Commission opens longer review of minimum parking for strip malls and possible reclassification of eating establishments

Commissioners spent an extended portion of the meeting reviewing how the city applies minimum parking requirements to multi-tenant strip-mall buildings where the eventual tenants are unknown at the time of building permitting.

Staff explained the current approach: retail is typically calculated at 1 parking space per 300 square feet, and eating-and-drinking establishments are calculated at 1 per 100 square feet (or by seats). When a future tenant is unknown staff sometimes selects a use category by assessing building features — for example, a blank tenant space with a drive-through has been treated as likely to become an eating-and-drinking establishment, which increases the parking calculation at the building-permit stage.

Developer and property representative Leroy Aske (vice president of construction) described a Brandon 90 Plaza example adjacent to Jimmy John’s where adding a second eating establishment would exceed available parking under current tables. Aske asked about options including purchasing adjacent land, using cooperative/shared parking (paired uses with offset peak times), reconfiguring onsite spaces, or a code amendment to change the baseline calculation for strip malls.

Commissioners discussed pros and cons of several approaches: (1) set a parking standard at the building-permit stage and do not recalculate for tenant turnover (the building would be designed up front to that standard), (2) adopt a single strip-mall standard (Sioux Falls uses 1 per 200 sq ft), or (3) adopt a differentiated classification that treats low‑seating, primarily takeout/drive-through food uses differently from traditional sit-down restaurants. Commissioners proposed a drafting approach to define "high-density" and "low-density" eating-and-drinking establishments (one suggestion was to classify spaces with less than one-third of floor area devoted to seating as low density).

Staff noted practical constraints: if a parking standard is recalculated for every tenant change, a building owner could find an otherwise vacant building unusable without additional parking if a tenant sought a restaurant use. Conversely, adopting a lower standard for strip malls might require existing and future retail tenants to provide more parking at build-out, which can create large, underused lots. Several commissioners said they prefer not to reopen all previously permitted lots for recalculation but want clearer code language to guide initial permitting.

Next steps: Staff said drafting an ordinance amendment or new classification would likely take 60–90 days. Commissioners asked staff to place an item on a future agenda to propose definitions and a revised parking table for formal consideration. The developer said he expects to know tenant intent within weeks and will pursue options including a conditional use permit for shared parking or a variance to place parking in the setback if necessary.

No immediate ordinance change was adopted at the meeting; staff will draft language for future consideration if requested by the commission.