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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/13/2018 Item 3, Duffy ZONING UPDATE COMMENTS PLANNING COMMISSION June 13, 2018 Dear Chair Fowler and Commissioners, My name is Jim Duffy, I’m a local architect and owner of TEN OVER STUDIO a downtown business. I’m also the former chair of the Architectural Review Commission and currently on the Board of Directors for the Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Chamber’s Zoning Update Committee. I appreciate the City’s efforts to update the Zoning Ordinance and implement the LUCE and my comments revolve around the City’s major goals of Housing, Climate Action and Downtown Vitality. DOWNTOWN AND HOUSING I applaud the City for seeking to expand the CD zoning up Monterey, but I feel that this does not go far enough. I encourage the City to expand the CD zone south to the Marsh / Higuera intersection (convert C-R zones) per the newly adopted DOWNTOWN CONCEPT PLAN and to be more in-line with the Downtown Association Boundary. This expansion of the downtown will allow for greater height, density and much needed housing while preserving the lower density character of the historic downtown core. These outlying areas on the periphery of the Downtown core were identified in the DOWNTOWN CONCEPT PLAN as reasonable places to increase density and height. Urban density as opposed to suburban sprawl is by far the most environmentally friendly option. The incremental infrastructure costs and impacts are minimal in comparison and better support multi-modal transportation. Encouraging housing and office spaces Downtown will result in a more balanced and sustainable urban core. More permanent residents downtown will create a need for goods and services that are currently not available. This will provide for a diversified and balanced mix of uses, in-lieu of the typical retail, restaurant and bar businesses. More permanent resident’s downtown will also provide “eyes on the street” at all hours to help alleviate some of the late-night issues facing this area. To this end, the Chamber has developed a document entitled HEIGHT FOR HOUSING that outlines the City’s Ten Over Studio, Inc. zoning regulations related to height, density and housing and provides examples of taller buildings past and 805.541.1010 present in the that have existed downtown. In a study by Pierre Rademacher, downtown has lost more 539 Marsh Street San Luis Obispo, CA height over the years than what is currently present. The HEIGHT FOR HOUSING concept seeks to describe a info@tenoverstudio.com scenario where the City affordable housing by granting buildings with smaller “affordable by tenoverstudio.com design” residential units an allowable height that cannot be arbitrarily reduced. Page 1 of 2 STREAMLINE THE PROCESSEXPAND I applaud the City’s goal of streamlining the development review process as the current system is confusing, sometimes arbitrary and not equitably applied. Unfortunately, the zoning ordinance, design guidelines and approval process exist to limit the impact of poorly designed projects and not to encourage smart, attractive and inspiring development. I believe public input is a vital component of the approval process, however I also feel that numerous public hearings serve to dilute good projects. I strongly urge the City to develop a clear, concise and reasonable CHECKLIST system by which applicants can easily navigate and understand the potential of a given piece of property as well as the timeframe and City fees associated with a proposed development project. A project that complies with all requirements of the zoning CHECKLIST should be generally be allowed. The newly drafted Edge Conditions section of the proposed code will address and protect incompatibility with low-density residential zones. Architectural review may be required to ensure design quality however, zoning issues that meet the code should not be called into question. If a proposed project seeks a variance, then clearly a more rigorous review process is appropriate. It is critical that the City clearly define the purview of the Advisory Bodies and limit discussion, direction and approvals to only those issues and items in their charge. As a former Architecture Review Commissioner, I was regularly asked to comment and make decisions on issues and items that were well beyond our scope of responsibilities. This further exacerbates the ambiguity in the system and should be addressed with clear rules of engagement. As a follow up to the zoning code update, I strongly encourage the City to update Design Guidelines which was last revised in 2010. Design will always be subjective but in my experience, the current guidelines could use greater definition and more detailed examples of the quality and character desired by the City including greater discussion of more contemporary design styles. Finally, I strongly urge the Commission to direct staff to make the revised zoning ordinance a “smart” PDF document with clickable links to cross referenced items. While I understand that this process has been ongoing for quite some time, this complete draft document has only been available for a week. From my reading, there are enough inconsistencies and cross- referencing errors in the current draft that require more technical review and input from staff & the MIG team as well as input from the community on the bigger picture issues. I urge the City to allow the community more time to understand the proposed changes within this incredibly powerful document. This document will dictate the development of our City for generations to come and should not be hastily approved Thank to everyone’s efforts during this very important process! Sincerely, Ten Over Studio, Inc. 805.541.1010 539 Marsh Street Jim Duffy San Luis Obispo, CA info@tenoverstudio.com tenoverstudio.com Page 2 of 2