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 other citywide regulations:
Add a new Section 24-52 creating a chart and graphics to consolidate all regulations for yard setbacks, site coverage, and building heights in one section rather than individually within the sections for each zoning district:
1. Front yard setbacks for new buildings in residential zones would be based on the setbacks of the two 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 adjacent 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 stepbacks using ratios based on wall height would be required for front and side yards unless the adjacent building has side walls taller than 15 feet. Conditional use approval would be required to deviate from this upper floor stepback requirement.
3. The permitted height for one-family and two-family zones would be reduced from 35 feet to 27 feet, which will accommodate two-story dwellings. 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 added to the R-2 Zone to address existing lots created before zoning regulations existed.
3. Glazing requirements are added that are similar to the existing Town Home zoning district. Although based on the Town Home regulations, these are proposed to have a slightly lower glazing requirement due to differences in the architecture of free-standing one and two-family houses. 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 remove the requirement to offset townhouses within rows. Requirements are added for architectural features/projections on each townhouse unit.
RM-16 & RM-25 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 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 for freestanding garages/carports in several 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. Requirements for mechanical equipment (air conditioning condensers, generators, and pool equipment) are added, permitting an encroachment in side-yard setbacks of half of the setback requirement and in the rear-yard setbacks of 42 inches 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. Balconies would only be permitted to encroach in front yards.
2. Encroachments of these items are permitted for up to three feet in front yards and for up to 6 feet for front porches. For other yards, the permitted encroachment is currently the lesser of one-third of the yard requirement or 3 feet.
3. Definitions are added for these items and modified for height to include parapets, stairwells, and deck railings.
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 offsets – Citywide:
1. Requires upper story windows of all new buildings to be offset at least 5 feet from the windows on adjacent residential buildings.
Glare - Citywide:
1. Adds a prohibition of more than 0.5 foot-candle encroachment onto adjacent residential property.
Front of Lot Definition - Citywide:
1. Clarifies what is considered to be the front of the 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.
2. Definition requires that mobile or modular homes would require conditional use approval.