Alex Dambach, AICP

Planning Supervisor

Peter Schwarz, AICP

Assistant Director

Brad Ostroff

Acting Director, Community and Economic Development

Case #19-22T “Residential Design and Compatibility.” A Public Hearing to consider amending Article III, Sections 24-29 through 24-34, 24-51.1 through 24-51.5 and creating Section 24-52; amending Article V, Sections 24-68, 24-77, and 24-79 and creating Sections 24-79.2 through 24-79.4; amending Article VI, Sections 24-80 and 24-83; Article VII, Section 96; Article XV, Section 208; and amending Article XVIII, Section 24-245 of the Land Development Code to update various regulations including setbacks, height and other urban design and development regulations in residential districts to ensure compatibility of future development with the character of existing neighborhoods. 

Issue Statement: The City of Oakland Park is experiencing increased residential development activity necessitating the City to ensure that land development regulations provide for buildings to be physically compatible with their neighborhoods and to revise the code to address inconsistencies and clarify existing language. The City has examined best practices from other cities to determine appropriate methods to regulate physical characteristics of new development and those methods are used in the proposed amendment to land development regulations. City staff has presented this ordinance to various neighborhood associations throughout the City with productive feedback generally supporting this Ordinance. 

Recommended Action:  The Planning and Zoning Board recommend that the City Commission approve the attached Ordinance amending Article III, Sections 24-29 through 24-34, 24-51.1 through 24-51.5 and creating Section 24-52; amending Article V, Sections 24-68, 24-77, and 24-79 and creating Sections 24-79.2 through 24-79.4; amending Article VI, Sections 24-80 and 24-83; Article VII, Section 96; Article XV, Section 208; and amending Article XVIII, Section 24-245 of the Land Development Code to update various regulations including setbacks and height for residential districts and other urban design and development regulations to ensure compatibility of future construction with the character of existing development.

Staff proposes text amendments to several sections of the Land Development Code.  The following summarizes the proposed changes to specific residential zoning district regulations and to overall city regulations:

Add a new Section 24-52 creating a chart and graphics to present new regulations for yard setbacks, site coverage, and building heights using fewer pages than used by current text.  The chart and graphics would be applicable to each specific residential zoning district, citywide:

1.     Front yard setbacks for new buildings in residential zones would be based on the setbacks of the 2 closest existing buildings on the same block and on the same side of the street to ensure compatibility of new buildings with the alignment of neighboring buildings.  For sites where there are no reference buildings on the block, the front setback would be 25 feet.

2.     Existing side and rear yard setback standards would continue to apply for first floors of buildings in residential zones, but for upper floors or any area of a dwelling higher than 15 feet, graduated setbacks using ratios based on wall height would be required, unless the adjacent building has side walls taller than 15 feet.

3.     The permitted height for one-family and two-family zones would be reduced by 8 feet from 35 feet to 27 feet to accommodate 2-story dwellings with less bulk, but a provision is added to permit taller dwellings only in areas where the average height of other dwellings on that block is higher than 27 feet.

4.     Diagrams are added to convey yard setback and height information graphically.

R-1 & R-2 Zones:

1.     Yard setbacks, site coverage, and building heights would be regulated by the chart and graphics in new Section 24-52.

2.     Language regarding existing non-conforming lots is clarified and is added to the R-2 Zone to fairly address existing lots created before zoning regulations existed.

3.   Glazing requirements are added that are similar the Town Home District but with lower percentage requirements because the architecture of free-standing houses needs glazing, but less than should be needed for townhouses.  Based on best practices of cities around the United States, a glazing requirement enables new construction to avoid the stark appearances caused by largely blank, windowless walls.

Town Home Zone:

1.     Yard setbacks, site coverage, and building heights would be regulated by the chart and graphics in new Section 24-52.

2.     The ‘varying projections’ regulations of this zone are modified to avoid forcing a jumbled appearance caused by off-set townhouses within rows.  Requirements are added for architectural features/projections on each townhouse unit.

RM-16 & RM-25:

1.     Yard setbacks, site coverage, and building heights would be regulated by the chart and graphics in new Section 24-52.

2.     Language regarding existing non-conforming lots is added and clarified to address existing small lots in this zone and allow them to be used for single-family houses instead of forcing those small lots to be used only for multi-family dwellings.

