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Council reviews proposed "neighborhood mixed-use" rules to tighten live-work standard
Summary
Staff proposed a rewrite of the city's live-work/neighborhood commercial language to require a minimum commercial component (25% nonresidential floor area and 50% ground-floor frontage) and other form-based standards so predominantly residential projects cannot claim NC entitlements through small home-occupations.
Economic development director Mike Johnson briefed the council on a planning-commission-driven rewrite of the neighborhood commercial (NC) zone and a proposed "neighborhood mixed use" use type intended to preserve neighborhood-scale commercial activity in NC areas.
Johnson said the moratorium on live-work uses gives staff until mid-August to codify changes and described several recommended standards: the nonresidential portion of a project should equal at least 25% of total gross floor area, at least 50% of ground-floor frontage should face a public right of way and be dedicated to commercial use, and development should meet standard NC setbacks and landscaping. He told council the draft aims to prevent developers from proposing primarily residential townhomes and relying on an incidental home business to justify NC entitlements.
Planning commission members asked staff to widen the rewrite to close loopholes across other conditional uses (home preschool, home business, residential facilities) so a single project cannot be recharacterized as commercial through marginal accessory uses. Staff said they will take the revised language back to the planning commission for recommendation and return to council for formal consideration later this summer.
What happens next: staff will refine the definition and standards based on planning commission feedback and bring an ordinance to the council for formal consideration before the moratorium lapses.
