Agenda - Planning Commission - 07/06/1999

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Use Regular/om. A specified list of land uses allowed in a particular zoning district is the traditional form of zoning control, and the key surrogate for determining the land-use activity, which might have an adverse affect upon adjacent land uses or the character ora zoning district. Some performance zoning approaches have bypassed land uses as a surrogate and established district controls permitting any use if adhering to certain performance characteristics. However, such ordinances have met with some disfavor as a result of community difficulty in understanding the kinds of uses that might be located in a particular area, the complexity ofapplying such procedures, and the lack of predictability regarding possible development patterns. Ordinance Development Process Ordinance Outline and OrgcmizatJon g~.;~?~'~ Workmfl (dlscussmn) Draft ~ ~... ~ Adopted In contemporary zoning ordinances, use lists tend to include permitted uses, permitted uses subject to special conditions, and special uses. Permitted uses are allowed by right. No conditions are attached to these uses, and ifa development proposal meets the bulk and site development standards established within the district, the zoning review and approval should be swift and without constraint. Permitted uses subject to established conditions is a subset of the permitted use. These establish certain limits on a use by right which, if met, should lead to similar swift and unconstrained approval. This form of regulation is growing in popularity as ir represents a performance type, use-based zoning that helps to carry out specific aspects of community land-use policy. Special uses are generally accepted within specified districts, but need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Thus, the zoning process for special uses requires a formal public hearing and an evaluation of the degree to which the uses meet criteria established for judging their merit and acceptability. Other trends in use regulations include conditioning the character and location attributes of uses by establishing more permitted uses with standards, and focusing the conditional use process on those uses that tend to create the greatest land- use friction in the community. The bewildering array of new commercial activities, the mixing of uses, and the wide variety of building types has led to a departure from extensive listings of uses in favor of more general terms that are precisely defined in a performance manner. For example, retail and service uses ma7 be listed in a commercial district and then defined to specify the attributes of such uses in the definition section of the ordinance. The mixed use phenomenon is growing. Mixed uses are accommodated either through 'the district use list (sometimes with special review procedures established) or through a "broadening" of accessory uses, where the use is considered to be accessory to a principal building. Examples include retail facilities in residential buildings that serve building clients or a broad definition of accessory uses within a hotel or resort environment. Bulk Controls. Bulk controls determine building location and the intensity of development on the lot. Conventional bulk control standards address yards, height, and floor area ratio (FAR). Bulk controls, which help to establish the character of development, have become the subject of attention in communities that are dealing with the replacement of older, smaller-scale buildings with new construction that meets the maximum bulk controls allowed in the district but tends to visually "overbuild" the lot. Communities have addressed this issue ~vith sliding scale height standards, where maximum height is held back at a considerable distance from the front building tine, reduced residential FAR, ground coverage limitations, and requirements for aggregate space between buildings. Another trend in bulk standards is "build-to-lines," which helps to establish design character. This technique differs from setback by establishing a line that buildings must adhere to rather than be set back from. The purpose of build-to-lines is to encourage the development of a unified "street wall" that brings buildings closer to the street. Traditional bulk standards, employed to control the location of accessory uses on sites, include site setbacks for off-street parking, free-standing signs and secondary structures such as garages, and the height and location of fences, landscape material, and play equipment. These measures indicate a trend toward using the zoning ordinance to establish and facilitate urban design policy in the community. Leslie S. ]~ollvck is a principat consultant of Camiros Ltd., a planning and zoning consulting.firm with offices in Chicago, Denver, and Indianapolis. He has prepared numerous zoning ordinance revisions for communities across the country and is currently assisting Clark County (Las Vegas), Nevada, with the preparation ora new Unified Development Code. Development Standards Using development standards in the zoning ordinance has increased significantly over the years. Zoning has evolved from a property protection tool to a measure for implementing land- use and urban design policy. Development standards include such site controls as off- street parking and loading, landscape and buffering, signage,