Agenda - Planning Commission - 05/02/2002

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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I facility thac no longer houses retail on the ground floor. "The overall impact on Marietta Street has been quire ne§acNe,"' Racicoc says. Early in 2000, a developer proposed to convert Atlan~a's iV[acT's department store into an apartment building for 350 residenr~. The building, located on a prominent street, is approximately one million square feet in size, and much of r.b_e space is used for retail. A celecommunications developer outbid the apartment development for the Peachtree Street conversion. Although no telecommunications facility regulations were in effect at the rime of the project's development, the ne~tive press associated with the telecom development persuaded the developers to allow Macy's department store to remain on the ground floor of the relco building. Regulation When cities are confronted with relko hocels, they have generally classified them within existing land-use categories such as utilities, commercial, office, or warehouse buildings. As Shirley Leung notes ("L.A. Looks To Limit Telco Hotels," WallScreer Journal, August 2, 2000), teico hotels typically fall under the broad zoning category of commercial-office, if zoning regulations do nor categorize telcos more precisely, city planners will nor necessarily know wherher space is occupied by a telco hotel or a regular' office tenant. According to Andrew Cmbtree, senior city planner of the San Jose, California, Planning When cities are confronted with telco hotels, they have generally classified them within existing land-use categories such as utiJities, commercial, office, or warehouse buildings. Department, telco b. oceb were not technically permitted within char city's zoning re=m~ladons. Therefore, in response co an increase in relco hotels, the cityadded tetcos as a specific use within be transportation and communications category of the zoning code and defined them as =communications service " exchange." San Jose left the term broad to ~low for future changes in technology. b. response to the appearance of inactivity that resulted from telecom conversions in Adanta, the city proposed an .. ordinance that requires active uses on the ground floor of telecommunications equipment buildings. Swircfi. ing facilities attract the type of buainesses the city council.wan= to attract to Adanta, such' as Inrernet companies. Racicor says the city The Lakeside Technology Center is located in the historic Donnelly Building in Chicago. Renovated in 2)99, the building has several characteristics im?ortanr for relco hotel~: ceilings between 13 and 16feet high, floor load of 25O pound$ per square foot, and over one million available square.~et. Outside the building, it is dij~cult to tell inside are telecommunications and