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The applicant has provided additional information on parking supply at comparative projects to support the proposed parking design. 2. Underground Parking. The code requires, subject to any variance waiver, that most of the on- site parking is provided underground. The applicant is limited to just 16 surface spaces in part because impervious surface standards on this small parcel limit further pavement for parking or other purposes, even with a variance of about 10% over the standard. If the building were elevated to provide an under-building parking story, both parking supply and impervious coverage would be less of an issue. Factors for variance in this case are essentially an appeal to the smaller number of parking spaces necessary for assisted living housing compared to other multi-family and senior housing generally. The applicant is reluctant to consider underground parking, and absorbing the cost for what is most likely to be an effective over-supply of parking on the site. This factor is a balance between economics and reasonable use for the site – while economics are not to be used as the sole rationale for a variance, they can play a role. The applicant’s variance appeal here is based largely on the factor that the parking supply provided in an under-building parking garage would go largely unused – an economic burden that provides no specific benefit to the land use. Staff believes that there may be reasonable grounds for variance consideration in this case, given that the purpose of the underground (or under-building) parking is to limit surface parking and the impervious surface that comes with it. In this case, there would still be a need for some surface parking for visitors and transient employees, even if there were underground spaces available. In this way, the underground requirement can be viewed as an unreasonable burden on the otherwise reasonable use of the property. Moreover, staff has undertaken additional research on parking demand for assisted living facilities. A common standard is .25 spaces per bed, plus .5 spaces per employee. For this facility, with 38 maximum beds and 5 staff, the estimated parking demand would be 12 spaces. As such, staff believes that the 16- space parking supply would be sufficient for nearly all conditions, with an occasional exception for a few high-demand events such as Mother’s Day. Building Design and Materials The proposed building is designed as a two-story facility with a gabled roof and two cross-gables along the north (front) wall. The south exposure does not show any additional architecture variation either in the roof or wall plane. The R-4 District includes the following requirement: The applicant for any multi-family structure in the R-4 District shall provide a proposed materials palette, including a plan that shows brick, stone, glass, and architectural metal on no less than 50% of all building walls. Architecture shall include significant articulation in both wall facades and building roofline. The building materials for this structure are primarily lapped metal siding and a wainscot of simulated stone, as well as other stone elements around the main entry facing the parking area and toward the street. The west (street), north, and east exposures show some changes in building wall and roofline. However, the south wall, adjoining the apartment property and subject to the requested setback variance, shows little articulation as noted above. Staff would recommend that this exposure is addressed to add visual interest on this side of the building. This recommendation is strengthened by the fact that this exposure is limited in potential landscape planting due to underground utilities and the narrowed side yard. Enhancing the visual impact of this exposure would help offset the lack of landscape and the setback reduction. As noted, the applicant has added cross gables to the south roof plane, and enhanced the materials on the south and west side of the building with additional stone wainscot. 26