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Councilor Bellas asks to initiate Florence Park neighborhood character overlay to guide infill, encourage ADUs
Summary
A council initiation request would begin a two-step process to add a neighborhood character overlay (NCO) for Florence Park, using the Renaissance overlay as a model; key goals include design guidelines, roof-pitch and height guidance, accessory-dwelling-unit (ADU) allowances by right and limits aimed at preventing oversized infill homes.
Councilor Bellas asked the Urban and Economic Committee to initiate a neighborhood character overlay (NCO) text amendment and subsequent zoning map amendment for the Florence Park neighborhood, a tool similar to an overlay used in the nearby Renaissance neighborhood.
Planner presentation and neighborhood work: City planning staff said the Florence Park Neighborhood Association and Councilor Bellas requested the initiative after meetings and door-to-door outreach; the association seeks standards to keep new infill houses from being built —out of scale' with existing bungalows, while also allowing accessory-dwelling units (ADUs) by right. Planning staff said the initiative is a two-step process: first the city adopts text amendments to add the overlay provisions to the zoning code, then the city applies the overlay by map amendment to the neighborhood geography.
Examples and design tools: Councilor Bellas described the Renaissance overlay as not prescriptive about materials or colors, but focused on layout and scale rules'for example, requiring garages to be set back from the street, limiting building width (to discourage combining multiple lots into a single oversized house), and measures to preserve green space and roof pitch that fit existing character. Councilors discussed the number of lots in Florence Park (planner said —about 700 lots' were included in initial outreach) and the practical difficulty of altering an established neighborhood where most lots and homes are older.
Next steps and public involvement: Planning staff said they would draft the text amendment, take it to the planning commission for review, and then return for a map amendment to apply the overlay. The committee discussion focused on balancing preservation of neighborhood character with infill housing opportunities; the city would also consider ADUs-by-right as a tool to add housing without large teardown-and-rebuild projects.
No formal vote result was recorded in the transcript excerpt; the item presented to the committee was a request to initiate the text and map amendment process.
