HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 15 ES CC Off-Street Parking 4-16-131
MAYOR AND COUNCIL COMMUNICATION
DATE: 04/16/2013
REGULAR
ITEM #: 15
MOTION
AGENDA ITEM: Zoning Text Amendment – Off-Street Parking and Loading
SUBMITTED BY: Nick Johnson, City Planner
THROUGH: Dean Zuleger, City Administrator
REVIEWED BY: Planning Commission
Kyle Klatt, Planning Director
SUGGESTED ORDER OF BUSINESS:
- Introduction of Item.................................................................................................. Staff
- Report/Presentation……………………………………………...………..................... Staff - Questions from Council to Staff............................................................ Mayor Facilitates - Public Input, if Appropriate................................................................... Mayor Facilitates
- Call for Motion.............................................................................. Mayor & City Council - Discussion..................................................................................... Mayor & City Council - Action on Motion................................................................................... Mayor Facilitates
SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUESTED:
The City Council is asked to consider a Zoning Text Amendment, establishing standards for off-street parking and loading for all use classifications in Lake Elmo. The existing provisions related to off-street parking only address parking requirements for a limited number of use classifications in four specific
zoning districts. This Zoning Text Amendment is part of the ongoing effort to reorganize and improve the Lake Elmo Zoning Code in preparation of future sewered growth.
The Planning Commission recommends the City Council approve Ordinance 08-077 through the
following motion:
“Move to approve Ordinance 08-077, establishing off-street parking and loading requirements for all use classification in the Lake Elmo Zoning Code”
In addition, Staff recommends that the City Council approve Resolution No. 2013-31, authorizing summary publication of Ordinance 08-077, through the following motion:
“Move to approve Resolution No. 2013-31, authorizing summary publication of Ordinance 08-077.”
BACKGROUND AND STAFF REPORT:
Staff is currently working on a large project aimed at incrementally reorganizing and improving the Lake Elmo Zoning Code in preparation of upcoming growth. This project began with the adoption of the urban residential and commercial zoning districts in August of 2012. As Staff has worked to improve the Zoning Code, existing ordinances have been evaluated in terms of effectiveness and organization. In this
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spirit, Staff evaluated the existing off-street parking regulations and found the standards to be incomplete
and poorly organized. With the onset of future development, it is important to have clear and effective parking regulations, particularly for uses that have greater parking needs, such as commercial and high density residential development. In order to organize the off-street parking requirements in a sensible
manner, Staff is proposing to set parking levels based upon use classification as opposed to zoning district. Use classifications are land use types, such as single family detached or restaurant, and can be found in §154.012 of the Lake Elmo City Code. Therefore, these use classifications become the basis for
the amount of off-street parking required in Lake Elmo, regardless of the zoning district.
The Planning Commission reviewed the proposed Off-Street Parking and Loading Ordinance at a workshop meeting on March 25, 2013. At this meeting, the Planning Commission made some recommendations related to minor adjustment of the ordinance. Staff responded to this request by making minor refinements. After an initial review, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the proposed ordinance on April 8, 2013. No one spoke in favor or against the ordinance at the public hearing. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended the propose ordinance for approval.
The Off-Street Parking and Loading Ordinance is intended to establish parking requirements for all use
classifications in Lake Elmo. This is a departure from the current approach of establishing parking requirements for a limited number of use classifications within 4 zoning districts: General Business, Highway Business, Convenience Business and Limited Business. Not only are these zoning districts
obsolete with the recent amendments made to the Comprehensive Plan, but not all use classifications are addressed within these standards. The proposed Off-Street Parking and Loading Ordinance is intended to remedy these deficiencies.
In addition to standards related to location, maintenance and design of parking areas, the proposed parking ordinance (§154.210) establishes dimensional standards for all parking types in Table 5-1. These dimensional standards address parallel parking, angled (45o) parking, 60o parking and head-in (90o)
parking. Moving forward, the ordinance establishes quantifiable parking requirements in Table 5-2. Next, the ordinance also includes provisions for off-street loading (§154.211). The Zoning Code does have existing provisions related to off-street loading, but does not include a requirement related to the number of loading births per the size of the facility. This ordinance remedies this gap by including a requirement pertaining to the number of loading birth, which is important in larger facilities that could be located in the Commercial (C) or Business Park (BP) districts. Finally, Staff is proposing to organize these standards under Article 5, General Regulations. These are zoning requirements that apply to land use across all zoning districts. As part of this effort, Staff suggests striking all of the existing language pertaining to off-street parking and loading, outlined in Ordinance 08-077.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Planning Commission recommends the City Council approve Ordinance 08-077 through the following motion:
“Move to approve Ordinance 08-077, establishing off-street parking and loading requirements for all use classification in the Lake Elmo Zoning Code”
In addition, Staff recommends that the City Council approve Resolution No. 2013-31, authorizing summary publication of Ordinance 08-077, through the following motion:
“Move to approve Resolution No. 2013-31, authorizing summary publication of Ordinance 08-077.”
ATTACHMENT(S):
1. Ordinance 08-077 2. Resolution No. 2013-31