Staff To Council: You Must Take Action On Gateway District

At its meeting Wednesday evening, Village Council must make a decision on the proposed ordinance providing for zoning for the Village Gateway District. The Council concluded a public hearing on this ordinance at its June 18th meeting. Village staff has advised that "Section 3.04 of the Village Charter provides that, following the conclusion of a public hearing, the Council shall take action on an ordinance not later than the next regular meeting of the Council. Therefore, the Council should conclude its action on this ordinance on Wednesday night."

Ordinance No. 07-08 will enact Chapter 1173 and Amend Chapter 1189 of the Codified Ordinances to establish zoning regulations for the Village Gateway District. At its public hearing, Council identified several provisions of the ordinance for continued discussion at Wednesday's meeting. According to Village staff, those provisions included the following:

• Lot coverage
The current draft of the ordinance provides that the lot coverage shall not exceed 60%. In measuring lot coverage, all buildings and other impervious areas are to be included.

• Density and Size of Units
The draft ordinance currently allows single, two-family, and multi family residential units as a conditional use, but provides that no building shall have more than six dwelling units, and that each unit shall contain a minimum of 1800 square feet of living space.

• Maximum Tenant Size
The current draft of the ordinance provides that the maximum single tenant or single use shall not exceed 8000 square feet.

• Maximum Building Size
The current draft of the ordinance provides that the maximum single building size for non-residential units shall not exceed 10,000 square feet.

• Tree Lawn Width
The current draft of the ordinance provides that tree lawns and street tree planting areas shall be at least six feet in width.

• Sidewalk Width
The current draft of the ordinance provides that sidewalks shall be a minimum of six feet in width. Any sidewalk or pathway that is installed as part of the pathway plan shall meet the width requirements established by the plan.

• Open Space
The current draft of the ordinance provides that lot coverage shall not exceed 60%, meaning that at least 40% of the property must left as open space. Open space designations shall be designed to be combined with other open space areas on adjacent properties as a "unified development".

• Detention Basins and Retention Ponds
The language in the draft Gateway ordinance is identical to the provisions in the existing Suburban Business District. Basically, it states that detention basins shall be designed by a landscape architect to ensure that they are naturalistic in appearance and are maintained in an attractive manner. Scenic retention ponds are encouraged as a means of treating non-point source pollutants, and forty percent of the perimeter of these ponds shall be planted in native wetland plants.

• Building Style
The current provisions of the Suburban Business District state that "building design shall be of traditional American styles, such as: Post medieval English, Dutch Colonial, French Colonial, Georgian, Adam, Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Stick, Queen Anne, or Shingle." To these styles, the draft ordinance has added "Folk Victorian, New England Colonial, Saltbox, or Vernacular Farmhouse." It should be noted that the styles listed in the Suburban Business District are not identical to the styles listed in the Architectural Review District. There are several differences.

• Story Height
The draft ordinance currently states that commercial or mixed-use buildings shall be a minimum of one story and a maximum of three stories. All other non-residential buildings shall be a minimum of two stories in height and a maximum of three stories. Residential buildings shall be a minimum of one story and a maximum of three stories.
The number of stories is to be measured from the front elevation. It should be noted that, under the roof provisions of the draft ordinance, one-story structures shall not have the appearance of a flat roof, and parapet or mansard-style roofs are permitted.

• Building Materials
The draft ordinance provides that "building materials shall be natural in appearance. Brick, stone, and wood siding or equivalent materials are preferred. For example, Hardiplank siding would be considered an equivalent to wood siding in appearance; and cultured stone may also be considered equivalent to natural stone in appearance. Vinyl siding, aluminum siding, cement block, and split-faced block shall be prohibited except that cementitious foundations shall be permitted only within 16 inches of grade."

• Drive-Throughs
Within the current provisions of the Suburban Business District, drive-through facilities are permitted as a conditional use except that drive-throughs for fast food enterprises are strictly prohibited. The draft provisions of the Gateway District do not allow drivethroughs for any additional uses, but provide additional standards for the drive-throughs that are permitted:

A drive-through must be part of a larger development plan.

Stand-alone buildings with drive-through facilities are not permitted.

Canopies are not permitted unless the design of the canopy is complementary to the design of the building.

Drive-throughs are to be located in the rear of the structure or on a side of the building that is not visible from the principal public right-of-way.

Access drives to the drive-through are to be located as far as possible from existing intersections.

Drive-through lanes are to be separated from other off-street parking areas.

Individual lanes are to be curbed or otherwise distinctly delineated.

Stacking spaces and lanes shall not impede any on- and off-site traffic movements.

Drive-throughs are limited to one window and may only have one drive-through lane, except for banks, which may have two drive-through lanes.

The hours of operation of a drive-through may be limited by the Planning Commission.

• External Lighting
The draft Gateway ordinance, in language that is consistent with the current Suburban Business District provisions, provides that the maximum level of external lighting shall not exceed 25 foot-candles anywhere on the site.

• Access Management [Sec. 1173.04(c)(2)]
The draft Gateway ordinance provides that access points shall be combined with adjacent uses and properties to minimize the number of access points. Also, access points on South Main Street are to be consistent with those designated in the South Main Street Corridor Study. A detailed parking lot layout plan shall be prepared that shows access points and the expected movement through and between separate parking areas.

• Freestanding Signs - Residential
The draft Gateway ordinance, which is consistent with the existing Suburban Business District regulations, provides that a free-standing sign, with no commercial message and a sign area of no more than four square feet, may be located in a residential area. There is no stated limited on the height of the free-standing sign.

• Window Signs - Neon
The provisions of the draft Gateway ordinance, which are similar to those of the Suburban Business District, provide that neon window signs are permitted if they are "artful and used to identify the business and do not exceed four square feet". The neon window signs may not be used to advertise products sold by a business or the services provided by a business.

The ordinance, if adopted, would establish a new zoning district for the Village, which would be known as the "Village Gateway District." The provisions of the Village Gateway district could be applied to the River Road area if that area were annexed to the Village or to other gateways if the provisions of the zoning district were deemed to be appropriate for those areas.

Click here to view the complete Staff Report for the Village Council meeting on Wednesday.

Click here to view the complete agenda for the Village Council meeting on Wednesday.

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See previous stories about the Gateway District: