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Approach and Process
The new Mixed Use (MU) District is
proposed as a Special District in Article 4 of the Zoning
Ordinance. The MU District is established to provide for
mixed use development within the County’s Service Districts
when consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and the
county-wide land use vision and goals. The district is
intended to focus development in a compact form within
Service Districts, creating a vibrant mixed use area that
functions as a discernable center for employment as well as
a center of retail, service, entertainment, cultural and
civic activities for a traditional neighborhood.
As proposed, the regulations establish
broad parameters for the uses in the district, with specific
limitations and requirements to be established on a
case-by-case basis for each project as part of the rezoning
process. Even where broad parameters are established in the
ordinance, many can be waived by the Board with approval of
the rezoning when the applicant can demonstrate an alternate
approach to achieving the goals of the District. This
approach gives the maximum flexibility to both the County
and applicants to respond to unique characteristics and
issues on a project-by-project basis. It is anticipated
that the development of a town center in each Service
District will be something of an evolutionary process, as it
is difficult to predict the order in which sites will come
forward for development; the flexibility designed into the
ordinance is critical for responding to this evolution.
As part of the rezoning process, a site
specific General Development Plan and Code of Development
would be approved for each project. These documents would
govern the build-out of the project. The General
Development Plan would show street layout, general land uses
and key features of the development, such as civic buildings
or major open spaces. The Code of Development would specify
the types and character of uses allowed, and specific
guidelines for the design and layout of streets, buildings
and open spaces, with substantial flexibility retained to
allow changes to the development as it evolves in order to
respond to market conditions.
Intent
The intent is to create
regulations which facilitate mixed use development within
the County’s Service Districts consistent with the
main-street form and pedestrian-oriented character
envisioned by the County’s Comprehensive Plan. Standards
for approval included in the proposed regulations (§4-918)
provide a summary of the intent of the MU Special District.
In summary, these standards require development in the MU
district to be designed with:
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Consistency with the Comprehensive Plan;
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A mix of uses that help create a center for employment
as well as a center of retail, service, entertainment,
cultural and civic activities for workers, residents and
visitors;
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A mix of housing types to include a range of styles,
sizes and price ranges;
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A pedestrian orientation, with clearly defined sidewalks
and paths enhanced by trees, pocket parks, seating and
other streetscape elements, and with buildings located
close to the sidewalk and providing a variety of
pedestrian destinations;
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Streets that are designed to consider their influence on
the character of the neighborhood as well as carrying
capacity, with narrower widths, on-street parking, and
multiple connections;
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Open space treated as an integral component of the
development;
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Minimization of parking, with parking dispersed and
located to the rear of buildings and garages and parking
areas fronting on alleys rather than streets;
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Human-scaled and pedestrian oriented lighting and
signage; and
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Reasonable and sustainable transitions to adjoining
development.
Applicability
As currently
drafted, property located within areas designated for mixed
use in Service Districts as well as adjoining properties
designated residential could utilize the MU Special
District. Three sub-districts are envisioned, with
different broad limitations established in the ordinance for
each of these sub-areas.
The Mixed Use-Core
sub-district is intended to be utilized in areas serving as
the focal point of development in a Service District, with a
concentration of active uses such as retail, restaurants and
services, but also providing complementary office, service
and residential uses. The Mixed Use-General district would
apply to all other areas in Service Districts designated for
mixed use. The
sub-district also provides for a mix of uses, but is not
intended to serve as the major focus for retail and related
services within the service district.
The Mixed
Use-Residential sub-district is intended for areas in the
Service District which are designated for residential
development rather than mixed use, and allows for
predominately residential development. Utilizing the MU
district for residential development would provide more
flexibility to developers in layout of residential
communities and allow for a broader array of housing types
within a project while assuring that such projects are
designed with a pedestrian orientation that is physically
integrated (by streets, walkways, and open spaces) to
adjoining mixed use and commercial areas.
Uses
The proposed
regulations would allow a broad range of uses within the MU
district, with specific uses proposed for a particular
project to be further defined as part of the rezoning
process. Uses are grouped into six broad use categories:
1. Residential (single family, duplex, triplex,
quadriplex, townhouse, live-work, multifamily including
residential over commercial, and group living)
2. Temporary Housing (Bed & Breakfast, Hotel)
3. Public, Civic and Institutional Uses (churches,
day-care, schools, government facilities, etc.)
4. Active Commercial Uses (retail, restaurants,
personal services, gyms, galleries, etc.)
