Ordinance Committee

1 ORDINANCE SUB-COMMITTEE EDWARDSVILLE PLAN COMMISSION February 5, 2015 6:00 PM PRESENT ABSENT G. Coffey, Chair J. Mullane M. Rabe, Vice Chair P. Pitts C. Louer, Alderman Ward 6 B. Schlueter, PC Chairman M. Brandmeyer, Madison County Planning & Zoning S. Hanson, Staff C. Porter, Staff L. Schneck, Staff A meeting of the Plan Commission's Ordinance Sub-Committee was held on Thursday, February 5, 2015, and the following proposed ordinance was discussed: 1. I-55 Corridor – Development Regulations Coffey explained this is an effort between three (3) jurisdictions: Madison County, Village of Glen Carbon, and the City of Edwardsville. All jurisdictions adopted the same Comprehensive Plan. The next step will be the adoption of the form-based codes which will be reviewed by each jurisdiction for approval. There will also be an Intergovernmental Agreement which will ensure enforcement and consistence to be maintained throughout time. Hanson gave the projected time line for the Ordinance Committee to meet again. The planned meetings will be on February 18 and March 2 with hopes of sending this forward to Plan Commission on March 16. The Village of Glen Carbon had a Plan Commission meeting last Tuesday with Eric Williams and Scott Hanson attending. Hanson is trying to emphasize that most people will be building the same kind of building over and over which will make it pretty straight forward. Brandmeyer stated Madison County is ready to go. The map is still being revised. He feels the first public hearing will be the most attended. Hanson met with a prominent developer in Edwardsville. Their position is “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” He also met with Kyle Anderson with the Realtor Association who was not up to speed with the plan. Mr. Anderson will review the plan and get back with him. Mr. Anderson will check his data and see what the demands and desires of the community would be. The Millennials are looking for a more urban type of environment. They don’t want to rely on a car. Only 30% of the millennials are getting their licenses. They are spending more of their money on electronics and technology. They are also looking for places without the need for cars. This plan is allowing more diversity. Single-family homes are allowed in the same district as multiplexes and live-work buildings. It is less restrictive than what is allowed now. The more restrictive are the setbacks and building quality. A lot of the residential concerns have been met. Commercial is more of an issue because the commercial requirements are harder to adhere to.  2 The way this is laid out, you can go straight from the platting process to the building permit process. If they decide to go through the PUD process, it would take at least 6 months. Coffey asked if there was any one place where this code is implemented. Hanson explained that H-3 Consultants took numerous areas throughout the country who use the form-based codes and did a visual preference survey. They then used the results from the survey to come up with this particular form-based code. There are profiles for other projects which are similar to this to compare the success of the development. There is a special website which includes the proposed plan and map through Madison County’s site. It was suggested to put something on the City of Edwardsville’s website to refer to Madison County’s site. Hanson displayed the latest proposed map. They started out with seven (7) different zoning districts. They are now down to five (5) zoning districts and eighteen (18) building types within the I-55 Corridor area. Once the map is finalized, it will be presented to the Ordinance Committee for their approval. When a large range of uses are allowed, it could create a bad development over time without strict architectural guidelines. A developer may cut corners in the development which would affect the development. If you want a high quality development, you have to have high standards. If you would get rid of the architectural guidelines, you could not do a form-based code. You run the risk of allowing bad things to happen. Once they are there, you can’t get rid of them. There was a question about parking. Each use has an illustration of where parking is allowed. As far as the number of spaces, it depends on the type of use. Each community will use its own parking code to adhere to. The committee knows there is an issue with parking in Edwardsville now. Because of the issue, is the parking ordinance requirements correct? Recently, a section of the parking ordinance was revised for shopping centers and the B-1 district. Hopefully, the parking will only be needed for people who live further than a mile away. Those residents within the 1 mile radius will walk to the businesses. The hospital has purchased land in this area. What other attractions would create interest in this area? Would the 70-acre park planned by the City of Edwardsville? A lot of the amenities already exist out there such as the YMCA, Liberty School, bike trails, and Glik Park. Land pricing and getting the interest of doing it along with putting in the infrastructure has an impact also. Road requirements are another factor. Currently, Madison County is developing a road plan. They have hired Oates Associates to lay out the plan. This is not a public process so there is not a requirement for a public hearing for a road plan. This plan will also