Committee doubles per‑unit lot‑area requirement for dwellings in C‑1; public raises questions about commercial units with interior living spaces

The ad hoc committee voted to double the required lot area per dwelling unit in the Commercial 1 (C‑1) zone (the committee’s draft already reflected the change in version 4). The motion passed by voice vote; no roll call was recorded.

Committee members debated whether the commercial district should allow multifamily dwellings and whether that category should be treated the same as residential districts. Jay Buchholz noted commercial districts already allow motels with a 5,000‑square‑foot per‑unit requirement and that adding multifamily to C‑1 would introduce additional density and parking considerations.

Public commenter Linda Zilmer raised a concrete example: a development pitched as multiple duplex‑style commercial storage units with finished rooms, bathrooms and utility sinks. She asked how lot‑area rules should apply when a principal commercial structure contains finished rooms that could function as living space. Zoning staff clarified those buildings were permitted and issued as commercial storage—not as dwellings—and noted that if occupancy as living quarters occurs it would be an illegal use and subject to enforcement. The committee discussed enforcement sampling and suggested that mixed‑use or living‑quarters in commercial structures are better handled through a different process such as a PUD (planned unit development).

The committee directed staff to keep the per‑dwelling area doubling in the C‑1 draft and to consider PUD or other approaches if applicants propose mixed commercial/living development. The committee did not adopt additional changes for principal‑structure treatment during this meeting.