3A Public Hearing 2011 0321 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Planning Conunissian Adjourned Regular Meeting Minutes February 17, 2011 Agenda No. 11 -02 Page 2 of 3 Consolidated Planning requirements, which include assessing affordable housing and homeless needs. Chair Collier asked about the capacity of the St. Leander facility. Planning Manager Liao estimated that it could accommodate about 32 people. Planner Banos pointed out that the St. Leander facility is not in an IL zone anyway, so it would be grandfathered in. In terms of changes that pertain to the Downtown Area, Planner Banos said that a series of adjustments are needed to reflect market realities, oversights and updates. Accordingly, the proposals for Article 6 — Commercial and Professional Districts include: • Adding to permitted uses: animal grooming in DA -I, animal sales in DA -1, and cafes in DA -1, DA -3 and DA-4. Animal sales and cafes would then be removed from the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) list. Planner Barros said that these are pedestrian -oriented uses that should be quite appropriate to those downtown areas. • Modifying the status of Office, Business and Professional: in DA -1, removing all location parameters; in DA -3 and DA-4, removing from CUP list and adding to Administrative Review list; and in DA -5, removing requirement for mixed use on upper floors. Planner Barros said that some past office -use applicants have come to the permit counter for downtown locations, but had to be turned away due to restrictions that a) limited ground floor offices to 15% of block frontage facing East 14th Street; b) prohibited them from the upper floors; and c) allowed single -use office buildings only on parcels not fronting either East 14th Street or Washington Avenue. She explained that the Zoning Enforcement Official considers Administrative Review a more agile way than the CUP process to work with an applicant who wants to establish an office downtown. She further pointed out that the DA -5 area comprises primarily Davis Street frontage, where the proposal would remove restrictions that require residential mixed use always to be established in conjunction with office uses. In Article 3, Definitions: • Adding dental laboratories to Office, Business and Professional. In Article 10, Planned Development Overlay District/Planned Development Project Approval: • Adding language specifying that property in any DA district with a PD overlay shall be governed by the design and uses provided in the conditions of the approved PD; that any changes proposed to the property shall be subject to the uses and zoning standards of the underlying DA district, subject to the Community Development Director's review, discretion and approval of the changes in the context of the General Plan, the TOD Strategy and the intent of the DA districts. Planner Barros explained that this change would clarify how a PD overlay would function in DA districts. In Article 17, Off - Street Parking and Loading Regulations: • Updating TOD Strategy parking requirements to reflect the fact that the three -year phase - in period provided for in the initial article has expired. Commissioner Dlugosh, referring to permitted uses in the DA -I District, requested clarification about what's being eliminated in Article 6, Section 6- 636.A.I9. Planner Barros explained that it isn't the actual "Office, Business and Professional" use being eliminated, but the restrictions on that use that currently appear in some parts of the Zoning Code. ATTACHMENT A: EXCERPT OE DRAFT MINUTES FOR PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 17, 2011