Planning Commission reviews broad zoning text amendments to commercial and conversion rules

Staff from the Department of Planning and Zoning used the Oct. 9 Planning Commission public hearing to preview proposed zoning text amendments intended to streamline review of commercial uses and to create a clearer, more uniform process for office‑to‑residential conversions.

Anne Horowitz, land use division, told commissioners the city has revisited commercial use rules about every five years and is proposing to shift several administrative special use permit (SUP) categories to by‑right status or to an administrative SUP track. “We would are proposing considering that restaurants would shift from an administrative SUP to a buy right use,” Horowitz said. Staff said the change would standardize conditions now scattered across decades of SUP approvals, and enforcement would remain under the…