Item 8: Ordinance Establishing Chambers Special Area Zone

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III. UNDERSTANDING "NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTER" IN THE CR PROJECT AREA The CR pr~ect area was somewhat "mechanically" detennined as an area north of West 13. Avenue from within which any point could be reached by about a 15 minute walk from the intersection of West 11th Avenue and Chambers Street. (This intersection was picked as a center point because it's considered a likely public transportation center and is surrounded by both residential and commercial properties. ) The overall CR project area is not perceived by residents or businesses as a single "neighborhood," and different parts of the resulting CR project area have very different characteristics. The dissimilarities among residential areas, in particular, must be taken into account to understand the current and potential impacts of infill and redevelopment. The Three CR Residential Neighborhoods Within the CR project area, there are three distinct, single-family residential areas (see the map in Appendix A): . "East Traditional Neighborhood" (ETN)11 East of Chambers Avenue, roughly from the south side of West 8th Avenue to the irregular edge that jogs along West 11th, 12th, and 13th Avenues. This part ofthe CR project area is roughly a 4-block by 4-block area. This area has always been part of the "Westside" neighborhood that lies between downtown and Chambers Street. Despite being zoned (or, some might say mis-zoned) mostly as R-2, overall this area still retains its unmistakable character as a "traditional," compact, single-family neighborhood originally built up during the 1920s through 19408. Many houses are one- to one-and-a-halr2 story structures with a Craftsman- influenced design and strong orientation towards the street, including porches in front and garages set back on the side of the house or completely behind the house. A number of blocks have east-west alleys that provide access to the rear of properties and, more recently, to residential infill along the alleys. The houses are generally close to one another on a side-by-side dimension, and share a fairly consistent setback and depth. Many houses also have moderate-sized back yards adjacent to one another, typically separated by hedges or fences three to six feet high. This siting pattern provides outdoor areas that are relatively private and yet open (i.e., not walled-in by adjacent buildings), even within the relatively compact layout of the neighborhood. II This area is identical to the S.CJR.2 subarea in tlle proposed Chambers Special Area Zone. 12 In a typical Westside one-and-a-llalf story house, the second story is encompassed by a sloped roof Small donners are commonly found on these houses, as well. By contrast a full two-story house has all or most of the roof above the ceiling of the second story. November 1,2005 Chambers Revisited - Neighbors' Report 13