BACKGROUND
The subject ordinance amendment is a private application filed by Bradley Comer. The application came before the Planning Board on October 14, 2016, and was continued to a date certain of November 15, 2016, at the request of the applicant. On November 15, 2016, the Planning Board transmitted the item to the City Commission with a favorable recommendation.
PLANNING ANALYSIS
In the attached map, the bold purple area denotes the applicant’s property. The area in light blue (bounded by Purdy Avenue, Dade Blvd., Bay Road and 18th Street) denotes the area proposed for a height increase to 90 feet/7-stories for mixed-use buildings on properties with 150 feet of frontage on Purdy Avenue. The dark blue area (bounded by properties on the north side of Dade Blvd. between Alton Road and Bay Road) denotes the proposed height increase to 60 feet/6-stories for mixed-use buildings, regardless of frontage. All of the aforementioned areas are zoned CD-2, Commercial Medium Intensity, which currently has a height limit of 50 feet/5-stories in the Sunset Harbour area.
In addition to the height increase, the ordinance as proposed would reduce the minimum required pedestal and tower setbacks for the areas outlined above. Currently, the code requires that for mixed-use buildings, when more than 25 percent of the total area of a building is used for residential or hotel units, any floor containing such units shall follow the RM-1, 2, 3 setback regulations. The following charts summarize the existing and proposed setbacks for residential or hotel uses in mixed-use buildings within the highlighted areas:
Current Setback Requirements:
|
Front
|
Side,
Interior
|
Side, Facing
a Street
|
Rear
|
Pedestal
|
20 feet
|
Sum of the side yards shall equal 16% of lot width
Minimum—7.5 feet or 8% of lot width, whichever is greater
|
Sum of the side yards shall equal 16% of lot width
Minimum—7.5 feet or 8% of lot width, whichever is greater
|
10% of lot depth
|
Tower
|
20 feet + 1 foot for every 1 foot increase in height above 50 feet, to a maximum of 50 feet, then shall remain constant.
|
The required pedestal setback plus 0.10 of the height of the tower portion of the building. The total required setback shall not exceed 50 feet
|
Sum of the side yards shall equal 16% of the lot width
Minimum—7.5 feet or 8% of lot width, whichever is greater
|
15% of lot depth
|
Proposed Setback Requirements:
|
Front
|
Side,
Interior
|
Side, Facing
a Street
|
Rear
|
Pedestal
|
25 feet
|
10 feet
|
Sum of the side yards shall equal 16% of lot width
Minimum—7.5 feet or 8% of lot width, whichever is greater
|
5 feet
|
Tower
|
25 feet
|
10 feet
|
Sum of the side yards shall equal 16% of the lot width
Minimum—7.5 feet or 8% of lot width, whichever is greater
|
5 feet
|
Based upon the applicant’s property as an example, with 200 feet of frontage, and a height of 90 feet, the following charts provides an indication of the current and proposed setback requirements.
Current requirements for an interior lot width of 200 feet and depth of 150 feet, and based upon proposed height of 90 feet:
|
Front
|
Side,
Interior
|
Rear
|
Pedestal
|
20 feet
|
16 feet min
32 feet sum of the side yards
|
15 feet
|
Tower
|
50 feet
|
20 feet
|
22.5 feet
|
Proposed requirements for an interior lot width of 200 feet and depth of 150 feet, and based upon proposed height of 90 feet:
|
Front
|
Side,
Interior
|
Rear
|
Pedestal
|
25 feet
|
10 feet min
20 feet (sum of the side yards)
|
5 feet
|
Tower
|
25 feet
|
10 feet
|
5 feet
|
PLANNING BOARD REVIEW
On November 15, 2016, the Planning Board (by a 5-2 vote) transmitted the proposed Ordinance to the City Commission with a favorable recommendation. The Planning Board also recommended that a maximum height of 90 feet be explored for the larger CD-2 area in Sunset Harbor (including lots fronting Dade Blvd) that was included in the boundaries of the ordinance. This proposed increase to 90 feet within the larger area has not been included in the draft ordinance for First Reading.
SUMMARY
The subject application was filed by an eligible property owner within the area affected by the proposed amendment. At the Planning Board, Planning staff had no objection to the height increases proposed, as they would not be inconsistent with existing structures located south of 18th Street within the Sunset Harbour Neighborhood.
