Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning Regulations topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning staff presents 2025 zoning regulation amendments including parking standard change
Summary
Planning staff presented a set of proposed 2025 amendments to the city's zoning regulations, including a reduction in multifamily parking requirements and a new permit path for accessory building sales in RC2.
Planning staff presented proposed 2025 amendments to the city's zoning regulations, describing the changes as a "menu" that the City Council could accept in whole or in part.
A planning staff member told the council the Planning and Zoning Commission had reviewed the proposals and voted unanimously to recommend approval. "All of these suggestions below have been considered by planning and zoning commission and received unanimous votes recommending approval of these changes," the staff member said. The ordinance is written so the council can remove individual items without rejecting the entire package.
Key changes staff described include a reduction in parking requirements for multifamily developments and townhomes to one space per bedroom (rather than requiring two spaces for one-bedroom units), while retaining the existing standard for studios and the current incremental bedroom calculation for units with multiple bedrooms. The staff member said the change responds to developer feedback that one-bedroom units often have only one vehicle and that excessive parking leads to unnecessary surface parking.
Staff also proposed allowing banquet event centers and fitness centers in the IU (industrial) district and adding "accessory building sales and display" as a defined use. The staff member said that use will be allowed by right in industrial districts but would require a specific use permit in the RC2 district; the specific use permit would let Planning and Zoning recommend conditions including time limits or renewal requirements to protect the RC2 character. On signs, staff recommended allowing menu boards with electronic changeable copy provided the boards do not face adjacent residential property.
The package includes a technical correction to the landscaping rule that currently reads "a bush for every 25 square feet" and should read "a bush for every 250 square feet," the staff member said. The staff member said Planning and Zoning had not objected to the other changes and that the commission had discussed requiring specific use permits where appropriate. The transcript does not record a final council vote on the ordinance package.
