HISTORY
On January 16, 2019, at the request of Commissioner John Elizabeth Aleman, the City Commission referred the discussion item to the Land Use and Development Committee (Item R9 T – 2.b). On April 3, 2019, the Land Use and Development Committee (LUDC) discussed the item and recommended that a comprehensive ordinance be drafted by the administration, pursuant to the recommendations in the LUDC report, in an effort to streamline the code and development processes, and that the City Commission refer the proposed amendments to the Land Development Regulations (LDRs) to the Planning Board.
On May 8, 2019, the City Commission referred the related LDR amendments to the Planning Board (item C4 Q).
PLANNING ANALYSIS
This ordinance is a companion to three other items on the City Commission agenda related to common variances for “allowable encroachments,” “signage,” “rooftop additions, setbacks (including mixed-use), and room sizes.” Per Section 118-353 (d) of the land development regulations of the city code, in order to authorize any variance from the terms of the land development regulations, the applicable land use board must determine that there are “special conditions and circumstances exist which are peculiar to the land, structure, or building involved and which are not applicable to other lands, structures, or buildings in the same zoning district.” There are certain variances which are regularly requested and granted by the board of adjustment, design review board, and historic preservation board. Rather than being the exception to the rule, variance requests accompany most development proposals that are presented before the aforementioned boards. Several of the requests are quite common and usually granted by the applicable board.
The proposed amendment pertains to alcoholic beverage regulations, which are located in chapter 6 of the City Code of ordinances. Specifically, the following common variances are addressed in the proposed ordinance:
1. Variance to reduce the distance separation requirements from alcoholic beverage establishment to a school and places of worship. This is regulated by section 6-4 of the City Code. A minimum distance separation of 300 feet is necessary between alcoholic beverage establishments and schools. These variances are almost always granted with conditions, such as requiring that the establishment be a restaurant only, or with limited hours. There are certain commercial districts in the City that either abut or are in very close proximity to a school and/or house of worship. This proximity creates the need for numerous establishments to request such a variance.
The proposed ordinance establishes cultural specialty districts in the City that remove minimum distance separation requirements from educational facilities and places of worship in very specific areas, where restaurant uses are desired. The specialty districts incorporate regulations that are typically imposed as conditions by the board of adjustment. This includes a requirement for a full kitchen and for full meals to be served during hours in which alcohol is served. The following areas are included in the ordinance:
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Española Way/Washington Avenue area around Fienberg/Fisher Elementary – Española Way and Washington Avenue are corridors where the City has encouraged restaurant uses. As a result, such requests for variances are especially common for businesses on these corridors due to the proximity to Fienberg/Fisher Elementary.
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41st Street Corridor – This is an area that the City is seeking to revitalize. One major component to revitalization is restaurant uses. As a result of the high number of religious institutions along 40th Street and proximity to North Beach Elementary School and Nautilus Middle School, requests for such variances would be necessary without the proposed specialty district.
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North Beach Town Center – This is another area that the City is seeking to encourage redevelopment. The western portions of the Town Center are in proximity to religious institutions. As a result, requests for such variances would be necessary in the western portions of the Town Center without the proposed specialty district.
2. Variance to waive the minimum number of required seats for restaurants to sell beer and wine (30 seats), full alcohol service (60 seats), or outdoor cafes (20 seats). This is regulated by section 6-6 (2) of the City Code. The minimum number of seats does not include those seats located on a sidewalk. If the requested variances were not granted, this requirement would preclude small and intimate venues from obtaining alcoholic beverage licenses, as well as prevent the adaptable reuse of many historic buildings that have small retail bays. As such, variances for the minimum seat requirements are frequently granted by the board of adjustment in commercial districts.
The proposed ordinance reduces the minimum seat requirement for restaurants to serve beer and wine to 10 seats; to serve full liquor to 40 seats; and for associated outdoor cafes to 10 seats.
SUMMARY
The subject ordinance would amend chapter 6 of the City Code and is not an amendment to the Land Development Regulations (LDR’s). Pursuant to the request of the LUDC, the administration presented the 41st street portion of the legislation to the Mayors 41st Street Blue Ribbon Committee, for input and feedback.
At its meeting on June 21, 2019, the Mayor’s 41st Street Blue Ribbon Committee reviewed the proposal and passed the following motion:
“to support a waiver of the alcohol restriction as it relates to the distance separation requirement for the 41st street district establishing that alcohol sales for such places of business can’t begin to sell until after 5 pm in and around the 41st Street District.”
Should the City Commission wish to incorporate this recommendation into the proposed ordinance, the following change (double-underline) can be incorporated into the ordinance prior to second reading:
Sec. 6-4. - Location and use restrictions.
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Cultural specialty districts. Notwithstanding the foregoing, within the cultural specialty districts identified in this subsection, the following shall apply to alcoholic beverage establishments also operating as restaurants with full kitchens:
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Regulations for specific cultural specialty districts.
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Within the “41st Street Corridor” specialty district the following shall apply:
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Applicable alcoholic beverage establishments within 300 feet of an educational facility or religious institution shall not commence alcoholic beverage sales until 5 pm.
UPDATE
The subject ordinance was approved at first reading on October 16, 2019, with no changes. The City Commission discussed the proposed amendment recommended by the Mayor’s 41st Street Blue Ribbon Committee, which would require that establishments within the 41st Street corridor within 300 feet of a school or religious institution not serve alcoholic beverage sales until after 5:00 p.m.
The City Commission determined that having the flexibility to sell alcoholic beverages in restaurants before 5:00 p.m. (e.g. at lunch time) would be beneficial to the 41st Street area. The administration agrees with this approach and would recommend that the ordinance be adopted as approved at first reading.