Title
Ordinance Amending Chapter 30 of the Land Development Ordinance (LDO) With Respect To Zoning, Planning and Development - Open Air / Uncovered Terrace Front Setback Encroachments
Body
Department: Planning
Council District: All
Public Hearing: Yes
Advertising Date/By: January 4 and 11, 2018 / City Clerk
Contact 1 and Phone: Sue Schwartz at 373-2149
Contact 2 and Phone: Steve Galanti at 373-2918
PURPOSE:
The purpose of the text amendment is to revise the Land Development Ordinance (LDO) to allow open air / uncovered terraces to encroach into the required front setback. The City Council is required to hold a public hearing on this amendment before considering its approval.
BACKGROUND:
While working on the amendment to allow covered porches to extend into front setbacks, a request was made to also allow uncovered terraces to extend into front setbacks. Staff needed additional time to investigate, evaluated and formulated the terrace change. Due to time constraints, the covered porch change continued to moving through the public hearing process. The terrace change is now complete and after reconvening the stakeholder group, a consensus has been achieved for the terrace change.
• The Land Development Ordinance allows several encroachments, limited in dimension, into the required building setbacks that are determined to have a limited impact on the adjacent property. These include such things as overhanging eaves, stoops, bay windows and HVAC units.
• The goal of this effort was to continue to allow people to invest in their property and update obsolete structures while promoting “neighborliness” in communities and enhancing the “eyes on the street” security.
• In keeping with the premise for allowing encroachments that are limited in dimension and have a limited impact of the adjacent property, the proposal is to add an allowance for front porches that are covered and open.
Also included in the amendment are several changes, considered technical in nature, that do not change the current land use regulations. Those changes are related to the Planning Department’s and Planning Director’s name throughout the Land Development Ordinance and a formatting issue in the section related to separations for Bar, Nightclub and Brewpub.
Explanation of Changes
The text amendment will make several changes to the Land Development Ordinance, which are outlined as follows:
1. Creates definitions for open air / uncovered terrace and uncovered deck.
2. Specifies that the following items will now be permitted to encroach into setbacks:
a. Uncovered Stoops (Current)
i. Maximum of 5 feet into the front setback, and
ii. Maximum of 35 square feet into the front setback.
b. Open Air / Covered Porch (Change Pending)
i. Maximum of 10 feet into the front setback,
ii. Can be along the entire façade of the dwelling,
iii. Must be outside of the required side setbacks, and
iv. Must be a minimum of 15 feet from the front lot line.
c. Open Air / Uncovered Terrace (Proposed Change)
i. Maximum of 10 feet into the front setback,
ii. Can be along the entire façade of the dwelling,
iii. Must be outside of the required side setbacks, and
iv. Must be a minimum of 15 feet from the front lot line.
d. Uncovered Decks (Current)
i. Can be within 50% of the required rear setback.
3. Updates the entirety of the Land Development Ordinance to correctly reflect that the name of the Department of Planning and Community Development has been changed to the “Planning Department.”
4. Updates the headings in the Bar, Nightclub and Brewpub section so that each subsection has a similar format for further clarifying the type of separation contained within that subsection. This change only states the type of separation currently required, it does not change how the separation is measured nor does it add any additional regulations on land use.
Process:
The process to add the terrace allowance into the Land Development Ordinance was developed and progressed as follows:
1. Initial Proposal - The request was an outcome of the front open / covered porch stakeholder meetings, including a proposal for the definition of terrace and deck.
2. Survey - The stakeholder group was surveyed concerning the proposed definitions.
3. Draft Proposal - Staff prepared a draft ordinance base on the input and information gather from the previous steps.
4. Stakeholder Meeting - Having a draft to work with, staff met with a stakeholders group which include TREBIC, the Neighborhood Congress, home builders, realtors and representatives from City boards and commissions. This group arrived at a consensus on draft changes.
BUDGET IMPACT:
There will be no impact on the current or future budgets.
RECOMMENDATION / ACTION REQUESTED:
The Planning Board recommended this amendment with revisions at its December meeting on a vote of 5-1. Staff recommends that City Council receive citizen comments and consider adoption of the proposed text amendment.