Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutA006 - Council Action form dated June 9, 2009 s ITEM # 37 DATE 06-09-09 COUNCIL ACTION FORM SUBJECT: ZONING ORDINANCE TEXT AMENDMENT PERTAINING TO SPORTS PRACTICE FACILITIES BACKGROUND: Jensen Development Corporation, Ltd. is currently constructing a practice facility at 1010 Dickinson Avenue for the Iowa State University basketball teams. A minor site development plan was approved on October 20, 2008. The approved site plan meets all requirements, including parking. To determine parking needs, the use was defined as a "recreation facility and health club." The required parking of 173 parking spaces was calculated at 5 spaces per 1,000 square feet for the 28,965 gross square footage of the recreational facility (145 spaces) and 1 space per 300 square feet for the 8,443 square feet of upper level office space (28 spaces). The approved site plan indicates that 174 parking spaces will be provided. The developer of the site has indicated that he would like to further subdivide the parcel to retain land for additional private development after ownership of the basketball facility is transferred to ISU. The large amount of parking required for the ISU facility makes this difficult to do. ISU has indicated that the proposed use of the facility as office space and "sports practice facility"would need no more than 59 parking spaces. The difficulty is that the City zoning ordinance does not define nor provide parking requirements for such a use. Planning staff discussed several alternatives with the owner and his representatives. The owner requested that the City Council refer a possible solution to the staff for consideration. The owner then submitted language which City staff reviewed. Staff presented a modified version to the Planning and Zoning Commission that simplified the calculation of parking. This modified version received the recommendation of the Commission and the approval of the owner and his representative. The recommended language tightens the definition, simplifies the application of the parking requirement, and brings the parking standard more in line with other allowed uses. The proposal is to adopt a definition of "sports practice facility" as follows.. "A facility dedicated solely to the training and development of sports teams. Uses shall not include the playing of scheduled games, matches, championships, or tournaments. The facility may have limited observation seating for family and associates of the players who wish to watch the practice, but it is not open to the public; nor is the facility used for other 1 assembly-type uses when not otherwise used for sports practice. The facility may also include ancillary offices." The proposal also includes a parking requirement of 2.0 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area for a sports practice facility. In this instance, the total square footage of the facility (37,408 square feet) would require 74 parking spaces. Any new use that is defined in the zoning ordinance also needs to be placed in an appropriate use category so that its use can be assigned to specific zoning districts. Staff believes it is appropriate to considerthis unique facility as a Miscellaneous Use (see Table 29.501(4)-7). This allows the City Council to be more selective of the zones in which this use would be allowed. For example, if a sports practice facility were to be considered as an Entertainment, Restaurant and Recreational Trade (a subcategory of Trade Use Categories in Table 29.501(4)-3), it would be allowed in any commercial zone—from NC Neighborhood Commercial to HOC Highway Oriented Commercial. As a Miscellaneous Use, staff would recommend its allowance in the CCN Community Commercial Node and HOC Highway-Oriented Commercial districts. If requested in other zoning districts at some future date, the City could evaluate the impacts of its inclusion at that time and consider allowing it as a permitted or special use. During site plan review and discussion of the parking demands of a sports practice facility, staff sought information from many other jurisdictions (both in-state and out of state) about how parking needs are addressed. No other jurisdiction that staff contacted has addressed this uniquely defined use or differentiated its parking requirements from a broader recreational facility or health club. The City would therefore be establishing its own precedent. The proposed text changes would have limited impact. At this time, there is just the one facility that would be impacted in Ames — the proposed ISU practice facility. A previous development, the Ames Attack building at 2224 South Duff Avenue, may also have qualified if this definition were in place at that time. A further impact that should be considered is the unique character of such a structure and the reuse possibilities if the structure were to become vacant. Since the proposed parking requirements are less that one half that of a public recreational facility (5.0 spaces per 1,000 gross square feet), retail sales and service (5.0 spaces), or general office (4.0 spaces), it could be difficult to convert such a facility to a use with a higher parking demand. Of course, this issue would arise for other changes of uses from one of lesser parking demand to one of higher parking demand. An example could be a furniture store (2 spaces per 1,000 gross square feet) being converted to a grocery store (6.7 spaces per 1,000 square feet). A change of use for any facility requires an evaluation of the existing site plan and consideration of the parking needs. If parking is deficient, there usually are options, such as constructing more parking on-site or seeking joint or remote parking on nearby sites. In the instance of this basketball facility, there likely would not be space available for additional parking on-site. 2 The proposed parking requirement of 2.0 spaces per 1 ,000 square feet results in 74 spaces. The requirement is applied to the entire 37,408 square feet of the facility. This number of spaces can likely be met with a revised site development plan of the ISU facility. The potential risks are that most other uses allowed in the CCN district require more parking per square foot than the ratio proposed for the sports practice facility, and that there is no assurance that remote or joint parking would be available to serve the site should the need arise. Staff anticipates four separate changes to the Ames Municipal Code. The first is to add the definition of"sports practice facility"to Section 29.201 Definitions. The second is to add the parking requirements to Table 29.406(2) Minimum Off-Street Parking Requirements. The third is to add "sports practice facility"to Table 23.501(4)-7 Miscellaneous Use Categories. The fourth is to add "sports practice facilities" to the Zone Use tables for CCN (Table 29.802(2)) and HOC (Table 29.804(3)). If the City Council would rather consider "sports practice facility" to be an Entertainment, Restaurant and Recreational Trade use and to allow such a use in all commercial districts, the third step instead would be to add the use to Table 29.501 (4)-3 Trade Use Categories. No fourth step would then be needed. The O-GSW Southwest Gateway Overlay District allows uses to reduce their parking needs by 15 percent through "collective parking" (see Section 29.1112(5)). If there are different uses or buildings on the same lot or on separate lots, the required parking may be reduced to 85 percent of the sum of the various uses. Staff believes that because of the uncertainties involved in the anticipated parking demands of this unique structure, such a reduction, if applied to this use, would reduce the margin of error to an unacceptable level. Staff recommends exempting "sports practice facilities"from the provisions of this collective parking provision. At its meeting of May 20, 2009, with a vote of 5-0, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the text amendment pertaining to sport practice facilities. The applicant's attorney spoke in favor of the modifications recommended by staff. Therefore, this is the modified version being brought forward for Council consideration. ALTERNATIVES- 1. The City Council can adopt the recommended definition of"sports practice facility,"the parking requirement of 2.0 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area, its use as a Miscellaneous Use, its inclusion in the Use Tables for CCN and HOC, and its exemption from the collective parking provisions. 2. The City Council can adopt the recommended definition of sports practice facility, the parking requirement of 2.0 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area, its use as an Entertainment, Restaurant and Recreational Trade Use, and its exemption from the collective parking provisions. 3 3. The City Council can refer this back to staff for additional analysis. 4. The City Council can retain the current language regarding parking requirements for the proposed use. MANAGER'S RECOMMENDED ACTION: These proposed amendments are narrowly tailored to address the parking requirements of the proposed basketball facility. Staff does not anticipate that another sports practice facility would be built anytime soon. The only question that concerns staff is the parking availability if the structure underwent a change of use. As mentioned above, however, there are other options that could be pursued at that time (albeit with some uncertainty). Because of the very limited applicability of the amendments and their seeming ability to solve the anticipated parking needs of this unique use, it is the recommendation of the City Manager that the City Council act in accordance with Alternative 1 above. 4