Planning commission refines ‘live-work’ rules, creates neighborhood mixed-use category in Cottonwood Heights

Cottonwood Heights City Planning Commission members reviewed a city-initiated zoning text amendment on June 4 that would replace the loosely defined “live-work” use in the Neighborhood Commercial (NC) zone with a new, narrowly defined “neighborhood mixed use” category and add standards intended to ensure a visible commercial presence at the street level.

The commission was told the amendment is a response to a February city council moratorium on live-work applications in the NC zone. Staff said the moratorium (valid for up to 180 days) gave the city time to define live-work and prevent projects that are effectively residential developments from bypassing the NC zone’s intent to provide neighborhood-scale commercial services.

Staff described the proposed definition of neighborhood mixed use as “a single building containing more than one land use type, at least one of which is residential, or a single development of more than one building in use, one of which is residential, where the different types of land uses are in close proximity, planned as a unified complementary whole and functionally integrated to share vehicular and pedestrian access and parking areas.” Staff read that definition aloud at the meeting and said it will be added to the ordinance’s general definitions chapter while the specific development standards will appear in the NC chapter only.

Key standards staff presented include: the nonresidential portion of a neighborhood mixed-use project must constitute at least 25% of the project’s gross floor area; and at least 50% of the ground-level frontage along a public right of way must be dedicated to nonresidential uses. Staff said the goal of those metrics is to ensure commercial uses are prominent and accessible from the street rather than being token offices tucked behind residential units.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions. Commissioner Lucy Anderson (District 3) asked whether the definition should explicitly require that at least one use be commercial; staff agreed to add wording to require at least one nonresidential use. Commissioners also discussed removing or revising other NC-zone provisions: staff proposed eliminating residential-predominant uses currently listed (bed-and-breakfast, home occupation, home preschool, residential subdivision uses listed as “planning and development,” residential facilities for elderly persons, and the existing live-work entry) and renaming an unclear “mixed residential housing” term to the new neighborhood mixed-use type.

Staff also proposed removing minimum lot size, width and depth requirements from the NC chapter and relying instead on the NC development standards (setbacks, parking, landscaping, coverage and buffering) to determine whether a site can support a given building. Additionally, staff recommended simplifying the NC height limit language to a single 35-foot maximum instead of “two stories or 35 feet, whichever is less.”

There was no final action taken; staff said a track-changes version will be forwarded to the city council for consideration and public comment. Staff noted one public comment arrived late and will be forwarded with the packet. Commissioners said they hoped to move the item quickly so the council could lift the moratorium as appropriate.

The amendments, as discussed, are limited to the Neighborhood Commercial zone and do not change other commercial or residential zones. Staff and commissioners agreed to return with any additional clarifications the commission requests before the council hearing.

Moving-forward notes: staff expects the item to proceed to city council (tentatively in July, subject to packet and scheduling) and said the moratorium timeline gives the city some time to complete the ordinance changes before new live-work applications would be accepted.