§ 16-33.002. Findings, purpose and intent.

The city finds that the size, scale and character of commercial uses directly affects the adjacent neighborhoods and the public health, safety and welfare. The city finds that highway-oriented retail, service, office and dining uses which are intended to serve larger areas of the city instead of a single neighborhood or small group of neighborhoods leads to development pressure on existing, developing and revitalizing neighborhoods, and on developing or existing historical neighborhood commercial development patterns connected associated with these neighborhoods. The city finds there is a need to protect existing and developing neighborhood areas from incompatible uses resulting from intense highway-oriented development, and from uses associated with the redesignation of properties from industrial areas to commercial and residential areas. The city finds that there is a substantial need to encourage a balanced mix of uses to include proportionately significant residential uses and to facilitate safe, attractive and convenient pedestrian circulation. The city finds that it is necessary to improve air quality by promoting walking and reducing the number of vehicular trips. The city finds that it is necessary to establish adequate parking requirements by encouraging shared parking arrangements. The city finds that there is a substantial need directly related to the public health, safety and welfare to comprehensively address these concerns through the adoption of the following regulations. The purpose and intent of this chapter, in establishing the Live Work (LW) district, is as follows:

1.

Promote a balance of retail, service, office, dining and residential uses which serve the adjacent residential neighborhoods;

2.

Encourage the rehabilitation or development of underutilized industrial areas to include significant residential uses;

3.

Enhance the environmental and recreational amenities of railroad corridors through greenspace and landscaped buffers, pedestrian and bike connections and adjacent neighborhood parks.

4.

Provide opportunities for the creation of live/work housing units that allow for the operation of limited types of small business out of the home.

5.

Provide sufficient, safe and accessible open space for active and passive enjoyment by residents and workers;

6.

Improve the quality of air and water through provisions for the planting of trees, greenspace protection, bicycle parking and electric vehicle parking;

7.

Create a diversified city where people across the spectrum of age, income, ethnicity, and culture can live, work, shop, meet, and play;

8.

Improve the aesthetics of the built environment;

9.

Protect existing stable single-family neighborhoods from uses and building forms which are incompatible with their scale, character and needs;

10.

Create new mixed-use districts, in areas so indicated in the comprehensive development plan, which are pedestrian-oriented and have a balance of residential and commercial land uses;

11.

Prohibit the development of larger scale highway-oriented retail, service, office and dining uses which are intended to serve larger areas of the city than a single neighborhood or a small group of neighborhoods;

12.

Encourage a grid of connected streets to improve access and reduce congestion;

13.

Facilitate safe, attractive and convenient pedestrian circulation and minimize conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles;

14.

Encourage pedestrian flow through the design of buildings with sidewalk level uses, which open directly onto sidewalks adjacent to public streets;

15.

Improve pedestrian access within the district and to and from the surrounding neighborhoods;

16.

Establish building façade lines and sidewalk requirements, and reserve the space between buildings and the street for pedestrian functions;

17.

Minimize the use of streets in adjacent single-family neighborhoods for parking that serves commercial land uses by establishing adequate parking requirements and encouraging shared parking arrangements; and

18.

Provide a range of housing types and prices to meet different housing needs.

(Ord. No. 2002-41, § 1, 5-28-02)