Subcommittee on Heights, Massing, and Alternate Standards    Third Report – January 20, 2009 Planning & Zoning Commission

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission2 Agenda Background Summary of Proposed Changes Test Application of Proposed Changes Impacts Next Steps

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission3 Background The Subcommittee on Heights, Massing, and Alternate Standards has looked at possible changes to the Sedona Land Development Code (LDC), and has reported back to the full Commission twice previously: In the first report, the approach to the effort was described, and possible areas of change were discussed. In the second report, specific changes were presented and discussed with the Commission. At the request of the Commission, the subcommittee has done a test application of the proposed changes to see how they would affect specific projects.

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission4 Background Kallof Place La Tierra Plaza An arbitrary small commercial lot adjacent to a residential zone. The specific projects examined in this effort are:

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission5 Summary of Proposed Changes 1. Limit the height of any portion of a commercial building within 30 feet of a residential zone. 2. Require height variation in commercial and lodging buildings over 150 feet in length. 3. Revise Alternate Standards to allow increased overall height of a building in exchange for reduced height in a portion of the same building. 4. Require that larger buildings with multiple masses have the total mass of the building significantly distributed across the masses. 5. Require building separation to reduce long narrow corridors. 6. For parcels or building sites with 3 or more buildings, require that adjacent buildings be sited or oriented to minimize “row house” appearance. 7. For multi-building height allowance, treat buildings sharing an underground parking garage as separate.

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission6 Test Application of Proposed Changes

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission7 Impacts to Kallof Place The proposed new Alternate Standards would require one of the following 3 changes: –Alternate Standards would not be used, so the building heights, other than gabled roof areas, would be redesigned to be no more than 22 feet, or, The entire development would be lowered into the ground (not a good solution for this project because it is built on a relatively flat lot) –Alternate Standards would be used, and Buildings A, B, and C would be required to have about 25% of their floor area (about 1 unit) be single story.

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission8 More Impacts to Kallof Place Because the corridors between buildings are long, the building separation would need to be increased from 10 feet to 15 feet. The middle of the three buildings fronting Highway 89A would need to be set back an additional 10 feet to avoid the “row house” appearance.

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission9 Impacts to La Tierra Plaza None

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission10 Impacts to a Small Commercial Lot Abutting a Residential Zone Assume: –The lot is minimum size (10,000 sq ft) –The lot is rectangular, at least 60 feet wide and at least 100 feet deep –The lot abuts residential on 1 side and on the back, and abuts a street on the other side. Given the.25 lot coverage limit, and the.50 floor area ratio (FAR) limit, the proposed new requirement for height of buildings adjacent to residential zones would reduce the possible FAR to.493 on a lot exactly 60 feet wide. Any lot over 61 feet 1/2 inch wide would be unaffected.

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission11 Next Steps Concurrence from Full Commission to Proceed With City Staff, Draft Specific LDC Language Review with City Attorney Final Approval by Commission, and Resolution to Propose Changes to City Council Presentation and Proposed Ordinance to City Council

Back-Up Material

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission13 Height of Buildings Adjacent to Residential Property Add an additional subsection to Section A.4 as follows: Section A.4.f The height of that portion of commercial, lodging and public/semi- public buildings or structures that are constructed within 30 feet of an adjacent residential property shall not exceed 16 feet measured vertically from the highest parapet or roof ridge to natural grade. * Slide Modified from 10/21/08 presentation.

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission14 Height Variation for Buildings Over 150 Feet in Length Add an additional subsection to Section A.4 as follows: Section A.4.g Any commercial, lodging or public/semi-public building or structure that exceeds 150 feet in length regardless of its height, shall be limited in height such that 25% or more of the building footprint shall be limited to no more than 16 feet in height (or up to 5 feet higher in the case of gable or hip roofs, in accordance with section A.4.c). The portion of the building subject to this regulation shall be unbroken and not separated into smaller areas, and shall be visible from both sides of the elevation longer than 150 feet in length.

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission15 New Alternate Standards Provision The height of any single building may be increased by up to 5 feet over the maximum heights specified in the LDC provided the following conditions are met: –The maximum height increase is offset by a portion of the building being reduced in height to no more than 16 feet (or up to 5 feet higher in the case of gable or hip roofs, in accordance with section A.4.c) as specified in the following table:

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission16 New Alternate Standard for Height (Continued) –The portion of the building subject to this regulation shall be unbroken and not separated into smaller areas, and shall be visible from both sides of the longest elevation of the building. * Slide Modified from 10/21/08 presentation.

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission17 Distribution of Multiple Masses Amend Section B (which requires buildings over 2,500 square feet in gross floor area to have 3 or more visual building masses) to state that, “At least 3 of the visual building masses must each have 20% or more of the total building gross floor area.” Acceptable under Current CodeAcceptable under Proposed Code

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission18 View Corridors In multi-building developments, the minimum separation between adjacent buildings shall increase from 10-feet to 20 feet, in proportion to the length of the walls facing each other. The intent is to ensure adequate view corridors between adjacent buildings. A B Bldg 1 Bldg 2 * Slide Modified from 10/21/08 presentation.

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission19 Siting and Orientation in Multiple Building Developments Add a subsection to Section B as follows: Section B.2 In developments that have multiple buildings, adjacent buildings must either: - Have setbacks from the nearest common property line that differ by at least 10 feet, or, - Have orientations that differ by at least 10 degrees. Bldg A Bldg B Bldg C Highway 89A Bldg A Bldg B Bldg C Highway 89A

January 20, 2009Planning & Zoning Commission20 Impact of Underground Parking on Multi- Building Height Considerations Modify Section a.4.e of the LDC as follows: –Where 3 or more buildings are located on a parcel or building site, the maximum permitted height established in subsection A. may be increased by the Director and/or Commission to allow greater building height diversity and to prevent buildings located on relatively flat parcels from appearing to have the same height. For purposes of this section, buildings that are connected by an underground parking structure shall be considered separate buildings. The following requirements must be met: Add a new definition to LDC Section 200 as follows: –UNDERGROUND PARKING STRUCTURE. A parking structure completely below grade. * Slide Modified from 10/21/08 presentation.