However, Planning staff did recommend further study of the requirement that additional height only be allowed for lots greater than 150 feet in width. Planning staff also identified concerns with the reduction in setbacks proposed, especially for the tower portion of a building (above 50 feet in height). To this end, language has been included in the draft ordinance increasing setbacks and limiting maximum building depth to seventy-five (75) feet regardless of lot depth for upper floors. However, in order to minimize the potential solid mass of a large building wall, Planning staff recommended that additional regulations, similar to the amendments adopted for Washington Avenue be studied for this proposed ordinance. As an example, for the area in Sunset Harbor, this could include the following requirement for lots that have a frontage that is greater than 150 feet:
No plane of a building above the ground floor shall continue for greater than 100 feet without incorporating a recess facing the front(s) of the property, open to the sky, with a minimum width of 20 feet and a minimum depth of 15 feet from the face of the building. The Design Review Board may reduce or increase this recess area, in accordance with the criteria specified in Chapter 118, Article VI.
An added provision such as this would help mitigate the impacts of the reduced side setbacks by requiring the building mass to be broken-down along properties with substantial street frontage. Due to the additional 40 feet of height afforded by the Ordinance, modulation of the building mass is critical in designing a structure that does not overwhelm the neighborhood. In furtherance of this notion, Planning staff also recommended that the front tower setbacks be increased from 25 feet to 30 feet, which is still a substantial reduction from the current requirements.
Given the layout of the applicant’s property, as well as other potential sites with multiple zoned frontages (e.g. Bay Road and Purdy Avenue), the Administration believes that some increased flexibility in minimum front and interior setback requirements is warranted. However, as noted previously, in order to properly study and analyze changes to the setback requirements, the administration recommended that the applicant provide massing studies showing examples of the potential impact of the proposed ordinance, for further review, and prior to the adoption of the ordinance.
UPDATE
The subject application was filed by an eligible property owner within the area affected by the proposed amendment. At the Planning Board, Planning staff had no objection to the height increases proposed, as they would not be inconsistent with existing structures located south of 18th Street within the Sunset Harbour Neighborhood.
However, Planning staff did recommend further study of the requirement that additional height only be allowed for lots greater than 150 feet in width. Planning staff also identified concerns with the reduction in setbacks proposed, especially for the tower portion of a building (above 50 feet in height). To this end, language was included in the draft ordinance reviewed by the Planning Board that increased setbacks and limited maximum building depth to seventy-five (75) feet regardless of lot depth for upper floors. However, in order to minimize the potential solid mass of a large building wall, Planning staff recommended that additional regulations, similar to the amendments adopted for Washington Avenue be studied for this proposed ordinance. As an example, for the area in Sunset Harbor, this could include the following requirement for lots that have a frontage that is greater than 150 feet:
No plane of a building above the ground floor shall continue for greater than 100 feet without incorporating a recess facing the front(s) of the property, open to the sky, with a minimum width of 20 feet and a minimum depth of 15 feet from the face of the building. The Design Review Board may reduce or increase this recess area, in accordance with the criteria specified in Chapter 118, Article VI.
An added provision such as this would help mitigate the impacts of the reduced side setbacks by requiring the building mass to be broken-down along properties with substantial street frontage. Due to the additional 40 feet of height afforded by the Ordinance, modulation of the building mass is critical in designing a structure that does not overwhelm the neighborhood. In furtherance of this notion, Planning staff also recommended that the front tower setbacks be increased from 25 feet to 30 feet, which is still a substantial reduction from the current requirements. Given the layout of the applicant’s property, as well as other potential sites with multiple zoned frontages (e.g. Bay Road and Purdy Avenue), the Administration believes that some increased flexibility in minimum front and interior setback requirements is warranted.
UPDATE
On December 14, 2016, at the request of the applicant, the City Commission opened and continued the item to a date certain of January 11, 2017. The applicant has now provided additional massing studies (attached), which illustrate the potential impact of the proposed ordinance changes on the existing site.
The applicant has also revised the proposed Ordinance in response to concerns expressed by the Administration regarding the massing and orientation of the tower portion (the area above 50 feet in height) of a future project. In this regard, the following additional language has been included in the ordinance, which replaces the previous limitation on building depth:
The maximum footprint of allowable residential floors above fifty (50) feet in height shall not exceed forty (40) percent of the size of a lot.
The Administration believes that this modification addresses the previously expressed concerns regarding the massing and orientation of a future project and will ensure that the proposed increase in building height does not result in a monolithic, overly horizontal mass. As such, the Administration is supportive of the ordinance.