ITEM TITLE:
#16-11 - Amending the Zoning Map to Effect a Change to Lots 1, 2 & 3, Tract D, Port Valdez Subdivision from Single Family Residential (RA) to Commercial Residential (CR). Second Reading. Adoption.
SUBMITTED BY: Lisa Von Bargen, CED Director
FISCAL NOTES:
Expenditure Required: N/A
Unencumbered Balance: N/A
Funding Source: N/A
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve Ordinance # 16-11 amending the Zoning Map to effect a change to Lots 1, 2 and 3, Tract D, Port Valdez Subdivision from Single Family Residential (RA) to Commercial Residential (CR). Second Reading. Adoption.
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
The City of Valdez received a rezone request from Mr. Wegner on April 18th, 2016 for Lots 1, 2, & 3, Tract D, Port Valdez Subdivision. The lots are currently zoned as Single Family Residential. Mr. Wegner would like to rezone his lots to Commercial Residential for the purpose of using rental cabins. The properties surrounding Mr. Wegner’s lots are zoned Single Family Residential and Multi Family Residential. Mr. Wegner already operates a Bed & Breakfast on the property. The intent of the current zoning is listed below.
Valdez Municipal Code, Section 17.14.010 Intent.
The R-A (Single Family Residential) district is intended to include lands for urban development and which are provided with a full range of public utilities, including sewers, water, electricity and street drains or are intended to be provided with such utilities in the near future. This district intended to primarily for Single Family dwellings, excluding mobile homes, at moderate densities. Structures and uses required to serve recreational, religious and other noncommercial need of residential areas are allowed as permitted or conditional uses subject to restrictions intended to preserve the residential character of the R-A district.
The Comprehensive Plan offers goals and objectives that provide guidance on general land use, economic development, commercial-business land use, and industrial land use. Only those relevant to the specific zoning change are listed below.
Comprehensive Plan Goal - Land Use: Provide a community land use pattern that is compatible with existing land use patterns in the community, which is physically safe, environmentally sensitive, and consistent with the provisions and requirements of the Valdez Coastal Management Program.
Objective - Provide for the adequate separation of incompatible land uses.
Lots 1, 2, and 3 are surrounded by Single Family to the west and north, Multi Family to the south, and General Commercial zoning districts southwest. See attached
Re-Zone Exhibit, Ordinance # 06-07, and Draft Zoning Map.
Objective - Provide development standards for lands that require special physical or environmental attention before they can be safely used or developed.
The Planning and Zoning Commission enforces development standards in regard to road and easement dedications thru the platting process. Port Valdez Subdivision (SUBD #95-5) received final approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission on November 12th, 1997.
Valdez Municipal Code, Section 17.54.020(C) Minimum Area states:
Except for the extension of existing district boundaries, no change in any use district classification or an official zoning map shall be considered which contains an area less than two acres, not including street or alley rights-of-way.
The lots proposed for the rezone equal approximately 4.95 acres. Therefore this zoning application meets the code requirement for minimum area.
Valdez Municipal Code, Section 17.26.010 Intent.
The C-R (Commercial Residential) district is intended to allow commercial and light industrial uses of land which do not detract from the residential use of the land by introducing excess noise, increased safety hazards, air pollution or water pollution.
The difference between the permitted and conditional uses allowed in both the R-A (Single Family) and C-R (Commercial Residential) zoning districts is displayed in the table below:
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Single Family Residential (R-A) |
Commercial Residential (C-R) |
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Permitted Uses |
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Single-family dwellings, excluding mobile homes (only a single principal structure may be allowed on any lot or tract) |
Barbershops and beauty salons; |
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Parks, playgrounds and open space for informal recreation |
Drugstores; |
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Utility installations, except solid waste disposal facilities and water storage dams and co-generation facilities |
Fishing gear stores; |
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Child care homes |
Frozen food locker; |
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Group care facilities |
Group care facilities; |
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Gunsmiths; |
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Locksmiths; |
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Mobile homes; |
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Private medical practices; |
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Packaged alcohol sales; |
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Pawnshops; |
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Professional offices; |
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Retail sales; |
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Shoe repair and clothing alterations; |
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Single-family homes; |
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Small appliance and furniture repair; |
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Two-family dwellings (duplexes). |
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Conditional Uses |
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Church services |
Bakeries |
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Community buildings and halls |
Boardinghouses |
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Private schools (not more than six students) |
Boat repair facilities |
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Quasi-institutional homes |
Bowling alleys |
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Water reservoirs |
Child care centers |
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Buildings intended for the conduct of religious services along with customary accessory uses including parsonage, day nurseries, and meeting rooms |
Church services |
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Child care centers |
Churches and synagogues, along with customary accessory uses, including parsonages, day nurseries and meeting rooms |
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Commercial cold storage |
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Condominiums, townhouses, cluster housing and planned unit Developments |
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Contractor’s storage yards |
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Drinking establishments |
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Eating establishments |
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Food processing |
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Grocery stores |
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Laboratories |
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Laundries |
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Light manufacturing |
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Lodges |
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Machinery repair |
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Meat processing |
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Mechanical repair |
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Mortuaries/funeral homes |
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Motels |
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Multifamily dwellings |
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Paint, retail |
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Pet shops |
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Plumbing shops and yards |
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Police and fire stations |
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Public and private schools |
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Quasi-institutional homes |
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Recreational vehicle campground |
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Sheet metal shops and yards |
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Sign painting |
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Stone cutting |
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Tire sales |
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Veterinarians and kennels |
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Warehousing |
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Woodshops and yards |
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Rental cabins |
As can be seen by comparing the lists of uses and structures, many of the items in the C-R zoning district are not in harmony with the original intent of the R-A zoning. This subdivision contains four parcels, three of which are owned by the applicant. The fourth lot is owned by another party and will remain zoned Single Family Residential (R-A).