5. Other Commercial Uses (offices, research &
development, artisan shops, technical schools)
6. Utilities (water, sewer, telecommunications
facilities)
The provisions
include requirements that call for a mix of uses across
these broad categories as well as a certain proportion of
uses from some categories in particular sub-districts. For
example, in the Mixed-Use Core, a higher proportion of
active commercial uses are required and a lower proportion
of residential uses.
Density
As drafted, the
provisions establish no limits on density of commercial
uses, with such limits to be determined as part of the
rezoning process. No density limits are proposed for
residential units located over commercial uses or live/work
units in the Core of General Districts. In the residential
districts, the code establishes that residential densities
shall not exceed those envisioned in the Comprehensive
Plan.
Lot, Height and
Building Requirements
This district
includes few of the traditional lot requirements found in
most zoning ordinances, with minimal requirements for
setbacks. Rather than requiring buildings to be set back a
certain distance from the street, buildings are required to
be within a certain distance of the
street, to help create pedestrian-oriented developments.
The one exception to this minimal setback is along
Collectors and Arterials and along other existing streets
adjoining existing rural and residential properties, where
the provisions call for a minimum setback of 50 feet from
the right-of-way so that these areas can be buffered and
their rural character protected.
Height minimums are
also established, at 25 feet/2 stories for primary
structures. The lower one story-structures sometimes
typical of commercial development do not create a sense of
enclosure along the street, important for creating a human
scale and pedestrian orientation. Maximum height has been
proposed at four stories (55 feet) for commercial and mixed
use buildings and three stories (35 feet) for residential
buildings, with the intention that the core areas would
typically be no more than three or four stories in height,
consistent with the scale of downtown Warrenton. The MU
provisions would allow the Board to approve greater heights
for specific buildings.
Streets
The proposed
regulations include general requirements for narrower
streets, with on-street parking, street trees and sidewalks.
A major challenge to successful development of the
envisioned mixed use communities will be existing Virginia
Department of Transportation (VDOT) Street requirements,
which generally do not promote narrower streets with
on-street parking, or accommodate street-tree planting.
However, VDOT regulations do acknowledge that narrower
streets are appropriate in certain areas, and the County
will be able to work with VDOT and applicants toward a more
traditional street design. As an alternative, there may be
opportunity to utilize private streets, particularly in the
mixed use areas where the commercial entities make street
maintenance less of an issue.
Open Space and
Landscaping
The proposed open
space requirement for the project is lower than many
existing zoning districts—10 percent for the Mixed Use areas
and 20 percent for the Residential areas, but utilities and
stormwater management facilities cannot be counted toward
the open space (as they are in other districts). Therefore,
although less open space may be provided, the result should
be more usable, functional open space. The MU provisions
require open space to be deliberately planned and located so
that it is accessible and functional to residents, employees
and visitors.
Street trees form
the most critical element for landscaping requirements, and
special attention is given in the regulations to assuring
that such trees are accommodated in developments. Study
after study concludes that street trees help to create the
character that communities seek to achieve with traditional
main street development. Trees soften and screen the
buildings, pavement and other hardscape elements of a
street, help to slow down traffic and, most significantly,
separate pedestrians from traffic and give pedestrians a
sense of enclosure that contributes significantly to
creating a pedestrian orientation.
Other Elements
Ideally, the MU
provisions would incorporate stand-alone provisions to deal
with other zoning requirements such as parking, signage and
lighting. However, staff believes that developing such
specific standards for these elements at this time would
require significant time and delay the opportunity to
implement a MU district. Therefore, the provisions
incorporate substantial flexibility in these areas, allowing
the Board to waive and modify such requirements as part of
an application should they desire to do the necessary
analysis in support of alternatives. Staff would anticipate
that, in the future, these general provisions would be
replaced with more detailed standards for the MU district.
Text Amendment
Process
The Board of
Supervisors initiated this text amendment at their November
8, 2007 meeting. Staff provided an introduction to the
proposed amendment to the Planning Commission at their
October 25, 2007 work session. A Planning Commission public
hearing was initially scheduled for November 29, 2007, and
follow-up Planning Commission work sessions on the amendment
were held on December 4, January 4, January 31, February 15,
February 28, March 27, April 18 and April 24. Multiple
public hearings were also held, with the last public hearing
held and closed on April 24, 2008. The proposed ordinance
reflects significant input from the public and the Planning
Commission. On May 28, 2008, the Planning Commission
unanimously recommended approval of the proposed ordinance.
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