Title
Ordinance Text Amendment - Interior Setbacks / Multifamily Developments
Body
Department: Planning
Council District: All Districts
Public Hearing: Yes
Advertising Date/By:
Contact 1 and Phone: Steve Galanti at 373-2918
Contact 2 and Phone: Sue Schwartz at 373-2149
PURPOSE:
The purpose of the text amendment is to amend the Land Development Ordinance (LDO) by replacing the determination of setbacks related to a percentage of the building length with numeric side and rear yard setbacks based on building orientation and adjacent land uses; and clarify Type 1 (Planning Director) / Type 2 (TRC) modifications for multifamily developments. The City Council is required to hold a public hearing on this amendment before considering its approval.
BACKGROUND:
As several multifamily developers were preparing plans for submission to the Technical Review Committee for approval, it became apparent that the setback requirements were excessive and extremely different from those contained in the previous Unified Development Ordinance. This difference also had inadvertently rendered many of the existing multifamily complexes as nonconforming.
Current ordinance provisions establish a minimum setback for multifamily projects through a percentage calculation. For example, buildings of two stories or less are required to have a minimum interior setback of 25 feet or 20% of the building length facing the lot line, whichever is greater. Buildings of three stories or more have a minimum interior setback of 40% of the building length facing the lot line.
Staff has worked with TREBIC, the Neighborhood Congress, and several local developers to create a workable ordinance that will return the requirements to the concept under which the many of the previous multifamily projects were constructed. As a result, this change will address the concerns from the development community without adversely impacting abutting land uses.
The amendment proposes that...
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