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Staff to advance removal of 30% lot‑coverage requirement for B‑3 corridor zone; commissioners debate guardrails
Summary
Planning staff will initiate the process to remove the 30% lot‑coverage requirement in the B‑3 zone after commissioners requested reconsideration; staff gave a schedule for mailed notice, zoning committee review and a May 22 public hearing and discussed reasons including marketability of smaller mixed‑use buildings.
Chris Taylor of the LFUCG planning staff told the Planning Commission on March 17 that staff will begin the notice process to advance a text amendment initiated earlier by the commission to remove the minimum lot‑coverage requirement for the B‑3 corridor commercial zone.
Taylor said the requirement — written as a 30 percent minimum lot coverage in the current code — has generated concern because many B‑3 parcels are one‑story retail patterns and recent development trends have favored smaller buildings and larger vehicular use areas. Taylor said the staff will begin mailed notice in early April, present a staff report to the Zoning Committee on May 1 and hold a public hearing on May 22.
Taylor described the 30 percent example in practical terms: on a 1‑acre site the provision can require roughly a 15,000‑square‑foot ground‑floor building, a scale that staff said developers and market conditions have not consistently supported in recent years. Taylor said staff will not at this time amend related provisions the council has asked staff to retain — such as provisions intended to rein in certain outdoor sales uses — and that staff intends to prepare alternatives if appropriate.
Commissioners raised questions about whether removing the minimum lot‑coverage requirement would leave corridor parcels with excessive paved areas and drive‑through‑oriented layouts. Several asked staff to explore alternatives, such as maximum limits on vehicular use areas or other guardrails that would reduce large asphalt expanses while allowing smaller, marketable buildings. Taylor said staff has been studying side effects and will prepare staff alternatives if warranted.
Taylor: "To address specifically what was requested in the initiation ... the staff is going to go ahead and start the process ... We will start the mailed notice process in early April. You'll get it at your zoning committee on May 1, and it'll be scheduled for a May 22 public hearing." Commissioners asked staff to analyze marketability and potential design controls before the hearing, and staff committed to incorporating additional research into the staff report.
The measure is an initiation of a text amendment; no final decision or vote was taken at this meeting.
