Ordinance No. 20530 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Exhibit B “Existing commercial buildings are adaptable to new uses and are reused, thus helping to lower commercial vacancy rates” (pp. I-1-2) Policies and implementation strategies within the Commercial Lands Study that are relevant in supporting the above objectives and EC 9.8865(2) are below: “Policy 2.0: Provide greater certainty regarding the development of commercial land by resolving major conflicts between the Metro Plan designations and local zoning of land planned or zoned for commercial use.” “Implementation Strategy 2.1: Initiate Metro Plan amendments or zone changes to correct significant plan/zone conflicts. …” (p. III-3) Approving the Applicant-initiated zone change concurrently with a redesignation on the Metro Plan diagram to Commercial will correct the existing plan/zone conflict. Consistent with the above refinement plan policy and implementation strategy, approval of the requested zone change would remove the non-conforming status between the site’s existing zoning and long-standing commercial use, and provide greater certainty for future commercial use on the subject property. Although the subject site was not included among the mapped sites with “significant plan/zone conflicts” (see Commercial Land Study Appendix C-4), this is because the study analyzed only “vacant commercial sites above 5 acres in size where there is a conflict between what is shown on the Metro Plan Diagram and existing zoning.” (Ibid, Appendix C-3) Nonetheless, approval of the proposed zone change would provide greater certainty for continued existing or future commercial use, development and/or redevelopment of the subject site, consistent with Policy 2.0 above. “Policy 6.0: Promote redevelopment of existing commercial areas and compact, dense growth by encouraging businesses to revitalize and reuse existing commercial sites.” “Implementation Strategy 6.2: Identify and remove disincentives to the relocation or expansion of businesses in the downtown.” (p. III-7) Existing Industrial zoning is not consistent with the subject site’s existing and decades-long commercial use. Rezoning this property would remove any pre-existing non-conforming status to commercial uses on the site, and promote the potential for future site use, development and/or redevelopment for commercial or mixed use consistent with the above policy and the site’s Metro Plan Mixed Use overlay designation. Approving the proposed zone change would also eliminate any disincentive for continued existing or future commercial use of the site by removing the site’s non-conformity between use and zoning, consistent with the above implementation strategy intended to further Policy 6.0.