Agenda - Planning Commission - 06/06/1995

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THE ZONING REPORT For Planning and Zoning Professionals ISSN 0748-0083 VOL 13, NO 6 -- MAYi19, 1995 -- Charles Reed, AICP, Editor/Publisher -- $58/year/subscription R~CENT TRENDS IN MIXED USE ZONING Mixed-use zoning provisions are becoming brief and generalized--to ~leave the details to be negotiated, with the l(bcality prior to final proj- ect approval. The nebd to negotiate mixed-use zoning proposals deri~es from their open-ended innovative nature. Th~ design of these projects is so variable that ~ single set of detailed stahdards cannot be~devised well enough by zoning codes to regula~te how they are designed and developed. Ofte~ the most detailed regu- lation is the purpo~.es and intents section, which sets' forth the!guidelines by whi'ch the terms of the proposed!project are negotiated. Four regulatory approa~ches for ~ixed-use zoning provisions The original approach~for regulating mixed-use development is as a ~,oning district. This ap- proach is rarely founO in zoning codes today, lists of conditional uses, site plan approval, performance zoning standards, review of design effectiveness and aesthetics, and environmental regulations. A preliminary subdivision plat was filed, showing the barest details of the loca- tion of buildings, parking areas and drives. These regulations proved to be so detailed and extensive that developers avoid filing for mixed-use projects in localities with these unwieldy zones. To simplify and 'streamline .these complicated provisions, many communities have created a special mixed-use PUD. It is regulated like any other type of PUD, which,'in most localities, is provided separately for residential, commercial and industrial uses. This separation allays fears of skeptical neighbors that the approved land uses in a PUD will not be changed later to less desired uses through some quiet admini- strative process. having been replaced iby the brief generalized* ......... p~:~d-use projects are especially regulated approaches discussed I~elow.. as sepa.rate PUDs. Objectors more strongly fear · ~ Decades ago, m~xed~,.use zoning districts we~e::~. ~that~/%~J{e approved planned mix of uses in a common in codes of l~rge central cities. The project gives the developer a later open-ended z'one c6'nsisted of longfuse lists and many page~s,~ l\ i6-~i~'~°f future uses. These uses could domi- o~' detailed developm~.nt standards and review nate the project, greatly changing its original procedures. These ex~ensive regulations tried to accommodate through unwieldy creative methods some techniques found today in codes that then were unknov~n or of questionable le- gality. These techniques are joint financing and sharing of the cost of~public improvements and project infrastructure[including tax financing, open-ended bulk andi development standards approved only for specific projects, extensive character. Thus, up front, a developer must apply for a mixed-use PUD and name and lo- cate the proposed uses in it, which are review- ed, edited and approved by the elected board after hearings. Another approach for regulating mixed-use projects is as a mixed-use overlay district. The overlay is added over specified underlying of- fice and business base zones. Residential uses © 1995 by Charles Reed! ........ 1404 No State Road 7, Suite 269; Margate, Florida 33063 -- ~ailing address: PO Box 6529; Margate, Florida 33093 --