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Planning commission–initiated zoning amendment would ease some ground-floor residential conversions outside commercial corridors
Summary
Staff explained a proposed zoning text amendment to reduce the need for conditional use permits when returning previously residential ground floors back to residential use outside mapped commercial corridors; the committee voted to forward the amendment with a recommendation for approval.
City staff presented a zoning text amendment initiated by the Planning Commission that would clarify when a conditional use permit (CUP) is required for returning ground-floor space to residential use in B‑1 zones.
The amendment, discussed May 28, would allow structures that were originally built for residential use and later converted to commercial uses to return to residential use without a CUP, provided the property lies outside defined commercial corridors. Staff said the change is not a blanket removal of the CUP requirement; buildings fronting the defined primary or secondary commercial corridors (the "black-lined" areas on the map) would still require a CUP.
"So if you're in the B‑1 zone and it's not within the black-lined areas, and it was built as a house... it could go back to a house without a CUP," staff explained. The amendment includes mapping and revised findings language intended to reduce ambiguity about which streets are considered commercial corridors.
Committee members generally supported streamlining the process where appropriate but recommended minor mapping clarifications and cautioned against unintended consequences in specific commercial areas. A motion to forward the text amendment with a recommendation for approval passed unanimously at the meeting.
Staff said the zoning changes will accompany rezoning and other steps later in the process, and that the proposal aims to limit unnecessary CUPs while preserving review in areas where ground-floor residential uses would conflict with commercial corridor objectives.