include sidewalks. Hanson went through a commercial building plan (Section 3.4.6B Commercial, Urban located on page 3-8). It was discussed that the statement “Buildings shall not exceed one hundred percent (100%) of the width of the lot” should be taken out. Development Standards will be looked at a future meeting. Signage will be deferred to each community. The Land Use table will be replaced with a new table. The table located on Page3-4 has now been narrowed down to 4 districts. Mixed-Use Office and Campus districts have been eliminated. The General Neighborhood District is located within the Village of Glen Carbon so it will not pertain to Edwardsville. This table will also be updated to reflect the changes. The question was brought up if someone wanted a variance, how would they proceed. They could still ask for a variance or they could go through the PUD process. The variance  3 process would go through a staff review (a member from each community) and provide a recommendation. If someone would want to building something that was not allowed in that particular zoned area, could they get the property rezoned? They could go through that process but all three (3) communities would have to agree on any zoning change to the existing zoning map. Hanson stated if Glen Carbon would want to change something, as long as it didn’t affected Edwardsville directly or indirectly, it should not be a big concern for Edwardsville. Brandmeyer added that would also be a Council action, not just staff’s action from the three (3) communities. This would be for map or text changes. The committee suggested the footnote numbers be removed from the narrative on page 3-8 and left in the box on page 3-9. Number 2 in the footnotes (page 3-9) should be removed. It is not permitted so it should not be in the document. Hanson pointed out the floor to ceiling height for ground floor of 12 feet and upper floors at 10 feet. The concept is to allow for more options for the first floor businesses. Example was given if a dental office moves out; there is an option for a sports bar to move in because of the higher ceilings. It was suggested to add the word “minimum” to this section. There are seven (7) types of frontages which will be discussed at a future meeting. Parking requirements were discussed in further detail. Garage parking was suggested as an option. The cost for a parking garage is extremely expensive if you divide the cost by the number of spaces. Municipal lots can also be counted for available parking, if located within 300 feet of a public parking lot. Public utilities such as roads and infrastructures will have to be installed to the site. This could be a special service area. It was suggested to have a tax on impervious area. Staff has not seen anything relating to the form-based code. Hanson gave an example of a single family detached home – Page 3-34. Hanson had met with a major developer who expressed concerns with not being able to build a ranch home. Hanson did not have a problem with allowing a ranch style home. It was asked if there was a minimum square footage for the building. As it reads, it states the maximum of lot coverage is 50%. It does not have a minimum requirement. Another point made by the major developer is that the lots size has a minimum of 3,000 square feet with a maximum of 10,890 square feet. There are some lots in the Vicksburg development under 11,000 square feet. In Ebbets Field, there are very few lots that are under 11,000 square feet. It was suggested to add the Estate lots into the Urban Residential District. It was asked how the lot size was determined at 10,890. The lot size of 10,890 square feet is equal to ¼ of an acre. It was pointed out there was a gap between the Single Family Detached and the Estate lots. The Single Family Detached lots should be increased to 1/3 of an acre which is 14,520 square feet and the Estate lots should be reduced to a minimum of 14,520 square feet which is also 1/3 of an acre. It was discussed if the minimum lot size of 3,000 square feet was too small. It was pointed out that New Town has an area where there are small lots with very nice houses. The market will determine the types of houses that will be built. The small lots show how expansive this form-based code is. It was suggested that there should be a minimum living unit. It was decided to have the minimum of 750 square feet. Hanson also pointed out another issue of the lot width of minimum of 40 feet with maximum of 70 feet. With a maximum of 70 feet and the minimum square feet of the lot of 3,000, this would make a narrow and extremely long lot. This would only work with an alley or side entry garage. The developer asked if Edwardsville really wanted alleys. It was brought up  4 that Wing Haven has issues with alleys because that is where the services are such as trash pickup. It was an opinion that there should not be a lot of curb cuts along major road. An example of given of Troy Road with all those curb cut and the issue of getting onto the road. Curb cuts with front entry garages could be allowed on minor streets. Hanson pointed out there are side entry garages in Vicksburg but those are located on a corner lot. Rabe suggested adding the year 2006 of when the plan was adopted on page 3-1 A. REMINDER: PLAN COMMISSION MEETING: Wednesday, February 18, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall, City Council Chambers, 118 Hillsboro Avenue.