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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPB memo - Future Land Use 1-31-2019 TO: PLANNING BOARD FROM: CHRIS SAUNDERS RE: GROWTH POLICY UPDATE – FUTURE LAND USE MAP DATE: JANUARY 31, 2019 Four questions have been identified as work progresses on the development of the future land use map. One question has been added since the Planning Board meeting on January 15th. These questions will be discussed and formal action requested at the February 5th Planning Board meeting. Three of the four questions were presented briefly to the Board at the Jan 15th meeting. These questions will be presented to the City Commission on February 25th and a Planning Board recommendation is desired for that discussion. Some statistics on the planning area and links to helpful webpages that can show in greater detail the information in the images in this memo are at the end of this memo. I. 1. Planning Boundary – The SW corner of the existing planning area extends ½ mile west of Gooch Hill Road from Blackwood Road to Valley Center Road. See the excerpt from the Community Development viewer. The portion of this area along Huffine Lane has been included in the City’s land use planning area since 1972. The planning area includes the historic area of the Rae Water and Sewer District (Rae) which is depicted in yellow south of Huffine Lane and includes the location of the treatment facilities for the district. That area is within the City’s water and sewer service areas since 2007 and the City’s planned improvements have been sized to absorb the capacity needed for Rae. Recently, the Rae service area expanded to the west to include the area west of Gooch Hill Road where the Toyota dealership and the Woodland Park subdivision are located. The area shown in the image below in the blue shade is the functioning district service area and the blue dots south of Huffine Lane is the total allowed service area. There is approximately 438 acres within the Rae service area that is outside of the City’s planning area. The expanded service area goes beyond the City’s present land use plan boundary. After discussion with Public Works staff, Planning Staff finds that it will likely cause more problems to have the Rae area partially included than entirely included or excluded from the planning area. The Aajker Creek drainage zone in the sewer facility plan which will service this area shows a large 12-15 inch diameter trunk main in Gooch Hill Road. The same area showing the planning area west of Gooch Hill Road. The edge of the brown shade is the current outer limits of the planning area. From the Community Development viewer. It is expected that at some point the Rae system will finish its life cycle and need to connect to Bozeman’s water and sewer systems. This is similar to what is happening to the Riverside district north of town. Bozeman’s systems have been planned with this possibility in mind. The newly expanded areas of the Rae system would then be receiving services from the City of Bozeman. The City doesn’t extend its utilities to allow connection without annexation. This image is from the Planning Coordinating Committee web viewer showing county layers. Question: Shall the planning area be expanded to include the full area of the Rae district anticipating that with municipal service provision will also eventually come annexation to the City? Alternatives: 1) Leave the boundary as is. 2) Remove the entire Rae service area from the planning area 3) Include the entire Rae service area within the planning area Staff recommends Alternative 3. II. The next three questions all address how to designate future land uses. Collectively, these three questions affect half of the total area on the future land use map. Therefore, these questions have substantial impact on how the future land map is prepared. Should a designation be removed from a location another alternate designation must be applied. Chapter 3 discussed land use with the full descriptions of the various land use categories in Section 3.4 of the growth policy (Bozeman Community Plan). 2. Present Rural land use designation – In the past two growth policies the City has shown as urban area only that area needed to account for existing City limits plus the additional square miles of urbanized area necessary to meet expected demand as projected in the document. Since this has been less than the total area within the planning boundary the City has designated some areas to remain rural until some future date. This was not a commitment that the City would never grow into those areas in the future but just that it wasn’t ready to show it as urban yet. The description of this land use says in part “This category designates areas where development is considered to be generally inappropriate over the 20 year term of the Bozeman Community Plan, either because of natural features, negative impacts on the desired development pattern, or significant difficulty in providing urban services. … As Bozeman develops over time, it is expected that the City will expand outward into areas previously designated as Present Rural. As the City’s growth policy is updated from time to time, some areas currently classified as Present Rural are expected to be reclassified to urban designations. “ On the current growth policy Future Land Use map this is the Present Rural designation. It is shown in the brown shade on the future land use map. You can find the map at https://gisweb.bozeman.net/Html5Viewer/?viewer=planning. This map will be used for questions 2-4. Click on the box next to the “community plan future land use” row to make it display on the map. A table describing the amount of land in each future land use map designation is at the end of this memo. As shown on the map, the distribution of Present Rural is not even. For example, the Story Hills area makes up over 25% of all Present Rural designated land but is located in one defined area of the map. The City continues to grow but the planning area has remained fairly consistent in size due to the correlation with utilities planning and limitation on functional service areas. Therefore, as the City grows the amount of non-urban area is shrinking. At some point, it becomes unproductive to try to fine tune the urban area too much. The choice to annex is largely made by the private land owners. Some are anxious to do so and develop and others have no interest in doing so. There are some areas, such as existing conservation easements, that will remain as they are for the foreseeable future. In laying out the map, it is important to remember that no urban development can occur until the necessary sewer, water, and transportation capacity can be provided to support it. This will shape the sequence in which property will change to an urban status. Question: When preparing the future land use map is it now time to simply plan for fully urbanizing the entire planning area with the exception of areas with unique limitations such as conservation easements? Alternatives: 1) Only show the minimum urban area to match annexed land plus anticipated growth and keep using the Present Rural designation to show the remaining area. This is continuing existing practice. 