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Planner says hotel wants to swap 25 scooters for 22 golf carts at 1500 Reynolds
Summary
Planning staff described a conditional-use amendment for 1500 Reynolds Street that would replace 25 hotel‑rented scooters with 22 golf carts; staff said the change would reduce daily trips and meets the city's parking requirements as proposed by the applicant, though board members sought details on vehicle type, storage location and noise levels.
Sheetal Lamas, a city planner, told the commission that the conditional‑use amendment for 1500 Reynolds Street would replace an existing fleet of 25 rented scooters with 22 golf carts at a full‑service hotel in the Historic Commercial Tourist District.
"The applicant request is to allow an amendment to an existing conditional use to replace the existing 25 scooters with 22 golf carts," Lamas said, reading the application and noting the hotel's business tax receipts show 314 transient rooms and 215 parking spaces. Lamas said the city's off‑street parking schedule requires one parking space per three golf carts (eight required) and that the applicant proposes 11 spaces, leaving the hotel with an excess of parking capacity after allocation.
The applicant representative, Lisa Keyhoe, said she had "no comments at this time" beyond answering questions and confirmed that, to her knowledge, the scooters currently rented were gas‑powered and the proposed carts would be electric. "Yes, to my knowledge, they are gas scooters," Keyhoe said when asked about the existing fleet.
Committee member Ryan asked for clarity on vehicle classifications and noise. "I believe we regulate them differently, so it's important that we're talking about the same thing," he said, and asked whether the application could cite decibel ratings to demonstrate a noise benefit from electric carts versus gas scooters. Planning staff noted the applicant submitted a traffic generation statement from a transportation engineer who concluded replacing 25 scooters with 22 golf carts would reduce daily trips.
Board members also asked where the scooters are currently stored and rented; the applicant said she would confirm the exact storage location. A board member raised signage and compatibility with the adjacent residential area and urged that any signage "stay in line with the sign ordinance." No police concerns were raised during the discussion. The commission did not record a final decision on the conditional‑use amendment during this meeting; staff and the applicant were asked to provide the clarifications requested by commissioners.
The commission moved on to the next agenda item without a recorded final vote on the 1500 Reynolds conditional‑use amendment.
