07-09-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Senior Housing Code Amendments Page 3 With the issues and concerns noted above, staff has prepared the following list of topics for the Planning Commission to discuss: 1. Define “Senior Housing” – should there be an age limit for who is allowed to live there? Ages 55 or 62 are commonly used, or if a couple, at least one member must be at least 62. 2. Unit sizes – the city code currently states that a 1 bedroom unit must be at least 630 square feet, and a 2 bedroom unit must be at least 750 square feet. These sizes are much larger than what is being proposed for new senior housing projects that include assisted living, and the city code does not address “studio” or “efficiency” apartments at all, which are commonly used in assisted living facilities. 3. Density – the city code regulates density by requiring a minimum lot area per dwelling unit. For example; multiple family requires 2,500 square feet of land per unit, a townhouse requires 6,500 square feet of land per unit, and single family detached requires 11,000 square feet of land for interior lots and 12,500 square feet of land for corner lots. This requirement for regular multiple family is realistic when you factor in 800-1,000 square foot units, 2.5 stalls per unit of parking and garages. This becomes an issue when many senior housing units are less than 500 square feet, which means there are a lot more units in a building. Density is one of the primary issues that other cities are addressing when updating their city codes about senior housing. 4. Parking – current city code requires multi family housing to provide 2.5 parking spaces per unit, with at least one of the spaces enclosed. The R-4 zoning district code does have parking requirements for nursing homes and other senior congregate living, but it does not seem to be appropriate for senior independent living as it only requires 1 space for every 3 beds, plus 1 stall per employee on the largest shift. Many will agree that congregate senior housing does not need nearly as much parking as a normal multi family development. Most cities are reducing the parking requirements for senior housing developments. 5. Ensuring that the building remains senior housing - If the buildings are designed to be different from a typical multi-family housing building, and/or the city lowers requirements for things such as parking, unit sizes, etc., should there be some guarantee that the buildings will only be used for senior housing? 6. Develop all senior housing projects as a Planned Unit Development (PUD)? – this is an option that could be used rather than changing several areas of the city code. The last two senior housing developments in Mounds View(Real Life Co-op and Silver Lake Pointe) are both zoned PUD. The city code currently requires that all PUD residential developments must be at least a three acre site, but the code could be amended to allow all senior housing developments to be a PUD regardless of property size. Because of the site size requirement, the current code limits the developments that could use a PUD. The new senior housing project is only a 2.38 acre parcel so we are not able to take advantage of the flexibility that a PUD allows.