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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA003 - Council Action Form dated June 26, 2007 ITEM # 3'' DATE 06/26/07 COUNCIL ACTION FORM SUBJECT: ELIMINATION OF MINIMUM FLOOR AREA RATIO STANDARDS IN THE PLANNED REGIONAL COMMERCIAL ZONING DISTRICT BACKGROUND: A floor area ratio (FAR) defines the area of a building's square footage in relation to the lot size. For example, a 5,000 square-foot building on a 10,000 square-foot lot would result in an FAR of 0.5. A 7,500 square-foot building on the same lot would result in an FAR of 0.75. During recent discussions with the City Council pertaining to both the adaptive reuse proposal for the North Grand Mall and development within the Ames Industrial Park, questions were raised regarding the applicability of Floor Area Ratio (FAR) standards to these projects. Staff was directed to further review the City's Floor Area Ratio (FAR) standards as they pertained to all development in all zoning districts in which FAR standards have been adopted. Staff discussed this issue with the City Council on June 12, 2007, at which time Council directed staff to prepare a text amendment to the Zoning Ordinance that would eliminate the FAR standards from the Planned Regional Commercial (PRC) district. Floor area ratio (FAR) standards are common zoning tools that ensure new development is compatible with, and does not visually overpower, existing development in terms of scale and building coverage. In order to accomplish these goals, the City of Ames has adopted maximum FAR standards in the following commercial and industrial zoning districts: Neighborhood Commercial (NC), Community Commercial Node (CCN), Highway-Oriented Commercial (HOC), Community Commercial/Residential Node (CCR), Planned Industrial (PI), South Lincoln Sub Area Mixed Use (S-SMD). In addition to maximum FAR standards, the City of Ames has also adopted minimum FAR standards in the following zones: Planned Regional Commercial (PRC), Downtown Service Center (DSC), Campustown Service Center (CSC), and General Industrial (GI). Minimum FAR standards can be an effective tool in achieving compatibility between new development and existing development in zones that are characterized by structures carefully aligned at the street face and of consistent scale and massing, such as in Downtown and Campustown. Compliance with minimum FAR standards is reasonably easy to do on the smaller lots that characterize the Downtown and Campustown areas because it does not take large buildings to cover these smaller lots. However, compliance with minimum FAR standards on the larger lots that characterize the City's PRC and GI districts may require larger buildings than are feasible for a given use. In addition, minimum FAR standards may be at odds with other development standards that apply in these zones. Specifically, minimum FAR standards may conflict with maximum building coverage standards, and minimum parking standards of the code. To overcome these conflicts, it may be necessary to subdivide the land in order to break it down into small enough pieces to support the smaller buildings the owners or tenants may desire. This may inadvertently affect the ability to plan and develop larger pieces of land into a functional and cohesive site layout. This may also result in more disjointed development and circulation patterns in a developing area. In working with the developers of North Grand Mall, staff learned that these types of standards (and the possible inherent conflicts) limit the ability to develop a viable regional commercial project. In response to these concerns, the City Council waived (through the adaptive reuse process) the minimum FAR standards that were otherwise applicable in this PRC district. Because of the information provided above, the City Council directed staff to revisit the FAR standards in both the PRC and the GI zones. The issue of FAR's in the GI district may be somewhat complicated because the standard pertains only to office buildings. A more comprehensive analysis and approach in addressing the FAR issue in the GI zone will be required. Council determined that this should be reviewed as a separate action. Accordingly, the only issue addressed under this current proposal is the elimination of FAR standards in the PRC District. The current proposal is therefore to eliminate FAR standards from the PRC District. This would entail amending Table 29.805(3) as follows: Table 29.805(3) Planned Regional Commercial (PRC) Zone Development Standards DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS PRC ZONE Minimum Lot Area One Acre Minimum Lot Frontage except in the O-GNE 50 ft. Minimum Lot Frontage for O-GNE only 50 ft.or cross-access easement agreements to which the City is a party for the limited purposes of modification or termination of the legal access rights Minimum Building Setbacks: Street Lot Line except in the O-GNE 50 ft. Street lot Line O-GNE only As specified in approved master plan Side Lot Line 0 Rear Lot Line 50 ft.side Lot Line Abutting an R Zoned Lot 50 ft. rear Maximum Building Setbacks: None Street Lot Line Landscaping in Setbacks Abutting a Residentially 20 ft. @ L3. See Section 29.403 Zoned Lot Maximum Building Coverage 50% Minimum Landscaped Area 15% Maximum Height 100 ft.or nine stories 2 Parking Allowed Between Buildings and Streets Yes Drive-Through Facilities Permitted Yes Outdoor Display Permitted Limited to garden centers and similar accessory uses, automotive and marine trade, in defined areas Outdoor Storage Permitted No Trucks and Equipment Permitted Yes Recommendation of the Planning & Zoning Commission. At its meeting of June 20, 2007, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the amendment to Ames Municipal Code Table 29.805(3) eliminating FAR standards from the PRC District ALTERNATIVES: 1. The City Council can approve the amendment to Ames Municipal Code Table 29.805(3) eliminating FAR standards from the PRC District. 2. The City Council can approve a modification of the proposed text amendment to Ames Municipal Code Table 29.805(3) eliminating FAR standards from the PRC District. 3. The City Council can retain the FAR standards in the PRC district. 4. The City Council can refer this back to staff for additional analysis. MANAGER'S RECOMMENDED ACTION: The elimination of the FAR standards from the PRC district will address potential conflicts between various sections of the code in terms of building and lot size and will be consistent with the types of development that this zone was intended to accommodate. Therefore, it is the recommendation of the City Manager that the City Council act in accordance with Alternative No. 1, which is to adopt the amendment to Ames Municipal Code Table 29.805(3) eliminating FAR standards from the PRC district. 3