Commission debates ground-floor use, live-work units and ATM drive-through for proposed mixed-use building at 511 West Fern Avenue

The Planning Commission held an initial review of a revised application for a proposed mixed-use building at 511 West Fern Avenue during its April 7 meeting. The applicant seeks a planned-development exemption to allow ground-floor residential in a suburban commercial district, a height exemption and lighting exemptions; the concept includes 16 residential units (predominantly studios and one-bedrooms), two live-work units, 4,200 square feet of commercial space fronting West Verona Avenue, and an ATM drive-through.

Staff (Mister Severson) said the suburban commercial zoning aims to preserve visible road corridors for commercial retail and service uses and expressed concerns that the proposed ground-floor residential and limited commercial floor area (4,200 sq ft on a lot roughly 90,000 sq ft) conflict with the comprehensive plan and zoning purpose. Staff also noted parking and circulation were not yet…