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| | | | | | | | | | Item 5.
COMMITTEE MEMORANDUM | | | |
| | | | | | | | TO: Land Use and Sustainability Committee
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| FROM: Alina T. Hudak, City Manager
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| DATE: March 4, 2022
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| | | | | | | | TITLE: | DISCUSS THE CREATION OF A 6TH STREET OVERLAY, BETWEEN WASHINGTON AVENUE AND ALTON ROAD |
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| | | | | | | | HISTORY:
| HISTORY
On July 28, 2021, at the request of Commissioner Steven Meiner, the City Commission referred a discussion item pertaining to the creation of a 6th Street Overlay between Washington Avenue and Alton Road to the Land Use and Sustainability Committee (C4T). On September 14, 2021 the LUSC discussed the item and continued it to October 19, 2021.
On October 19, 2021, the item was deferred to the December 2021 LUSC meeting. The December 2021 LUSC meeting did not take place, as Commission Committees had not been appointed. The item was automatically deferred to the first available meeting of 2022.
BACKGROUND
The area between 5th and 6th Street, from Washington Avenue to Alton Road, is currently zoned C-PS2 (Commercial Performance General Mixed-Use). The C-PS2 district permits a range of business, commercial, office and hotel uses, as well as medium density residential development.
As noted on the attached map, the north side of 6th Street between Washington Avenue and Alton Road is comprised of the following zoning districts: RM-2, residential multifamily medium intensity (between Washington Avenue and Pennsylvania Court); GU, government use (between Meridian Avenue and Jefferson Avenue); CD-2, commercial medium intensity (between Lenox Court and Alton Road), with the remainder RM-1, residential multifamily low intensity.
The south side of 6th Street between Washington Avenue and Alton Road is comprised of C-PS2, general mixed-use commercial (between Washington Avenue and Alton Road) The center line of 6th Street between Washington Avenue and Lenox Court serves as the boundary for the Flamingo Park Historic District to the north and the Ocean Beach Historic District to the south. |
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| | | | | | | | ANALYSIS:
| ANALYSIS
The Flamingo Park Neighborhood Association (FPNA) has raised concerns regarding the lack of a buffer between the 6th Street corridor and the lower scale RM-1 Flamingo Park neighborhood. In order to create a transitional zone between these two areas, FPNA is proposing the creation of an overlay between the north side 5th Street and the south side of 6th Street, from Washington Avenue to Lenox Avenue.
Specifically, FPNA is requesting an overlay district that would include modifications to the Land Development Regulations (LDR’s) for all C-PS2 properties within 200 feet of the south side of 6th Street. Attached is a Resolution approved by the FPNA, outlining their initial recommendations for a zoning overlay district. The following is a general summary of the proposals in the Resolution that are specific to properties within 200 feet of the south side of 6th Street:
• Reductions in maximum permitted height.
• Modifications to setback requirements.
• Introduction of lot aggregation and building separation requirements.
• Introduction of additional regulations for properties that contain a Contributing building.
• Limitation on the number and location of curb cuts.
• Modifications to permitted uses including restrictions on restaurant, alcoholic beverage establishments and retail uses.
• Prohibitions on uses related to motorized vehicles including gas stations, car washes, parking garages, and sale, lease or repair of motorized vehicles.
• Prohibitions on transient rentals including hotels, suite hotels, apartment hotels, or short-term rentals.
The low scale residential neighborhood within Flamingo Park is currently buffered from the higher intensity zoning CD-2 district on the west (Washington Avenue) by the RO (Residential Office) zoning district on Pennsylvania and Drexel Avenues. Additionally, in 2014, the Alton Road Historic District Buffer Overlay was created along the east side of Alton Road, in order to create a transition zone between that CD-2 commercial district. Over time, these transition areas have helped to mitigate the impacts of higher intensity commercial uses adjacent to lower intensity residential uses on the east and west sides of the Flamingo Park neighborhood.
Recently there have been several large, high intensity projects approved within the C-PS2 area between 5th and 6th streets, from Alton Road to Meridian Avenue. Most recently, a new hotel with a rooftop amenity deck and accessory outdoor café was approved for the property located at the southeast corner of 6th Street and Lenox Avenue. Given that there are a number of non-contributing properties, including several surface parking lots, in this area, as well as the designation of 5th Street as a major transit corridor, it is likely the City will see an increase in new development proposals in the C-PS2 area.
In order to ensure that future development proposals within the C-PS2 area north of Fifth Street are compatible with and sensitive to the established, low scale area of Flamingo Park north of 6th Street, additional development regulations are warranted. To this end, the Administration is generally supportive of appropriate amendments to the Land Development Regulations (LDR’s) for properties and uses that front on or are near the south side of 6th Street. The intention of such regulations, as part of an overlay, would be to foster a more compatible relationship in terms of scale, massing and land uses between the 6th Street corridor and the Flamingo Park residential neighborhood.
The proposal contained in the FPNA resolution is based on current regulations within the Alton Road Historic District Buffer Overlay and the RM-1 district within Flamingo Park. As noted previously, while some of the Alton Road overlay regulations may be applicable to properties along 6th Street, a number of the proposals in the FPNA Reso will need to be studied further. In this regard, the following was noted as part of the September 14, 2021 LUSC memo:
• The draft regulations pertaining to height, setbacks, building separation and lot aggregation will need further study and fine-tuning.
• Consideration of the resiliency and sea level rise criteria will need to be taken into account.
• A number of the uses identified as prohibited in the draft overlay are already prohibited in the area.
