[Council Communication]  [Proposed Ordinance]

Council Communication

Title:	First and Second Readings of an Ordinance Amending Chapters 18.20, 18.24, and 18.28 of the Ashland Municipal Code - Land Use Ordinance, Establishing Limits on Maximum House Sizes in the Historic District.
Dept:	Planning Department
Date:	September 16, 2003
Submitted By:	John McLaughlin, Director of Community Development
Approved By: ...........................	Gino Grimaldi, City Administrator

Synopsis:	The City Council directed the staff to consider an ordinance to limit the maximum house size in the historic district. Several study sessions were held at which time direction was given to the Staff to prepare an ordinance. Extensive research was done of other communities' ordinances, as well as research regarding the size of structures in our own historic district. The draft ordinance presented here was the result of those efforts. It is an ordinance that establishes house size based upon the size of the lot. However, there are factors used in the size determination which ensure that the house size remains compatible with the surrounding neighborhood, regardless of how large the lot. Examples are included in the packet of information. The Council held a public hearing on September 2 at which time they recommended specific changes to the ordinance. These changes include reducing the FAR from .42 to .38; allowing a CUP for structures to exceed the Maximum Permitted Floor Area (MPFA) by up to 25%, and setting an absolute MPFA for single family structures of 3,249 sq. ft.
Recommendation:	The Council requested that the Staff bring back the modifications in an ordinance for first and second readings at the September 16th meeting. The ordinance presented includes the requested amendments. In order for the Council to approve first and second readings of the ordinance at the same meeting, a unanimous affirmative vote must occur for adoption of first reading.
Fiscal Impact:	The adoption of this ordinance will result in a substantial increase in staff time to review building permits for the historic district, including researching existing house sizes for remodels and additions, and more intense reviews of new house plans for compliance with maximum size requirements. The increased review time may result in the need for additional staff for the reviews, or longer time periods for permit issuance.
Background:	A previous packet included all background information on this action was presented to the Council at the last meeting. No new information has been submitted to the City since the last meeting.
Attachments:	An Ordinance Amending Chapters 18.20, 18.24, and 18.28 of the Ashland Municipal Code - Land Use Ordinance, Establishing Limits on Maximum House Sizes in the Historic District. This document is available in PDF format.  To view the document on your computer, please click on the link below.  The Adobe reader program will open in a new browser window.  Please use the browser's "Zoom" feature to adjust the size of the text for comfortable reading.

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House_Size_Ord.pdf (503.5KB)

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