Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 01-26-2010 Regular — reading text

the Land Development Code is not considered a waiver item under the resolution that gives that authority. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at S.;46 p.m. ddm 74-  CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA STAFF REPORT DATE: November 18, 2009 TO: Chairman and Members Municipal Planning Board THRU: Michael D. Beedie, City Engineer FROM: Samantha D. Abell, Senior Planner SUBJECT: Consideration of Ordinance No. 1794 to Amend the Mixed -Use Main Street MUMS) District to Permit Motorsports Rentals and Sales as a Conditional Use. 1. REOUEST: 1. 1. The City has received an application from Brian Stuckey, manager and authorized agent of Fort Walton Beach Motorsports, LLC requesting to amend the Land Development Code ( LDC) by amending the commercial allowable uses to include " Motorsports Rentals and Sales" and amending the glossary of terms to provide for a definition. The request is not site specific except as it applies to the Mixed -Use Main Street ( MUMS) District. 1. 2. The applicant paid the required $ 925. 00 application fee and deposit on November 6, 2009. 1. 3. The applicant desires to locate a commercial business for Motorsports Rentals and Sales within the City' s MUMS District. In order to consider specific plans for development, the City must allow, at least as a conditional use, Motorsports Rentals and Sales, a use presently prohibited in the MUMS District. 1. 4. The application requests that the Definitions ( Section 20. 1, Volume V, LDC) be amended to add a new term to read: 1. 4. 1. Motorsports Rentals and Sales: An establishment where personal mobility crafts may be purchased or rented for short-term use. Personal mobility crafts include scooters, bicycles, personal watercraft, and all- terrain vehicles. The term does not include a recreational motorsports facility, or the lease and sales of automobiles, boats, and recreational vehicles as defined in Section 320.01( 1)( b) of the Florida Statutes. 1. 5. In addition, the applicant requests that Table 15 -2, titled: Allowed Land Uses and Permit Requirements for Mixed Use Zones, be amended to include " Motorsports Rentals and Sales" as a Conditional Use in the MUMS District. 75-  1. 6. Staff has drafted Ordinance No. 1794, reviewed by the City Attorney for legal form and sufficiency. 2. BACKGROUND: 2. 1. The term " intensity" as discussed within this report refers to the nature of a commercial activity and its impact on the surrounding area. There is a two -way interaction between transportation and land use policies, with the potential for each to support. or undermine the other. For instance, a development' s scale and operation can influence the surrounding land use by changing accessibility, environmental quality, noise, the image of an area, and pedestrian mobility. The more intensive. a development, the greater the risk fir conflict with the surrounding area. 2. 2. Zoning and Land Use History The City' s Land Development Code does not currently differentiate between personal mobility vehicles and the more intensive automobile sales. Likewise, the LDC does not differentiate between personal watercrafts such as jet skis and the more intensive boat sales. Therefore, in a tourism -oriented multimodal district the rental and sales of personal mobility vehicles including jet skis, motor scooters, and motorcycles are not permitted. Below is a brief history on the subject. 2.2. 1. The City' s downtown area along U.S. Highway 98 ( Miracle Strip Parkway SE) and Harbeson Avenue SE was zoned C -2 ( General Commercial) District from the inception of zoning in 1960 until July 1983, when the area was rezoned to a Redevelopment Project Area zoning designation called DC -3 ( Community Commercial) District. The DC -3 District was adopted to implement provisions for Commercial land use as shown on the Proposed Land Use Plan in the Fort Walton 1982 Beach Community Redevelopment Plan prepared for the City in October by Zuchelli, Hunter & Associates, Inc." The stated intent of the Commercial" category was " to provide retail sales and services, offices, transient accommodations and general community and regional shopping." According to the 1982 plan, design parameters for the area " included a major pedestrian axis directly linking the waterfront and downtown business district; major pedestrian axes should function as a major retail spine linking downtown with the waterfront; retail activity will be encouraged to orient along the street as well as the interior parts of the redevelopment area." 2.2.2. The DC -3 District did not have a land use classification for " Motorsports Rentals and Sales" but expressly permitted " Sale of Automobiles, Vehicles, Heavy Equipment, Boats, Mobile Homes or Similar Commodities." 