HomeMy WebLinkAbout1247 Broadway - Staff ReportTO
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AGENDA
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�,,w�e; �«.. STAFF REPORT DqTE 4/4/94
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL SUBMITTED 1-�
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March 24, 1994
FROM: CITY PLANNER/CITY ATTORNEY APPROVED
BY
S�B�E�T: HISTORY OF LAND IISE AT 1247 BROADWAY, BROADWAY COMMERCIAL AREA,
ZONED C-1.
Walter Renner property owner of 1247 Broadway, represented by
George Corey, has requested the City Council give him some relief
from the present zoning regulations because he has been unable to
find a tenant for the first floor of his property and thus is
facing foreclosure. Mr. Corey discussed this matter briefly with
the City Council at their meeting of March 21, 1994. The history
of the situation is summarized in the letter from George Corey to
the City Council dated March 21, 1994. Council directed that staff
review the zoning issue and bring a report back to the next council
meeting.
In his letter Mr. Corey suggests that the City Council determine
that an insurance agency is not an office use and thus is not an
excluded use under code section 25.36.034.
Code Section 25.36.034 states:
Prohibited uses in Broadway commercial area.
1. Financial institutions;
2. Health Service and real estate;
3. All other offices on the first floor
Facts of the Case as Staff IInderstands Them
A number of years ago Mr. Renner purchased the two story building
at 1247 Broadway. At the time of purchase Mr. Renner rented the
second floor to a variety of office tenants and used the first
floor for his real estate business. About four years ago (1990)
Mr. Renner moved his office to the second floor and leased the
entire first floor to a retail tenant. That tenant occupied the
space for at least a year then another retail tenant leased the
space for a second year. The last retail tenant left about two
years ago (1992). Since that time Mr. Renner has been trying to
rent the first floor space.
Zecently Mr. Renner found a buyer for the property. The buyer owns
�n insurance agency that also provides a property management
s rvice. The buyer wants to put his insurance agency on the first
flaor in the old retail space. The property management function
woutd be operated out of an existing office on the second floor.
Wit2iout clarification or amendment of the code the potential buyer
cannot use the first floor retail area for an insurance agency. He
will n�:�d a use permit to use a second floor office area for the
property management function unless he is proposing to use an
of f ice on ._'�e second f loor which is now being used by a real estate
use (i.e. c�ntinue a nonconforming use.)
4/4/94
HISTORY OF LAND IISE AT 1247 BROADWAY, BROADWAY COMMERCIAL AREA, ZONED
C-1.
page -2-
iiistory of Zoninq for the Broadway Commercial Area
On April 2, 1984 the City Council adopted Ordinance 1272 with added
Code Section 25.36.034 to the C-1 district regulations. This
section added prohibited uses in the Broadway area: `1. banks,
building and loan associations, financial institutions. 2. Offices
on the first floor".. This code section was amended on February 5,
1990 by Ordinance 1403 which changed the wording slightly and added
health services and real estate uses as prohibited uses on the
f irst f loor .
Ordinance 1403 also added definitions for office and real estate to
the code . An of f ice was def ined as " a room or group of rooms used
for conducting the affairs of a business, profession, service,
industry or government; unless specifically excluded it shall
include financial institutions, health services and real estate
offices." Real Estate was defined as: "the occupation of real
estate broker or agent, title insurance, real estate investment,
real estate management, real estate developer or similar business."
When Mr. Renner originally bought the building there was a real
estate office (his) on the first floor of this building, he
subsequently rented the site (for more than 6 months) to a retail
use. Thus, the nonconforming status of the office use on the first
floor was lost because it was replaced by a conforming use (retail
sales) for more than six months. (C.S. 25.50.030 "...When changed to
a conforming use it shall not thereafter be changed back to a
nonconforming use.")
Response to Mr. Corey's Request Based on Current Code
To the present staff has included insurance agencies as office uses
throughout the city, since they are operated in a room or group of
rooms used for conducting the affairs of a business or service.
City Council could determine that an insurance agency is less like
an office use and more like a retail service use such as a travel
agency which has been determined to be a retail service. If this
were the case this first floor area on Broadway as well as all
other first floor areas on Broadway and Burlingame Avenue could be
used by insurance agencies as permitted uses. Such a broadening of
the definition of "retail service" should be viewed in the light of
its effect on the bigger policy of promoting retail pedestrian
traffic within these commercial areas and promoting the high
turnover usage of available parking needed to support retail uses.
Choices for Resolution
It should be noted that "spot" zoning and "use variances" are
prohibited by state law. Therefore, there is no mechanism I am
aware of that could exempt this single property from the existing
prohibition against first floor offices in the code. A code change
is necessary. Moreover, a code change would apply to all
properties with in a designated overlay area, the Broadway
Commercial Area, or the C-1 district of the city.
4/4/94
HISTORY OF LAND USE AT 1247 BROADWAY, BROADWAY COMMERCIAL AREA, ZONED
C-1.
page -3-
The alternatives are:
l. City council determine that insurance agencies are a retail
service uses and thus a permitted use in the C-1 zone and in
subarea A of the Burlingame Avenue Commercial Area and
Broadway Commercial Area. (The pertinent code sections would
have to be amended to implement this change as we did with
travel agents in the M-1 zone.)
2. Amend the prohibited uses in the Broadway Commercial Area Code
Section 25.36.034. Provide an exception to the prohibition of
all office uses on the first floor and allow insurance
offices.(item 3) (With this approach the property owner would
still be subject to parking requirements for the number of
spaces dif f erence between the previous use and the new of f ice
use. This change would apply to all properties in the
Broadway commercial area.)
3. Create an overlay zone for the Broadway Commercial area from
Paloma to California, similar to the Subarea B 1 created for
the Burlingame Avenue Commercial area, in which you would
allow insurance offices on the first floor without any
additional parking requirements. (Since few of the properties
on Broadway have any on site parking, not providing for a
parking exemption would result in their having to get a
parking variance and go through city processing with the
possibility of denial.)
4. Within the Broadway Commercial Area the code could be amended
to allow a given number of offices on the first floor with a
use permit; similar to what is now done with eating
establishments. (For this to work effectively the first floor
offices allowed should be exempt from parking requirements.
There is a long term equity issue with this approach as
pointed out in Mr. Corey's letter regarding Mr. Renner's
difficulty with two potential tenants/buyers who wanted to use
the building for an eating establishment.)
ATTACHMENTS:
George Corey letter to City Council, March 21, 1994
George Corey letter to Monroe, March 30, 1994
City Council Minutes, March 21, 1994
Ordinance Number 1272, April 16, 1984, excerpt
Ordinance Number 1403, February 5, 1990, excerpt
Zoning Code: Chapter 25.36, C-1 District Regulations Chapter 25.50,
Nonconforming Uses and Structures
Map of Broadway Commercial Area