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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-05-24 CC Minutes - DZCCITY OF UKIAH CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Downtown Zoning Code Workshop Ukiah Valley Conference Center Chenin Blanc Room 200 School Street, Ukiah, CA 95482 Tuesday, May 24, 2011 6:00-8:00 a.m. 1. ROLL CALL Ukiah City Council met at a Special Meeting on May 24, 2011, the notice for which being legally noticed on May 13, 2011. Mayor Rodin called the meeting to order at 6:10 pm. Roll was taken with the following Councilmembers present: Landis, Thomas, and Mayor Rodin. Councilmembers absent: Councilmembers Crane and Baldwin. Staff present: Planning Director and Community Development Stump, Senior Planner Jordan, Associate Planner Faso, and City Clerk Currie. Councilmembers Crane and Baldwin were not present because both have a conflict of interest by owing property within a 300 square feet radius of the DZC boundaries and cannot by law participate in the discussion and/or vote on the matter. Mayor Rodin owns property within a 300 square foot radius of the DZC, but since Council needed to have a quorum, one member of the three with the conflict needed to participate, so there was a selection process between these three Council members and Mayor Rodin was selected to participate. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3. PETITIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. Special Joint City Council/Planning Commission Workshop of 4/27/11 M/S Thomas/Landis to approve minutes of April 27, 2011, as amended correcting the spelling of two members of the public's names. Motion carried by all AYE voice vote. Absent: Councilmembers Crane and Baldwin. 5. RIGHT TO APPEAL DECISION 6.. AUDIENCE COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS Charlie Seltzer supports Downtown zoning code with exclusions for fast food for the following reasons: 1. Improve health/oversaturation of unhealthy foods 2. Stronger local economy 3. Help protect Ukiah's small 4. Takes business away from local business Steve Scalmanini supports ban on formula fast food. Page 1 of 4 May 24, 2011 Lisa Mammina welcomes formula stores in the downtown and thinks it contributes to sprawl if they do not allow formula businesses downtown. Judy Pruden, Planning Commission Chairperson, explained the recommendation by the Planning Commission was not an across the board banning of all fast food, however it is based on the definition of formula fast food included in the Downtown Zoning Code. Jim Mayfield suggested not defining land use by psychology - City should not be a social engineer. Design restriction should make sure they are code focused and focus on the form of form base zoning. 7. WORKSHOP DISCUSSION a. Community Workshop for Discussion of the Proposed Downtown Zoning Code (DZC) Trees RELEAF prepared the street tree list and parking lot tree list and have been included in the Downtown zoning. Judy Pruden: There was much controversy amongst the tree committee members about what trees would be on the list. However, it worked out in the end. Non-conforming Uses Planning Commission recommends allowing non-conforming uses to continue on a case by case basis with a major use permit. Linda Malone suggested not discouraging the continuance of non-conforming uses or their elimination. Suggested the language in this section should be revised to be more positive. Staff: The language is section 12.120 (B) is intentional. When new uses are adopted, non-conforming uses are discouraged and the intention is that over time these uses will be replaced. The DZC non-conforming section is more generous than the current zoning code and would allow a use made non-conforming to continue with approval of a Major Use Permit. The Planning Commission reviewed this section and determined that if the use was compatible with its neighbors, consistent with the purposes of the Code, and consistent with the development standards it should be allowed to continue with approval of a major use permit. Staff researched non-conforming use sections from many different cities and modified one to fit the direction provided by the Planning Commission. Council Member Landis asked how is this shared parking handled in the Downtown Zoning Code? Wants to know if there is a way to reduce parking. Staff: Section 9.030 (A) allows for a reduction of parking when there is more than one use on a site and the uses have different parking needs, such as office and residential or office and retail. Sections 9.030(B-H) provide other ways to reduce onsite parking. Some of these currently exist in the zoning code and some are new, such as off-site parking and reduction for reduction of Water Pollution and Stormwater Run-Off. In Table 14, staff recommends adding a footnote that parking is determined by Major Exception or by Use Permit since that is typically one of the purposes of a use permit. The amount of parking needed would then be determined as part of the use permit process. Page 2 of 4 May 24, 2011 City Council agrees with this approach. City Council had no more questions or comments. Completed two development scenarios. Senior Planner Jordan led City.Council through two exercises. Scenario 1 - Fitness Center - 247 East Perkins Street Scenario 2 - Retail Sales with pharmacy and drive-thru Linda Malone asked why does the city want buildings right at the property line. Seems harsh and landscaping should be allowed. Staff: When the charrette was done, the predominant community preference was a streetscape like School Street. This is a zero lot line with wide sidewalks and street trees. Council member Landis would like to see other materials included in the downtown zoning code. Does not want metal to be excluded and likes materials such as corrugated metal. Staff: Materials are on Page 39, Table 12. Metal is not allowed as a primary exterior material. In order to use metal, approval of a minor exception would be required. The Design Review Board is currently working on design guidelines and they have expressed interest in reviewing the materials allowed in the DZC. Need to add "stone" to the list of materials. This was omitted in error. Mayor Rodin spoke regarding sidewalks on School Street vs. Perkins Street. Does not want narrow sidewalks and expressed the following concerns: 1. Outdoor dining? 2. What happens when the sidewalk is not as wide? 3. Should there be a requirement for sidewalk width? 4. Need to look at where we are now. Staff: The sidewalk width is addressed as part of the street section included in Section 11: Circulation. The width of the sidewalk would not change unless the site was being redeveloped/developed and the developer was required to install frontage improvements. This is one of the New Topics that staff will be discussing as part of the Downtown Zoning Code. City Council agrees they would like wide sidewalks. Lisa Mammina had two comments: 1. Are signs addressed in Downtown Zoning Code? 2. Are there requirements for rooftop equipment sound abatement? Staff: 1. Staff was originally directed not to include signs as part of the DZC. Signs are included as part of the current design guidelines for downtown. Since the Design Review Board is working on replacing the downtown guidelines with new guidelines as part of the DZC, signs may be addressed as part of this process. 2. Rooftop screening is required as part of the DZC. Steve Scalmanini had two comments: 1. Healthy trees to be replaced? 2. What happens if a tree is removed prior to construction? Page 3 of 4 May 24, 2011 Staff: Trees have to be replaced as required by section 10.030. Council Member Landis asked why are the parcels on the north side of Perkins Street close to Pear Tree Shopping Center zoned General Urban? General Urban makes sense for the parcels along the boundary, but not here. Shouldn't this be Urban Center? Staff: Staff agrees that Urban Center makes more sense. The zoning came this way from the consultant after the charrette and was not changed through the workshop review process. Staff is unsure of the reasoning. Next Steps Staff will schedule an additional time to meet regarding new code topics with City Council. 8. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:17 pm. NA AQ J nne M. Currie, City Clerk Page 4 of 4 May 24, 2011