Downtown Spacing Overlay Development Code Amendment

The applicant requests review and recommendation of the proposed amendment to Chapter 37 of the Development Code, modifying the Downtown Spacing Overlay regulations. This came in response to a new goal in the City’s Moderate Income Housing Plan to consider reducing the proximity restriction that is currently in place.

The proposed amendment reduces the distance needed from a new multi-family or multi-plex unit to an existing one in the Downtown area from 400 feet to 200 feet from building footprint to building footprint. Planning Staff conducted preliminary mapping research and concluded that the 400-foot restriction essentially eliminated all possibilities for new “missing middle” housing types in the Downtown area. The change to 200-feet does open more areas for redevelopment of “missing middle”, but Planning Staff felt comfortable that it would still meet the intent of the overlay zone to protect the existing single-family characteristic of the central residential neighborhoods.

The DRC reviewed the proposed amendment and had two comments to consider:

Consider changing to 300 feet spacing instead of 200 feet. (Power)

The proposed Code change was considered as a goal in the City's Moderate Income Housing Plan that was updated earlier this year