Categories Allowed Light, Medium and Heavy
Planned Industrial PI Yes Light, Medium and Heavy
Hospital/Medical S-HM No I No
* As part of earlier revisions to the new zoning ordinance, staff proposed that
the standard for trucks and equipment in the UCRM zone be the same as the
standard for the RL zone, which is "No", as shown above.
** Staff also recommends that the "no advertising" reference on vehicles be
deleted from the ordinance since it is common practice in Ames for residents to
park their pickups and vans, with business names, at their residence. In many
cases these vehicles serve both personal and business purposes.
4
Zone Development Standards for Neighborhood Commercial:
At the City Council meeting on December 7, 1999, staff presented
recommendations for changes to the Zone Development Standards for the
Neighborhood Commercial (NC) Zoning District. The changes recommended by
staff on December 7, 1999, are described as follows:
• Change the "Maximum Lot Area for a Single Building" from 6,000 square feet
to 20,000 square feet.
• Change the "Maximum Lot Area for a Neighborhood Commercial Center"
from 10,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet.
• Add a provision to the ordinance to allow a "Maximum Lot Area of 100,000
square feet for Preexisting Buildings and Preexisting Neighborhood
Commercial Centers", with approval by Special Use Permit.
• Change the "Minimum Setback from the Side Lot Line for a Property Abutting
a Residentially Zoned Lot" from 10 feet to 5 feet for RM and RH zones and 10
feet for RL, UCRM and RLP zones.
• Change the "Minimum Setback from the Front Lot Line" from 10 feet to 0 feet.
After reviewing these changes proposed by staff, the City Council requested that
staff examine what additional changes may be needed to the Neighborhood
Commercial (NC) Zone before the standards could be applied to a wide range of
existing commercial areas throughout the community. These areas differ in
terms of their building mass, setbacks and surrounding land use.
Staff Proposal for Changes to the NC Zone Standards:
To apply the Neighborhood Commercial standards to a wide variety of existing
commercial areas throughout the community, staff believes it is necessary to
change the "maximum floor area ratio" in the Neighborhood Commercial (NC)
Zone. The current standard is: ".35". An analysis of properties in the areas
proposed for zoning as NC reveals the fact that several of these properties are
occupied by buildings which exceed the maximum floor area ratio of .35.
Since it is a priority in the adoption of the new Zoning Ordinance to minimize the
number of properties that would become non-conforming, staff recommends that
the "maximum floor area ratio" be changed as follows:
Existing: .35 F.A.R.
Proposed: .70 F.A.R.
5
This increase in the maximum floor area ratio will also make it easier to construct
two-story structures in the NC Zone. Such structures could be utilized by
commercial uses on the ground floor level and residential on the second floor.
Standards for the Neighborhood Commercial Zone limit the "maximum building
coverage" to .35. Staff recommends that this standard not be changed. With the
increased maximum of .70 for the floor area ratio, a two-story structure could
then be constructed at the maximum building coverage of .35.
Upon further consideration, staff recommends that the "minimum setback from
the front lot line" be changed as follows:
Existing: 10 feet
Proposed: 0 feet, if preexisting
10 feet
This change will allow the reconstruction of commercial buildings at a setback of
"0" feet from the front lot line if those buildings existed at a setback of "0" feet at
the time the ordinance is enacted. The 10-foot setback provides an opportunity
for landscaping and provides more of a transitional dimension between setbacks
for other commercial districts and residential districts.
In addition, staff recommends that the required minimum setback from the side
lot line be changed for lots in a Neighborhood Commercial Zone, that a abuts a
residentially zoned lot, as follows:
Existing: 10 feet
Proposed: 5 feet when abutting RM or RH Zones
10 feet when abutting RL, UCRM, or RLP Zones or a historic
district.
The proposed setback for properties that abut a historic district is an addition to
the December 7, 1999 recommendation by staff. This setback will maintain a
setback from the side lot line that is closer in width to the side yard dimensions of
properties in a historic district.
Neighborhood Commercial (NC) Zone Development Standards Table.
Please refer to the table on the next page of this report for a comparison of the
existing Zone Development Standards in the new Zoning Ordinance and
changes proposed by staff to these standards.
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Table 29.801 (3)
Neighborhood Commercial (NC) Zone Development Stds.
Development Standards Existing Proposed
Maximum FAR .35 70
Maximum Lot Area, 6,000 sf 20,000 sf
Single Building
Maximum Lot Area, 10,000 sf 30,000 sf
Neighborhood Commercial
Center
Maximum Lot Area for No existing regulation 100,000 sf
Preexisting Buildings and (with approval by
Preexisting Neighborhood Special Use Permit)
Commercial Centers
Minimum Lot Frontage 60 ft. No Change
Minimum Building
Setbacks:
Front Lot Line 10 ft. 0 ft., if preexisting
10 ft., if not preexisting
Side Lot Line 0 ft. No Change
Rear Lot Line 0 ft. No Change
Lot Line Abutting a 10 ft. side 5 ft. side (When abutting
Residentially Zoned Lot RM or RH Zones)
10 ft. side (When abutting
RL, UCRM, or RLP Zones,
or a historic district)
15 ft. rear No Change
Maximum Building 60 ft. No Change
Setbacks: Street Lot Line
Landscaping in Setbacks 5 ft. at L3; No Change
Abutting an R Zoned Lot see Section 29.403
Maximum Building 35% No Change
Coverage
Minimum Landscaped Area 15% No Change
Maximum Height 35 ft. No Change
Parking Allowed Between No, except where allowed No Change
Buildings and Streets prior to the effective date of
this ordinance.
Drive-Through Facilities No No Change
Permitted
Outdoor Display Permitted No No Change
Outdoor Storage Permitted No No Change
Trucks and Equipment No No Change
Permitted
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