2) Show all areas as urban of some type excluding those areas with a conservation easement or similar legal restrictions on use. 3) Show most areas as some urban designation and only use Present Rural for those areas with substantial utility service location restrictions and/or substantial intent to maintain in non-urban character for the long term. 4) Revise the description of Present Rural to show as not urban yet but that if annexed it defaults to an urban designation such as Residential. Staff recommends alternative 3 or 4. 3. Suburban Residential land use designation – The City has identified existing developed suburban areas on its last two future land use maps. The description for the Suburban Residential designation says in part: “This category indicates locations generally outside of City limits, but within the planning area, where a land development pattern has already been set by rural subdivisions. Subdivisions in this area are generally characterized by lots two acres in size or less. It is probable that portions of this area may be proposed for annexation within the next twenty years. The area is able to be served with municipal water and sewer services with appropriate extensions of main lines. Any further development within this area should be clustered to preserve functional open space. Individual septic and well services are discouraged. If development is proposed within reasonable access distances to waste water and water services, annexation to the City should be completed prior to development.” The designation has essentially been a placeholder recognizing an existing pattern, usually large lot residential, but giving little guidance for change in the future. As noted in the description above, the areas with this designation can eventually be serviced with municipal water and sewer. A change in the future land use designation does not require private land owners to make any change in their property. It would show the intention of the City over the long term. Example of area where Suburban Residential is next to the City limits. Light yellow is the Suburban Residential area. Question: When preparing the future land use map should the Suburban Residential designation be used again? Alternatives: 1) Continue to use Suburban Residential as it has been. 2) Depict all areas currently shown as Suburban Residential as a different urban designation such as Residential. 3) Only show the Suburban Residential on areas with an existing developed condition and substantial difficulties in extending municipal services. Staff recommends alternative 3. 4. Business Park Mixed Use land use designation –The business park model of isolated buildings surrounded by lawns may not be a good fit for the general land development policies of the City. As the future land use map is prepared for the update to the growth policy, now is a good time to consider whether this land use designation should be continued or removed. The Business Park Mixed Use designation applies to about 1% of the planning area. Implementing zoning districts are M-1, BP, and PLI. There are 10 areas zoned as BP at this time. All of the activities described in the Business Park Mixed Use category are allowed in other categories so removing it will not strand certain uses. The description of this land use designation begins with: “This classification provides for employment areas with a variety of land uses typified by office uses and technology-oriented light industrial uses. Civic uses may also be included. Retail, residential, services, or industrial uses may also be included in an accessory or local service role. Accessory uses should occupy 20% or less of the planned Business Park Mixed Use areas.” If the Business Park Mixed Use land use designation is not used in the update a new designation must be applied. Several different designations such as industrial or community commercial mixed use may be appropriate replacements. This will need to be determined on a site by site basis. Question: When preparing the future land use map should the Business Park Mixed Use designation be used again? Alternatives: 1) Continue to use the Business Park Mixed Use land use designation 2) Discontinue us of Business Park Mixed Use and replace with a new designation on the individual sites on the future land use map Staff recommends Alternative 2. Reference material: Future Land Use designations as of January 31, 2019. Includes all finalized amendments to the future land use map and city limits as of this date. Future land use area Acres Total planning area 42,465.28 100% Industrial 1,310.64 3% Business Park Mixed Use 324.83 1% Regional Commercial and Services 729.12 2% Golf Course 495.92 1% Residential Emphasis Mixed Use 316.20 1% Public Institutions 1,770.39 4% Suburban Residential 4,379.06 10% Parks, Open Space and Recreational Lands 1,980.63 5% Community Core 124.19 0% Other Public Lands 1,284.98 3% Present Rural 16,521.79 39% Community Commercial Mixed Use 1,392.02 3% Residential 11,835.51 28% Total City Annexed Area 12,932.88 This link will take you to the Planning Coordinating Committee web map. This map has key information on Bozeman and County information including planning and zoning maps, roads, and water and sewer district boundaries. http://gis.gallatin.mt.gov/webmaps/?map=pcc This link takes you to the City’s Community Development viewer which shows the planning area and future land use designations, current land use within the city, and zoning. Click in the boxes in the panel on the left to display the labeled information. https://gisweb.bozeman.net/Html5Viewer/?viewer=planning This link takes you to the City’s Infrastructure Viewer which shows the existing and planned street, water, and sewer systems. Layers in the panel to the left that have a + sign next to them have additional information. Click on the + to display the additional layer options for display.