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Home My WebLink About07-18-17 Zoning Commission Minutes Zoning Commission Tuesday, July 18th, 2017 7:00 PM City Commission Chamber – 121 N. Rouse Avenue A. 07:17:34 PM (00:06:50) Call meeting to order Present Were:  Chair Erik Garberg  Julien Morice  Jordan Zignego  Commissioner Chris Mehl  George Thompson B. Changes to the Agenda C. Approve Meeting Minutes (None) D. 07:18:06 PM (00:07:22) Public Comment – Please state your name and address in an audible tone of voice for the record. This is the time for individuals to comment on matters falling within the purview of the Committee. There will also be an opportunity in conjunction with each action item for comments pertaining to that item. Please limit your comments to three minutes. E. 07:18:13 PM (00:07:29) Action Items 1. 17-304 Ordinance 1976: B-2M Parking Requirements (Fine) An ordinance of the city commission of the city of Bozeman, Montana amending chapter 38, unified development code, section 38.25.040 to set minimum off-street parking requirements for the B-2M district.  Staff Report  Application  Ordinance No. 1976 (Draft)  B2-M Zoning District & Midtown Urban Renewal Dist. Boundary Map  City Commission Minutes 5/1/2017 07:18:42 PM (00:07:58) Economic Development Specialist, David Fine provided some background on the Bozeman Midtown B-2M zoning district, which is a commercial mixed use district created in the spring of 2016 with the midtown area in mind. Parking is being reviewed due to feedback from the Midtown Urban Renewal Board, Planning Board and Zoning Commission that the standard parking standards were a barrier to development in a compact urban form. 07:20:06 PM (00:09:22) Fine stated that over the past year they’ve done research and looked at urban parking studies, sampling some midtown area locations and adjacent areas to see what changes to the parking requirements would do. The goal is to ensure that parking requirements are consistent with the urban form they are trying to create in Midtown. 07:21:00 PM (00:10:16) Fine reviewed some peak time parking utilization using office use as an example. After reviewing similar cities, they realized that some had eliminated parking requirements altogether. These cities shared the goal in revitalizing the community. Fine clarified that they are turning over the responsibility to the professionals leveraged for the development process rather than having a minimum requirement. 07:23:20 PM (00:12:36) The proposed Ordinance 1976 combines two approaches they discovered during the study including: 1) Creating new parking “blended rate” requirements for the B-2M Zoning District and 2) Suspending those new regulations in the Midtown Urban Renewal District. 07:24:21 PM (00:13:37) Fine reviewed the proposed parking requirements for B-2M. They have encouraged businesses to centralize parking so that rather than each business having a small parking lot, there is a larger, shared parking lot. 07:27:04 PM (00:16:20) Fine reviewed the Criteria of Evaluation, included in the staff report. 07:27:42 PM (00:16:58) Chair Garberg asked about the base minimum requirements for parking in B-2M. Garberg wanted to confirm that the old minimums are now the new maximum parking requirements. Fine confirmed. 07:31:15 PM (00:20:31) Board member Morice asked for clarification on B-2M vs. Midtown. Fine explained that the Midtown Urban Renewal District is an area that is identified via map. Morice also stated that he would like to see B-3 zoning follow suit with the Midtown parking requirements. 07:34:49 PM (00:24:05) Fine offered some examples of decreased parking requirements including Bellingham, WA, Missoula, MT and Billings, MT. He explained that Bellingham utilized a ‘blended rate’ of one space per unit and two spaces per 1000 square feet for most commercial uses. Billings, MT had eliminated minimum parking requirements in their downtown and an industrial / residential area on their east side. Missoula has also attempted removing minimum parking requirements, replacing with paid parking downtown. 07:38:00 PM (00:27:16) Lauren Waterton, from the Sanderson Stewart consultant team stood up and explained how they made some recommendations regarding bike parking, etc. 07:40:15 PM (00:29:31) Public Comment 07:40:26 PM (00:29:42) Kenny Strauss (201 S. 8th Ave) commented that he and his business partners are starting a pizza business and asked for the board to support the proposed parking ordinance. He explained that under the current code, they would be required to have nearly 40 spaces for 2000 sq. ft. of space. In a location with such high foot traffic and with many Bozeman residents using alternate transportation, he and his partners do not feel that these parking requirements reflect the reality of their potential customers’ transportation choices. He also stated that high parking requirements will be a non-starter for them to invest in opening in that location. Other businesses have done well in the area with less parking. 07:42:30 PM (00:31:46) Alan Kirk (227 E. Olive St.) asked if the parking requirements under the car parking (referring to a table in the presentation) are maximums. Fine stated that those were the minimums. 07:44:33 PM (00:33:49) Fine responded to Kirk’s comment by bringing the slide showing actual peak utilization ratio. He explained that parking can be determined many ways, by looking at maximum or minimum utilization. 07:46:38 PM (00:35:54) Discussion: Commissioner Mehl commented that the area in discussion has very little development, so they expect the first few projects to be the most challenging. He clarified that the Commission is committed to reviewing the changes to see if they’re successful. Mehl stated that parking is an opportunity to restart development in that area. 07:47:52 PM (00:37:08) MOTION: Having reviewed and considered the application materials, public comment and all the information presented, I hereby adopt the findings presented in the staff report for application 17304 and move for approval of the text amendment: Julien Morice MOTION SECONDED: Jordan Zignego 07:48:07 PM (00:37:23) Morice commented that he supports the text amendment and disclosed that he could have a project coming up in that area, though there is no application currently. He stated that he would still provide the minimum parking, depending on what the use is, but that it is a good idea to allow entrepreneurs to decide how much parking they need for their customers. He also stated that he felt the biggest hold up in that area was the strict parking requirements. He also commented that he looks forward to the study in B3 and if this is something they could repeat in that area. 07:50:12 PM (00:39:28) Board member Zignego supported the motion, stating that he like putting it to the business owners to determine their parking needs. He also supported using N. 7th as an experimental ground since it needs improvement. 07:50:50 PM (00:40:06) Board member Thompson supported the motion and is interested in the bike parking aspect, noting that he’s uncomfortable having to lock his bike to various signage along the street. 07:51:07 PM (00:40:23) Chair Garberg stated that his only concern was the maximum parking requirements. He said that there may be businesses that need more parking and he is concerned about them not being able to have extra parking. 07:52:09 PM (00:41:25) VOTE: All in Favor – Motion Passes Unanimously F. FYI/Discussion G. 07:52:28 PM (00:41:44) Adjournment For more information please contact Tom Rogers at TRogers@bozeman.net This board generally meets the first and third Tuesday of the month at 6:00pm Zoning Commission meetings are open to all members of the public. If you have a disability and require assistance, please contact our ADA coordinator, Mike Gray at 582-3232 (TDD 582- 2301).