Board recommends staff‑revised LDR amendments easing lot‑size and width limits, seeks landscaping flexibility for built sites

The Historic Resources Preservation Board reviewed a privately initiated amendment to the land‑development regulations (Ordinance 2025‑13) that would reduce the minimum site area for certain single‑destination commercial uses from 10,000 to 6,500 square feet and cut the minimum lot width from 100 feet to 50 feet across applicable zoning districts.

Staff described the history: the current regulations were intended in 2013 to consolidate large parcels along major corridors, but on‑the‑ground lot patterns have not matched that vision. Staff recommended a compromise: accept reduced site area and lot width but retain glazing and display‑window standards and allow the community sustainability director (or designee) staff‑level flexibility to adjust the 5‑foot perimeter landscaping requirement for already built‑out sites where perimeter planting is infeasible.

Applicant counsel R. Max Lohman said the applicant had narrowed proposals to meet staff halfway and asked that staff be empowered to reduce or waive perimeter landscaping where existing buildings abut each other. Board members probed whether flexibility would be site‑specific and whether proposals would return to the board when administrative waivers were granted; staff said waivers would be site‑based and that many projects requiring an administrative use permit or conditional use permit would still come before the board. After discussion, the board voted to recommend the staff‑revised ordinance text and the proposed landscaping flexibility to the City Commission.