On October 11, 2017, the Land Use and Development Committee recommended that the Planning Board transmit the proposed ordinance to the City Commission with a favorable recommendation with the following two modifications to Section 142-153 (c):

1) Section 142-153.Conditional uses.

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(c)      For apartment buildings located north of 41^st Street with a minimum of 100 apartment units, a restaurant serving alcoholic beverages shall require conditional use approval and shall comply with the following

(1)     The restaurant shall only be open to residents of the apartment building and their invited guests. All invited guests dining at the restaurant shall be required to park on the subject property.

PLANNING ANALYSIS
The owner of a multi-family renovation project is seeking an amendment to the RM-1 development regulations, in order to allow restaurants in a limited capacity as an accessory, conditional use to an apartment. The representatives of the proposer have done extensive outreach to neighboring single family home owners and neighborhood groups, and their collective input is reflected in the draft Ordinance.

The attached draft ordinance proposes an amendment to the Land Development Regulations to allow restaurants with food and alcohol in apartment buildings located within RM-1 Districts. Such restaurants would not be open to the public, and would only serve residents and their invited guests. Currently, dining rooms and restaurants are prohibited in the RM-1 district.

Apartment buildings in the RM-2 and RM-3 districts are permitted to have restaurants and dining rooms, in varying capacities, as an accessory use to a residential apartment building. The proposal herein would amend Sec. 142-153 of the City Code by creating a conditional use category for restaurants in the RM-1 district north of 41st Street. Specifically, for apartment buildings with a minimum of 100 apartment units, a restaurant serving alcoholic beverages would require conditional use approval from the Planning Board, and would have to comply with the following:

• The restaurant would only be open to residents of the apartment building and their invited guests. All invited guests dinning at the restaurant shall be required to park on the subject property.
• The restaurant kitchen would be limited to a maximum size of 500 square feet.
• A hall for hire, dance hall, open-air entertainment establishment, outdoor entertainment establishment or entertainment establishment shall be prohibited.

In addition to this proposed amendment to Sec. 142-153, minor text amendments to the RM-1, RM-PRD RM-PRD2, RO, RO-2, RO-3, TH, SPE and R-PS1 districts are also included. In this regard, when the comprehensive alcoholic beverages amendment was approved in 2016, Sec. 142-1301 (under Special Use Regulations) in Chapter 142 was deleted in its entirety. The following is the previous text of this deleted section, which is provided for informational purposes only:

DIVISION 4. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
Sec. 142-1301. Permitted districts.
Vendors may be permitted to sell or distribute alcoholic beverages, either for consumption on or off the premises only in the following zoning districts:
(1) RM-2 multiple-family, medium intensity.
(2) RM-3 multiple-family, high intensity.
(3) CD-1 commercial, low intensity.
(4) CD-2 commercial, medium intensity.
(5) CD-3 commercial, high intensity.
(6) CCC convention center district.
(7) HD hospital district.
(8) I-1 industrial, light.
(9) MR marine recreational.
(10) MXE mixed use entertainment.
(11) WD-1 waterway district.
(12) WD-2 waterway district.
(13) R-PS2 residential medium density.
(14) R-PS3 residential medium-high density.
(15) R-PS4 residential high density.
(16) C-PS1 commercial limited mixed use.
(17) C-PS2 commercial general mixed use.
(18) C-PS3 commercial intensive mixed use.
(19) C-PS4 commercial intensive phased bayside.
(20) RM-PS1 residential limited mixed-use development.
(21) TC-1 North Beach Town Center core.
(22) TC-2 North Beach Town Center mixed-use.
(23) TC-3 North Beach Town Center residential/office.

As noted above, in this previous section of the City Code, all districts where alcoholic beverage establishments were permitted are listed. Those zoning districts that were not listed above were, and still are, prohibited from having an alcoholic beverage establishment.

When the above noted section of the Code was deleted, all of the individual zoning district regulations that allowed alcoholic beverage establishments were modified. However, those districts not listed above were not modified. In this regard, the RM-1, RM-PRD, RM-PRD2, RO, RO-2, RO-3, TH, SPE and R-PS1 are the districts that were, and still are, prohibited from having alcoholic beverage establishments as a main permitted or accessory use. In order to provide additional transparency, minor text modifications have been proposed for each of these zoning districts, clarifying that alcoholic beverage establishments are not permitted.

PLANNING BOARD REVIEW
On October 24, 2017, the Planning Board transmitted the proposed Ordinance Amendment to the City Commission with a favorable recommendation.

UPDATE
The subject Ordinance was approved at First Reading on December 13, 2017, with no changes.