• Prohibitions on hotel uses need further study. Additionally, the City is currently pre-empted under Florida law from enacting any restrictions on the short-term rental of apartment units in the C-PS2 districts.
While supportive of an overlay that would create a meaningful buffer along the 6th Street corridor, the Administration does not recommend that the proposal set forth in the attached FPNA Reso move forward as currently drafted. To this end, the make-up of existing properties between 5th and 6th Streets is unique and includes variations in overall lot sizes and unified development sites. Also, this area contains a number of less than desirable uses, including surface parking lots, gas stations and other automobile related uses. A future overlay for this area must take into account the ability for multiple lots to be developed in a tangible manner.
UPDATE – March 4, 2022 LUSC
Planning Department staff has met with various property owners and stakeholders within the boundaries of the proposed overlay. Additionally, Planning Department staff organized a joint meeting with representatives of the FPNA and various property owners within the proposed overlay boundaries on December 29, 2021. While the meeting was amicable and constructive, there did not appear to be a high degree of consensus with regard to the initial parameters of an overlay.
Planning staff has studied the lot aggregation and height limits proposed for the overlay area and has some concerns with regard to placing limits on these components. Attached are maps showing i. existing unified development sites; and ii. properties with buildings classified as ‘contributing’ in the City’s historic properties database. These maps show how dispersed the area between 5th and 6th Street is both from a property ownership and unified site standpoint. Additionally, there is no strong concentration of contributing structures along 5th Street and the mid portions of most blocks.
In light of this, Planning staff would suggest that overlay regulations not create a barrier to establishing desirable unified sites, even if some of the lots within a unified site are close to or fronting 6th Street. Additionally, as Fifth Street is a dedicated transit corridor there is an opportunity to maximize the development potential of the properties fronting 5th Street, including unification efforts with properties immediately north of Fifth Street. Currently there are a number of highly underutilized parcels fronting on and north of Fifth Street, as well as a number of uses that would be better suited elsewhere.
Staff has put together the attached draft Ordinance for discussion purposes. The following is a summary of the overlay regulations proposed:
Building Height
After further review and consideration, the Administration does not recommend limiting building height to 28 feet within any portion of the proposed overlay, as it could disproportionally affect smaller lots and development sites that do not have enough area to distribute the maximum allowable FAR. Unlike lower scale districts, such as the RM-1 district that has a maximum FAR of 1.25, the C-PS2 district has a maximum FAR of 2.0 and allows for a wider range of uses. As such, more flexibility in terms of overall building height is needed to allow for adequate architectural latitude in the distribution of this allowable volume.
To address the potential future issues of context along the south side of 6th Street, it is recommended to limit the maximum overall height to 50 feet within the first 2 platted lots on the south side of 6th Street, regardless of use. A maximum height of 50 feet within this portion of the overlay would still allow for an appropriate and sensible distribution of the maximum FAR of 2.0. Additionally, under the certificate of appropriateness criteria in the Code, the Historic Preservation Board has significant latitude in requiring adjustments to overall building height, massing and the distribution of allowable building volume.
The representatives of the FPNA have expressed a desire to explore additional building setbacks above a height of 28 feet. The Administration is open to exploring this further, but only within larger unified development sites. Also, the actual uses themselves may play a role in minimum building setbacks, as residential, office and hotel use generally incorporate more transparency at the upper levels, while retail uses at the upper level do not.
Alcoholic Beverage and Use Restrictions
The following are additional regulations that would apply to properties located between 5th Street and 6th Street within the C-PS2 district, as well as more specific regulations for the first 2 platted lots south of 6th Street:
• Prohibiting outdoor bar counters within 100 feet of the south side of 6th Street.
• Limiting outdoor restaurant and/or bar seating located above the ground floor to no more than 100 seats when located within 100 feet of the south side of 6th Street. Additionally, such outdoor seating shall only be permitted until 10:00 p.m., if located within 100 feet of the south side of 6th Street. The Planning Board, pursuant to the Conditional Use criteria, could allow an increase in the number of seats, as well as expanded hours of operation, but with a cap.
• Outdoor ambient music and television sets would be prohibited within 100 feet of the south side of 6th Street, unless approved by the Planning Board, pursuant to the Conditional Use criteria.
• Access points to hotels, suite hotels and apartment hotels, as well as food and beverage establishments serving alcohol, would be limited to side streets only, and would not be permitted on 6th Street. Additionally, a minimum setback of 20 feet from the south side of 6th Street, for all public entry points, would be required.
• Adding nuisance uses to a list of prohibited uses for the entire C-PS2 district. Such uses include hostels, convenience stores, smoke/vape stores, package stores and the retail sale of alcohol for off premise consumption. Additional uses may be added, as well.
The attached draft overlay Ordinance is intended to facilitate discussion. In this regard, it is suggested that the representatives of the FPNA and affected property owners within the overlay consider the draft proposal and provide appropriate comments and feedback. Planning staff is also available to meet again with both parties, either separately or together.
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| | | | | | | | CONCLUSION:
| In view of the foregoing, the Administration recommends that the LUSC discuss the general framework of the attached draft overlay Ordinance and provide policy direction. If additional study is needed, it is further recommended that the item be continued to the May 13, 2022 LUSC meeting. |
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| | | | | | | | Applicable Area
| South Beach |
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| | | | | | | | Is this a "Residents Right to Know" item, pursuant to City Code Section 2-14? | | Does this item utilize G.O. Bond Funds? | | Yes | | No | |
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