Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Planning Department

TO:	City Commission and City Manager
FROM:	Linda M. Finger, Planning Director
CC:	Dave Corliss Debbie Van Saun
Date:	January 11, 2005
RE:	Recommended revisions to the Development Code, Ordinance No. 7851,  prior to or as part of the second reading

As the business community and general public begin to become more familiar with the proposed Development Code, some good questions have been raised about points that could use additional clarification or correction prior to adoption of Ordinance No. 7851 on second reading.  The questions raised have been, for the most part, in regard to: uses prohibited in the CD District, use terminologies; some density and dimensional table typos; the status of single-family residences as non-conforming uses in RM Districts; and a landscape measurement standard.  Staff’s opinion is that it would be both prudent and appropriate to address the issues raised now through appropriate revisions to the text of the Development Code. This can be done by the City Commission prior to the second reading and publication of Ordinance 7851 (the Development Code).  [*Please note:  To make these text revisions, without referring the Development Code back to the Planning Commission,  will require a super-majority or unanimous vote by the City Commission.]

Article	Section No. and Title Subsection No. and Title	Recommended Text Change
4 USE TABLES	20-403.   Non-Residential Use Table Use Category: Eating and Drinking Establishments	Add a “P” for Brewpub, to indicate a permitted use in the CD district. Add a “P*” for Fast Order Food, to indicated a permitted use in CD district and that Use Standards apply. Delete the use of Restaurant, High-Turnover from the Development Code AND revise the Use Terminologies in Article 17, Eating and Drinking Establishments, to allow “Fast Order Food” to serve the purpose of the “Restaurant High-Turnover” use.
4 USE TABLES	20-403. Non-Residential Use Table Use Category:  Food and Beverage Sales	Add a “*” to the “P” for permitted in the CD district to identify that Use Standards apply to this use category in the Commercial Downtown District.
5 USE REGULATIONS	20-501.  Use Standards (i)  Eating & Drinking Establishments Involving Alcoholic Beverages (3) Standards that Apply in CN1 District	Revise the section title [20-501(i)]to delete the last three words, “….Involving Alcoholic Beverages:” Revise subsection title [20-501(i)(3)]to include the CN2 district.  Also add the CN2 district into the body of this sub-section text.
5 USE REGULATIONS	20-501.  Use Standards (i) Eating & Drinking Establishments Involving Alcoholic Beverages (4) Standards that Apply in CO District	Revise subsection title to include the CD district and revise the text of the section to capture the intent of section 20-501(x) Restaurant, High Turnover.
5 USE REGULATIONS	20-501. Use Standards (x)  Restaurant, High-Turnover	Delete this subsection from the Development Code as the use standards have been attached to subsection (i) and this use terminology is no longer needed in the Code.
6 DENSITY AND DIMENSIONAL STDS	20-601. Density and Dimensional  Standards Table  (a) Residential Districts	FOR RS5:  Revise Minimum Frontage to 40’ to be consistent with Min. Lot Width. FOR RS5 and RS3: Revise Min. Setbacks, Side (Exterior) to reflect 10’ setback for each district when adjacent to an abutting Rear Lot Line.
10 LANDSCAPING	20-1009.  Landscape Material Standards (c) Trees, (2) Sizes, (i) Shade Trees  and (ii) Ornamental Trees	Revise the height for measurement of both tree types from “four and one-half feet above Grade” to “six inches (6”) above Grade,” to conform to the American Nurseryman Standards.
15 NONCONFORMITIES	20-1502. Nonconforming Uses (b) Expansion Add new subsection (iv)	Add new text to permit expansion of existing single-family structures in RM districts.  Revise text to read:  “(iv)  Expansion of a single-family residential structure in an RM district, that existed on January 24, 2005, is allowed.”
15 NONCONFORMITIES	20-1502.  Nonconforming Uses (c) Loss of Nonconformity Status	Add a second paragraph to subsection (2), similar to that in the existing Zoning Ordinance, to permit rebuilding of nonconforming single-family residences in RM districts.  New paragraph to read:  “Detached single-family residential structures that are registered nonconforming uses in an RM district shall be permitted to rebuild, except when located in the floodway overlay district.  The nonconforming residential use can not be rebuilt to a greater density than existed before the damage.  Rebuilding shall be allowed only if setback and parking requirements of the district are met.  Reconstruction must be commenced within 12 months from the time the damage occurred.”
17 USE TERMINOLOGIES	20-1702.  Use Categories (s) Eating and Drinking Establishments (6) Fast Order Food	Revise the definition of this terminology by changing the second sentence of subsection (6) to incorporate the intent of Restaurant, High-Turnover into the Fast Order Food concept. The second sentence would read: “This use category includes both establishments that have seating areas for consumption of prepared food on the Premises and those that provide prepared food only for consumption off the Premises; this category does not include drive-in fast order food establishments.”
17 USE TERMINOLOGIES	20-1702.  Use Categories (s)  Eating and Drinking Establishments (8)  Restaurant, High-Turnover	Delete this use terminology from the subsection, Eating and Drinking Establishments, and from the entire Development Code.
17 USE TERMINOLOGIES	20-1702.  Use Categories (s)  Eating and Drinking Establishments (9)  Restaurant, Quality	Revise the definition of this terminology to read as: “An eating establishment where the principal business is the dispensing and consumption of prepared foods and or beverages at tables, not including bars, brewpubs, or nightclubs.  Table service by food beverage servers is available at “quality restaurants.”
17 USE TERMINOLOGIES	20-1702. Use Categories (w)  Food and Beverage Retail Sales	Revise the definition of this terminology to read as:  “Retail sale of food and beverages for home consumption.  Typical uses include grocery stores, convenience stores, butcher shops and package liquor stores.”

Update on Duplexes in RM Districts:

Indian Hills Neighborhood and LAN raised the issue in early January 2004 about the degree or transitional use duplexes have served in the RMD and RM districts for existing neighborhoods and the fact that RMD zoning will convert to RM12, which does not specify a building structure type, as does the RM-D today.  The Neighborhoods hypothesized in their presentation that a large number of existing duplexes have been “townhoused” (each side individually sold) for owner occupancy.  In pursuit of a solution, staff and the Commission agreed to look at the possibility of initiating rezoning of some of the existing townhoused duplex areas to an appropriate single-family residential district [either RS3 or RS5] in the new Development Code.  To that end, staff has developed maps of all the areas currently zoned RMD and RM-1 with parcel lines and addresses identified.  LAN has offered to coordinate neighborhood volunteers to do the field work to determine where single-family or duplex structures exist today in the RM-D and RM-1 districts.  As this field work inventory is completed, staff will develop a cross-reference database to try and determine what duplex structures are owner-occupied.  When completed, this information will be presented to the City Commission   with staff recommendations for areas that would fit the criteria of being “townhoused” and “owner occupied” and the RS district (based on lot size) appropriate for initiation of rezoning  to RS3 or RS5.

Staff Recommendation:  Revise on a super-majority or unanimous vote, the text of the referenced sections in the table above to address the issues and concerns raised by business and property owners. This can be by a separate motion prior to approval of the second reading of Ordinance No. 7851, or as direction to staff in the motion approving the second reading of Ordinance No. 7851.