Council Unable To Complete Discussion And Tables Gateway District

Village Council did not vote on the proposed ordinance providing for zoning for the Village Gateway District. Rather, they worked their way through several of the provisions they had previously marked for more discussion and then tabled the discussion until their next meeting on August 6. Once again, Mayor Hartfield recused herself leaving six members of Council and the possibility of a tie vote.

The new 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. The provisions acted on at tonight's meeting 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. Council voted unanimously to leave maximum lot coverage at 60%.

• 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. Council voted 4 to 2 (Barsky and O'Keefe were opposed) to set the maximum number of dwelling units at 8 and to drop the minimum living space requirement.

• Maximum Tenant Size The current draft of the ordinance provides that the maximum single tenant or single use shall not exceed 8000 square feet. Council asked the Village Planner to draft language to leave the maximum single tenant or single use at 8000 square feet, but to add language that would permit office use to be unlimited without creating a loophole in mixed-use buildings.

• 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. Council left the maximum building size at 10,000 square feet, but also instructed the Planner to consider ways to avoid the loop-hole in mixed-use buildings.

• 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. Council agreed to remove this section and instead to refer to the Tree and Landscape ordinance.

• 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. Council left the sidewalk width at six feet.

• 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". Council voted unanimously to leave the maximum lot coverage at 60%.

• 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. Council decided to add language that would encourage the use of "low impact" detention systems.

• 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. Council voted unanimously to permit a maximum of 2 stories measured from the front (street) elevation.

• 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." Council agreed to leave this section unchanged.

Finally, at nearly 10:00 pm, Council decided to table the ordinance and to consider the following provisions at their August 6 meeting:

• 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.

• 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 drive throughs 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, will establish a new zoning district for the Village, which will 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.

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See previous stories about the Gateway District: