HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - Council Action Form dated July 26, 2022 ITEM #: 29
DATE: 07-26-22
COUNCIL ACTION FORM
SUBJECT: ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT TO REDUCE MEDICAL OFFICE PARKING
REQUIREMENTS FOR BUILDINGS LESS THAN 50,000 SQUARE FEET
AND UPDATE DEFINITIONS
BACKGROUND:
On April 26, 2022, the City Council referred a letter to staff from Mary Greeley Medical
Center (MGMC) regarding a requested change in the required parking for Medical Office
uses. The request focused on having the parking rate for smaller medical office facilities
match the parking rate for larger medical office facilities with a requested parking rate of
5 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area. City Council reviewed the request
and at its June 14 meeting approved initiating a zoning text amendment to reduce
the medical parking rate for all types to 4 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of
floor area.
Medical Office uses currently have a base requirement to provide parking at a rate of 1
space per 143 square feet (equivalent to 7 spaces per 1 ,000 square feet). Facilities
greater than 50,000 square feet in area or that have a shared parking agreement benefit
from a reduced rate of 5 spaces per 1 ,000 square feet. Medical Offices include the Zoning
Ordinance definition of a "Clinic" and the description of medical office in Article V, this
includes uses such as dental clinics, chiropractors, medical laboratories, general practice
doctors and surgery centers that do not permit overnight stays.
The medical parking rate for larger facilities at 5 spaces per 1,000 square feet is already
greater than the standard office parking rates (3.3 spaces per 1 ,000 square feet) to
account for high levels of employment and turnover of patients. The higher parking rate
for smaller facilities (<50,000 sq. ft.) at 7 spaces per 1,000 square feet assumes there is
high level of base demand that begins to dissipate with larger facilities.
Two outside technical resources, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and the International
Traffic Engineers (ITE), recommend minimum parking for medical uses at a rate of 4 to
4.6 per 1,000 square feet to meet typical demand, commonly targeted to the 85th
percentile. City Council identified when initiating the text amendment that lowering the
rate to a level of 4 spaces per 1 ,000 square feet is consistent with these resources.
PROPOSED TEXT AMENDMENT
The applicant applied for a parking standard of 4 spaces per 1,000 square feet, consistent
with what is being recommended in the proposed Zoning Ordinance text amendment.
Upon further review of the request as part of the public hearing process, staff proposed
to the Planning & Zoning Commission multiple options for a text amendment to address
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potentially unique conditions of the Hospital Medical area and the Downtown Gateway
Commercial zone.
The proposed draft ordinance is consistent with the Planning and Zoning Commission
recommendation discussed in more detail below. The city-wide parking rate in Section
29.406(2) is being updated to reflect a 4 space per 1,000 square feet rate in areas outside
of Hospital/Medical (S-HM) and Downtown Gateway Commercial (DGC) zones. The
proposed change is for all building sizes.
For both the S-HM and DGC zones the draft ordinance reflects a 5 space per 1 ,000
square foot standard. The proposed change is for all building sizes. Staff believes that
maintaining a 5 space per 1,000 square foot standard in the S-HM accounts for providing
adequate parking in an area with a large concentration of medical uses to avoid spillover
parking into abutting residential areas. The 5 spaces per 1,000 square feet is consistent
with the historically applied parking standard for the area.
Additionally, the DGC general zone standards in Section 29.1004(4)-1&2 has its own
parking standards developed that due to its intention of supporting a unique urban
character. The current DGC standard is 6 spaces per 1,000 square feet of medical offices.
However, DGC includes a number of strategies to reduce overall parking for major
redevelopment project that can lower the actual requirement. The DGC standard was
still lower than the current 7 spaces per 1,000 square foot standard in other areas of the
city. The proposed reduction follows Council's intent while staying consistent with the
overall parking standards of DGC.
As part of the proposed text amendment the definitions of `Clinic' in Section 29.201 and
terminology of `Medical and Dental Clinics' in Section of Chapter 29.501(4)-2 were
reviewed and are being updated to better reflect the uses that are subject to what has
been historically applied to Medical office type uses.
The new definition eliminates `Clinic' as a defined use and replaces it with `Medical
Service Facility' which then lists uses in the new definition that are considered part of a
Medical Service Facility which include those that staff would view as being a clinic
currently. Similarly, in 29.501(4)-2 the term `Medical and Dental Clinics' is being changed
to 'Medical and Dental Services' under the Office Use category to appropriately reflect
this type of office use. This definition included a wide range of medical services ranging
from doctors to physical therapy. Although Emergency Medical Services (e.g. Urgent
Care) is listed as personal service use and not an office use, it would also be subject to
the Medical Services parking standard.
A draft of the text amendment is attached to this report below.
PLANNING & ZONING RECOMMENDATION
At the July 6 Planning & Zoning Commission meeting, the Commission reviewed the
proposed text amendment. Staff presented the Planning &Zoning Commission with three
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options for a proposed amendment to lower the overall medical parking standard. A
representative of Mary Greeley was also present at the meeting and supported the
options described in the report. After some discussion regarding the current conditions
at many of the facilities across the community the Planning & Zoning Commission voted
6-1 to recommend the following:
(A)That the City Council approve reducing the medical office parking rate in areas
outside the Hospital Medical Area and Downtown Gateway Commercial zones to
4 per 1,000 square feet.
(B)That the parking rate within Hospital Medical and Downtown Gateway Commercial
zones would have a 5 per 1 ,000 square feet parking rate.
(C)That related definitions be updated.
NOTIFICATION PROCESS:
In addition to standard publication requirements, staff reached out to the City Manager's
Hospital Medical Advisory group to inform the members that this issue would be up for
discussion. Staff also advised the standard developer interest group email list of the
proposed change. Staff only received one comment from a member of the Hospital
Medical Group, which stated the changes sounded reasonable and supported having new
facilities built outside of the neighborhood.
ALTERNATIVES:
1. Approve first reading of an ordinance to implement the Planning and Zoning
Commission Recommendation to:
a. Reduce medical parking to 4 spaces per 1,000 square feet for areas outside
of the Hospital Medical Area and Downtown Gateway Commercial district.
Currently, the requirement is 7 spaces per 1 ,000 for buildings under 50,000
square feet in size and 5 spaces per 1,000 square feet for buildings over
50,000 square, which will not change with this alternative.
b. Establish a parking rate of 5 spaces per 1,000 square feet for areas inside
the Hospital Medical Area and Downtown Gateway Commercial district.
Currently, the requirement is 7 spaces per 1,000 square feet for buildings
in the Hospital Medical Area under 50,000 square feet& 6 spaces per 1,000
square feet for buildings under 50,000 square feet in the Downtown
Gateway Commercial district as well as 5 spaces per 1,000 square feet for
buildings over 50,000 square feet in both Hospital Medical Area and
Downtown Gateway Commercial district.
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c. Revise the definitions to replace the term "clinic" with "Medical Service
Facility."
2. Approve first reading of an ordinance to reduce all medical service parking to 4
spaces per 1 ,000 square feet as organically requested by MGMC, and revise the
definitions to replace the term 'clinic' with 'Medical Service Facility'.
3. Do not modify the Medical Parking rate
CITY MANAGER'S RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Staff finds that the 7 spaces per 1,000 square feet requirement exceeds typical parking
demands. Construction of excess parking is an inefficient development standard for
utilization of a site and adds potentially unnecessary impervious coverage to a site. Staff's
research and observations support lowering the standard.
Staff believes that across the City a lower standard of 4 spaces per 1 ,000 square feet is
reasonable standard for areas with a low concentration of medical uses outside of the
Hospital Medical Area. However, staff believes having a consistent standard of 5 spaces
per 1 ,000 square feet is appropriate for the S-HM and DGC zones. This aligns with the
recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission in its discussion of the topic
on July 6.
Therefore, it is the recommendation of the City Manager that the City Council adopt
Alternative #1 a-c, as stated above.
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