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TO: Lakewood City CouncilLakewood Planning Commission
THRU: Rebecca Clark, Community Planning and Development Director
FROM: Roger Wadnal, Manager Comprehensive Planning and Research Division
DATE: November 29, 2006
SUBJECT: Transit Mixed-Use ZoningDecember 4th City Council Study Session
At the December 4th Study Session, City Council will be discussing the Transit
Mixed-Use (TMU) Zoning as a component of the light rail station area planning
process. The Study Session will be at 6:00 p.m. in the Cabinet Room. The Planning
Commission had been invited to attend the study session.
STATUS OF ACTIONS TAKEN AND PROPOSED
Previously, staff outlined four steps that would need to be taken in order to fully implement the City's vision for the light rail station areas. Two of those actions have already been undertaken:
1. Adopt Station Area Plans. The Station Area Plans set the framework for development around the major light rail stations and provide the basis for the Transit Mixed-Use (TMU) Zone District. The City Council adopted these plans as amendments to the Lakewood Comprehensive Plan on November 13th of this year.
2. Amend the Zoning Ordinance. The Ordinance Amendment to Article 17 of the Zoning Ordinance set forth criteria for initiating legislative rezoning and more clearly delineate how this process can be used and tie the process to the Comprehensive Plan. This Ordinance Amendment was approved by City Council on November 27th.
There are two additional actions to be recommended at future public hearings:
1. Adopt the Transit-Mixed (TMU) Use Zone District. The Transit Mixed-Use (TMU) Zone District is designed to be a strong tool to implement the Station Area Plans. This action would be adopted by City Council as Article 22 of the Lakewood Zoning Ordinance. The Planning Commission has reviewed and revised the document during three study sessions held over the past three months. The commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the zone district on January 3, 2007.
2. Re-map Properties in Station Areas. All of the properties within each of the Station Planning Areas are to be remapped to the TMU Zone District. The TMU Zone District with associated Sub-Area would replace existing zone designations for these properties. This would be accomplished by a legislative action by City Council once the TMU Zone District has been approved and is effective.
TRANSIT MIXED-USE ZONING
The City Council first reviewed the TMU Zone District ordinance in August of this year. Since that time, the Planning Commission and staff have met during three study sessions to refine the ordinance language. Several modifications to the language resulted from these discussions. The most significant changes are outlined below:
Additional Emphasis on the Performance-Based Review Process. The Planning Commission, in keeping with their desire to implement the Performance-Based Review Process wherever possible, clearly identified the ability to review a project within a TMU zoned area through the process. The TMU ordinance indicates that flexibility and creativity are key elements of project design. The document includes design standards that shall be met. However, an applicant can demonstrate the ability to achieve a comparable result through the Performance-Based Review Process as an alternative.
Consistent Language Regarding Non-Conforming Commercial Uses. The non-conforming language for commercial development has been modified to generally reflect the code language found in Article 16 of the Zoning Ordinance that addresses no-conforming uses throughout the City. One exception is that uses and structures within the TMU zone areas will be allowed to expand by up to 20 percent of the floor or use area. This exception is more lenient and flexible than the existing Article 16 language.
More Permitted Single-Family Detached Residential Uses. Existing single-family detached structures are now permitted within all of the sub-areas. Existing detached residential homes can be maintained and expanded. Additionally, new single-family detached residential structures are now permitted within the Medium, as well as Lower Density Residential sub-areas.
Fewer Architecture and Urban Design Requirements. All of the architectural design requirements have been removed from the zone district language. In lieu of the ordinance language, a separate development manual will be created to address these important elements. Urban design language has been retained in the ordinance, but the scope of the requirements has been limited to the basic building blocks of good transit-oriented development. Both Planning Commission and staff felt the remaining urban design specifications were important "place-making" elements and should be codified.
Significant Reduction in the Number of Non-Conforming Uses. The overall number of non-conforming uses has been significantly reduced by the ordinance language changes. Under the initial version of the ordinance review by the City Council in August, over 40 percent of the approximately 800 properties included within the station area boundaries would have been non-conforming. Under the current version of the ordinance, approximately 5 percent of the total properties to be remapped would be considered non-conforming. The number of non-conforming uses has been reduced by almost 85 percent. The non-conforming uses generally consist of adult businesses, pawn shops, and car dealerships.
UPCOMING PUBLIC OUTREACH
During a series of meeting in August, staff presented the proposed TMU zoning document to property owners within the station areas and other interested citizens.
Following the Planning Commission study sessions, and the revisions made during those meetings, staff felt that additional outreach was necessary. Therefore, staff will be conducting three additional meetings with property owners, business and residential tenants, and other interested parties during December. The meeting dates are the 5th, 7th, and 12th of the month.
The City website has also been updated to include a draft version of the TMU Zone District, as well as the approved Station Area Plans.
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