Valdez Municipal Code, Section 17.26.040 Conditional uses.
In a C-R zone, subject to the conditional use provisions of this title, the following uses and structures may be permitted:
39. Rental Cabins
Valdez Municipal Code, Section 17.26.060 Minimum lot requirements.
A. Lot Width: Fifty feet.
B. Lot Area. The minimum lot area is eleven thousand square feet and the area per dwelling unit
Valdez Municipal Code, Section 17.54.040 Public Hearing states:
The Planning and Zoning Commission shall hold at least one public hearing before considering any change or amendment to the provision of this title or the boundaries of the districts.
The Public Hearing held on May 25th, 2016 met the Public Hearing code requirement.
Valdez Municipal Code, Section 17.06.060(B1) Notification Requirements states:
A notice shall be posted and published. The notice shall be published at least once a week for the two consecutive weeks prior to the date of the public hearing in a newspaper of general circulation. The last date of publication shall not be less than three days before the date of the public hearing.
Notification was posted on the City Hall bulletin board located at 212 Chenega Avenue on May 6th, 2016. Notification was also published in the Valdez Star newspaper on May 11th and May 18th, 2016.
Valdez Municipal Code, Section 17.06.060(B2) Notification Requirements states:
A notice shall be also be sent by mail at least ten days prior to the public hearing to each owner of property within a distance of three hundred feet of the exterior boundary of the lot or parcel of land described in the application for the requested action.
Notice was sent to all property owners within 300 feet of Lot 1-3, Tract D, Port Valdez on May 6th, 2016. Staff has not received any comments from neighbors, utilities, or other notified agencies on the rezone.
Planning and Zoning Commission postponed the decision from the regularly scheduled meeting on June 8th, 2016 pending concerns regarding the slope of the driveway.
Staff has included research in regards to the Subdivision Plat from 1997. The original Plat was recorded in 1997 and in 2000 the Port Valdez Company challenged the plat approval petitioning for the decision to be rescinded.
On April 12, 2000, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted not to rescind recorded plat #99-17 partially based on the City attorney advising the Commission that they did not have the authority to rescind subdivision.
The Planning and Zoning Commission enforces development standards in regard to road and easement dedications thru the platting process. The following notes were placed on the plat:
1. Note will be placed on the plat:
A. The City of Valdez does not accept the private drive access easement, which is shown on the plat, nor has it accepted the roadway easement, which is shown on Plat-77-1 that provides access to tract D.
B. All individual water supply and sewage disposal systems shall be constructed in accordance with and approved by ADEC and/or the City of Valdez.
Valdez Municipal Code, Section 16.16.110 Design-Street grades.
A. Streets shall be arranged properly in relation to topography to provide usable lots, safe streets, reasonable gradients, and minimum damage to terrain and existing vegetation. The minimum grade of all streets shall be no less than one-half percent and such minimum shall not be permitted for distances greater than six hundred feet.
Valdez Municipal Code, Section 16.16.050 Design-Lot frontage and access.
G. Depth and width of properties reserved or laid out for commercial and industrial purposes shall be adequate to provide for the off-street service and parking facilities required by the type of use and development contemplated.
Mr. Wegner currently operates a Bed and Breakfast on the property. This property meets the requirements of a Home Occupation with more than 5 parking spaces.
RECOMMENDATION SUMMARY
Staff recommends the City Council authorize the rezone of Lots 1, 2, & 3, Tract D, Port Valdez Subdivision from R-A (Single Family Residential) to C-R (Commercial Residential).
Staff recommends Condition 1: Any future change in the use to the property will require the property owner/applicant to go through the conditional use permit process to include permitted uses. A document requiring this will be recorded to the property.