3.   Glazing requirements are added that are similar the Town Home District but with lower percentage requirements because the architecture of free-standing houses needs glazing, but less than should be needed for townhouses.  Based on best practices of cities around the United States, a glazing requirement enables new construction to avoid the stark appearances caused by largely blank, windowless walls.

RO Zone:

1.     Yard setbacks, site coverage, and building heights would be regulated by the chart and graphics in new Section 24-52.

2.     Language regarding existing non-conforming lots is added and clarified.

R-1A & R-1B Zones:

1.     Yard setbacks, site coverage, and building heights would be regulated by the chart and graphics in new Section 24-52.

2.     Language regarding existing non-conforming lots is added and clarified.

3.   Glazing requirements are added that are similar the Town Home District but with lower percentage requirements because the architecture of free-standing houses needs glazing, but less than should be needed for townhouses.  Based on best practices of cities around the United States, a glazing requirement enables new construction to avoid the stark appearances caused by largely blank, windowless walls.

R-1C Zone:

1.     Yard setbacks, site coverage, and building heights would be regulated by the chart and graphics in new Section 24-52.

2.     Language regarding existing non-conforming lots is added and clarified.

3.   Glazing requirements are added that are similar the Town Home District but with lower percentage requirements because the architecture of free-standing houses needs glazing, but less than should be needed for townhouses.  Based on best practices of cities around the United States, a glazing requirement enables new construction to avoid the stark appearances caused by largely blank, windowless walls.

4.     Minimum lot width requirement is changed from 60 feet to 50 feet to correspond with existing lot configurations and original zoning requirements of this zone.

RD-10 & RM-5 Zones:

1.     Yard setbacks, site coverage, and building heights would be regulated by the chart and graphics in new Section 24-52.

2.     Language regarding existing non-conforming lots is added and clarified.

3.   Glazing requirements are added that are similar the Town Home District but with lower percentage requirements because the architecture of free-standing houses needs glazing, but less than should be needed for townhouses.  Based on best practices of cities around the United States, a glazing requirement enables new construction to avoid the stark appearances caused by largely blank, windowless walls.

Accessory structures - Citywide:

1.     Requirements that were missing for freestanding garages/carports for many zones are added.  A 5’ setback from side and rear yards would be required for freestanding residential garages/carports.  This requirement would be consistent with the zones that have these regulations.

2.     Missing requirements for mechanical equipment (air conditioning condensers, generators, and pool equipment) are added permitting a 2’ encroachment in required side or rear yard setbacks for this equipment, provided maximum noise limits are met.

Architectural features such as balconies, bay windows, and porches - Citywide:

1.     Balconies, front porches, porticos, bay windows, and dormer windows (for upper story setbacks) are added to list of permitted setback encroachments

2.     Encroachments of these items are permitted for up to three feet in front yards and for up to 6 feet for front porches.

3.     Definitions are added for these items.

Wall articulations - Citywide:

1.     To avoid long, monotonous wall expanses, a new standard would require architectural features, projections, or setback variations in lengthy walls.

2.     Requires a projecting or recessed architecture feature or a variation in setback at least every 25 linear feet on front facades and every 35 linear feet for side walls.

Upper story window off-sets – Citywide:

1.     Requires upper story windows of all new buildings to be off-set from the windows on neighboring residential buildings.

Glare - Citywide:

1.     Adds a prohibition of more than 0.5 foot-candle encroachment (literally the light level of a candle in a dark room 1 foot away) onto residential property

Front of Lot Definition - Citywide:

1.     Clarifies what is considered to be the front of a lot for lots with multiple street frontages (corner lots, through lots, etc.) 

2.     Front of lot is to be based on lot width, established development pattern, proposed building configurations, or plat depiction.

Parking Spaces – Citywide:

1.     Consolidated residential parking requirements to the section of the Land Development Code where all parking is regulated.

2.     Added to the definition of parking spaces a provision to allow for compact parking spaces to be used but limited to 25 percent of required parking in order to facilitate additional green space.

3.       Added to regulations for parking on grass to ensure that prohibitions apply city-wide and that allowances for special events at residences only apply for up to 8 hours and do not apply between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m.

Mobile/Modular homes – Citywide:

1.     The definition for modular or mobile homes is modified to include homes built of shipping containers.