2. 2.3. In 2001, the City implemented the 2000 Comprehensive Plan by rezoning the City core to Mixed Use Main Street (MUMS). The MUMS District does not permit the sale or rental of autos, other motor vehicles, boats or recreational vehicles. Commercial activities are specifically limited to pedestrian- oriented; to provide a continuous commercial frontage along principal streets to facilitate a pedestrian orientation; with parking located on- street or in common parking lots at the center 76-  or rear of block. and behind buildings; and to provide for the reuse of existing buildings and structures, while encouraging new development. 2. 3. The AmendmentProcess 2. 3. 1. Amendments to the Land Development Code may be initiated by the City Council, the Municipal Planning. Board ( MPB), City staff, or by a citizen. The process requires that the NINB review and vote on a 'recommendation to City Council on the proposed amending ordinance(s). 2.3. 2. After due public notice, the City Council shall hold a public hearing after the first reading of the ordinance amending the Land Development Code. The City Council may consider approval after a public hearing based on the application and the relevant support materials, testimony at the public hearing, the MPB recommendation, and the Staff Report. The City Council may adopt the ordinance after second reading. 3. DISCUSSION: 3. 2.Existing City Zoning Structure 3. 2. 1. The City' s Land Development Code has three ( 3) types of uses which may be allowed in the various districts established: 3. 2. 1. 1. Principal uses permitted by right, 3. 2. 1. 2. Accessory uses permitted by right, and 3. 2. 1. 3. Conditional uses. 3. 2.2. Conditional uses are uses that are not generally considered compatible with other land uses in a particular zoning district. The MPB may find some uses appropriate, after individual site review, based on their site location, design, building configuration, intensity or density of use, or the imposition of conditions pertinent thereto, and may permit such individual uses. 3. 2.3. In a Euclidean Zoning structure such as the City' s ( there is as -of r-ight zoning; district regulations are explicit; residential, commercial and industrial uses are segregated; districts are cumulative and bulk and height controls are imposed), appropriate conditional uses are usually those uses that are listed as most intense in the next least intense zoning classification. 3. 2.4. To determine whether the proposed use is appropriate in the MUMS District, Staff has analyzed the next least intense zoning classification. As stated in Section 1. 4, there is no existing term in the LDC for " Motorsports Rentals and Sales." Motor 'vehicles are permitted within the larger category of " Auto and Vehicle Sales and Rentals" within five commercial and industrial zoning districts. 77-  3. 2.5. The Limited Commercial ( C -1) zoning district is applied to a small number of parcels on the northwestern perimeter of the Community Redevelopment Area. In the C -1 zoning district, " Auto and Vehicle Sales and Rentals" is not permitted. The: General Commercial ( C -2) zoning district is applied to a much larger area within the CRA, just north of the MUMS District, and permits " Auto and Vehicle Sales and Rentals" by right. Considering that Auto Sales is permitted in the larger surrounding CRA area, the less intense " Motor Sports Rentals and Sales" is appropriate for consideration as a Conditional Use within the MUMS District. 3. 3. Classifications of Land Use 3.3. 1. The North American Industry Classification System United States Version 2007 has no classification for " Motorsports Rentals and Sales" but includes Motorcycle, ATV, and Personal Watercraft Dealers" within the general classification " Other Motor Vehicle Dealers" ( 4412) as a land use classification in Subsection 44 - Retail Trade Industries. 3.3.2. Subsection 44 is described as an industry group primarily engaged in retailing new and used vehicles ( except automobiles, light trucks, such as sport utility vehicles, and passenger and cargo vans). 3. 3. 3. This :industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in retailing new and/or used motorcycles, motor scooters, motorbikes, mopeds, off road - all -terrain vehicles, and personal watercraft, or retailing these new vehicles in combination with repair services and selling replacement parts and accessories. 3. 3. 4. It is accepted zoning practice to include motorsports