Title
Consider public testimony regarding, and an ordinance rezoning, 1.33 acres of land, out of the St. Williams Church Addition, one--half of Lot 10 and all of Lot 11 from SF-2 (Single-Family- Standard Lot) zoning district to MU-R (Mixed Use - Redevelopment and Small Lot) zoning district. (First Reading)*
Body
The MU-R (Mixed Use - Redevelopment and Small Lot) zoning district was established with a revision to the City’s code in April of 2017. It is a mixed-use district that is intended to provide flexibility for infill lots along arterial corridors in the city. A mixture of commercial and residential uses is permitted, and the lack of compatibility buffers allows greater lot utilization. This is the first request for the MU-R zoning district that has been received since the code was revised.
The site contains 1.33 acres and is located at the northwest corner of the intersection of McNeil Rd. and Old Austin Rock Rd. The Future Land Use Map designates the property for residential, which includes office and neighborhood retail uses. As a relatively small property located on an arterial roadway at an intersection with a local street, the site is suitable for these uses.
The purpose of this zoning district is to provide for office or limited commercial uses on lots that are too small to accommodate the development standards that would be required by the OF (Office) or the C-2 (Local Commercial) zoning districts. The building setbacks are less than those in the OF and C-2 districts and the maximum height of a principal building is 3-stories instead of 2-stories. The compatibility requirement when the site is adjacent to a single family or two-family is also different, with a 6-foot masonry fence required, but no landscape buffer.
In addition to these differences, there are development standards which are unique to the MU-R district. These include a requirement that on-site parking spaces must be located behind the building and screened from the street. Drive-throughs are only allowed on lots which have frontage on an arterial roadway and only one business on a site may have a drive-through. Also, the building in which a drive-through is located must be occupied by more than one business and the drive through cannot occupy more than half of the building. The MU-R district has special building design requirements, intended to highlight the building’s orientation to the street.
The uses allowed in the district include:
• Office
• Hotel, motel or other lodging
• Bed & breakfast
• Accessory dwelling unit
• Eating establishment
• Indoor entertainment
• Live/work units
• Medical office
• Community service
• Retail sales and services, limited
• Upper story residential
Uses allowed by special exception include:
• Day care
• Event center
• Outdoor entertainment
• Eating establishments with an outdoor cooking area
• Passenger terminal
The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 9-0 to recommend approval of the rezoning at their meeting on September 6, 2017. No public comment was received.
Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of the rezoning from SF-2 to MU-R.