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Downtown mixed-use plan revived as Good Shepherd parcel prompts medical and housing questions
Summary
Consultants recommended creating a downtown mixed-use zone that limits auto-oriented uses while allowing vertical mixed use; staff raised that Good Shepherd Health Care owns a large central parcel and will likely pursue medical facilities and some housing, prompting discussion on allowed uses in the downtown zone.
Consultants proposed a downtown mixed-use zoning district around City Hall designed to encourage pedestrian amenities, limit auto-oriented uses and allow vertical mixed-use buildings with storefronts and residential above. The draft would allow up to roughly four stories in the downtown zone to accommodate mixed-use development.
Staff pointed out that Good Shepherd Health Care (a health organization referenced by staff) owns a large parcel in the proposed downtown area and intends to develop a medical complex and some housing. The staff presentation emphasized the need to ensure medical and dental facilities are explicitly allowed in the downtown mixed-use zone to avoid future conflicts; staff said, "we need to make sure we have a mixed use opportunity for that."
Commissioners discussed whether stand-alone housing should be permitted in downtown or limited to mixed-use forms so that commercial land is preserved for ground-floor businesses; staff observed that allowing mixed-use while requiring certain rezones provides a way to balance housing and commercial-retail objectives.
