02-09-2012 Planning Comm. Agenda

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A.11. The courts have been clear that it is not the City's responsibility to play realtor for the adult use establishment — they must fend for themselves in the real estate market and if all properly zoned and located parcels are full, that's the market working, not the ordinance, just as it would be for any other business looking to locate in a particular zoning district. Q.12. What do we need to do? A.12. The attached memorandum provides an outline of the City's zoning districts, and a summary of the eligible area under the current regulations. The challenge will be to find some combination of buffer distance and increase in the area of properly zoned parcels to get to "reasonable" — in general, something close to 5 %. The strategy of the zoning regulations is to identify acceptable zoning districts (some would say "least unacceptable ") for adult uses, then calculate a buffer distance from the sensitive uses that meets some estimate of "reasonable" regulation, but maximizes protection of the City's interests. Under the current zoning patterns, the City following table shows the amounts of land which would be eligible for adult use locations, given the current buffer standard of 500 feet, and the limitation to B -2 and PUD Districts, The first entry applies to the existing ordinance, showing a total of 1.75% of the City's land area eligible for such uses. If the buffer were dropped (basically allowing adult uses anywhere in the B -2 and PUD zones except those parcels directly abutting the sensitive uses), the percentage of eligible land increases to 2.82 %. If the B -3 district properties are added to the B -2 and PUD, adult use land availability would increase to 2.33% with the 500 foot buffer (1.75 plus .58). Further adding 1 -1, Light Industrial land to this would increase the eligible area to 4.06 %, still maintaining the 500 foot buffer. The table also shows that these four zoning districts together, without buffers, would constitute 5.99% of the land area. Little Canada With Adjacent Buffer Without Adjacent Buffer Adult Use Acreage [B -2, PUD] (Acres) 36.1 57.9 B -3, General Business (Acres) With Adjacent Buffer 12 Without Adjacent Buffer 22.2 1 -1, Light Industrial (Acres) With Adjacent Buffer 35.7 Without Adjacent Buffer 43 Percent of Total Acreage ( %) 1.75 2.82 Percent of Total Acreage ( %) 0.58 1.08 Percent of Total Acreage ( %) 1.73 2.09 Total Acreage (Acres) 2,053 Total Acreage (Acres) 2,053 Total Acreage (Acres) 2,053