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Planning board rejects proposed rezoning ordinance

Planning board rejects proposed rezoning ordinance

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Bradenton Beach, Community News.

BRADENTON BEACH – Planning and Zoning Board members have rejected a rezoning ordinance that would change some residential properties to mixed-use, asking that it be rewritten to reflect the board’s previous consensus to rezone to two-family residential (R-2).

The ordinance that Building Official Steve Gilbert and City Planner Luis Serna presented on June 15 proposed rezoning more than 20 properties from Highland Avenue to Gulf Drive and from Second Street North to Cortez Road. The properties are zoned R-3 (multi-family residential) and city staff recommends rezoning them to mixed-use (MXD).

Planning board rejects proposed rezoning ordinance
Building Official Steve Gilbert and City Planner Luis Serna hope to make the city’s zoning and future land use maps consistent with each other. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

The building department is requesting the rezoning to create better consistency between the city’s zoning maps and the future land use maps contained in the city’s comprehensive plan. Gilbert stated previously that the existing map inconsistencies could potentially create legal issues for the city.

The current R-3 zoning designation allows for up to 18 residential units per acre, but those same properties also carry the ROR (residential/office/retail) future land use map (FLUM) designation implemented when the city’s comprehensive plan was amended in 2008. The zoning map was never amended to bring it into agreement with the amended future land use map.

According to Gilbert, the ROR FLUM designation allows for a small store or retail operation, a takeout restaurant or an attorney’s office on the ground level with residential units above. The current R-3 zoning designation does not allow for those commercial uses. Gilbert and Serna recommend maintaining the existing ROR FLUM designation and rezoning those properties to mixed-use consistent with the FLUM designation.

Planning board rejects proposed rezoning ordinance
The properties highlighted in orange on the city’s zoning map currently carry a R-3 zoning designation. – City of Bradenton Beach – Submitted
Planning board rejects proposed rezoning ordinance
The properties highlighted in light purple on the city’s future land use map currently carry a Retail/Office/Residential designation. – City of Bradenton Beach | Submitted

During preliminary discussions in May 2021, the board recommended rezoning those properties to R-2 (two-family residential) with an amended medium-density FLUM designation.

The R-2 zoning designation allows one-family dwelling units, two-family dwelling units (duplexes), group homes, foster care facilities with less than five residents, family day care homes and private parks that include playgrounds and preservation and conservation uses. The R-3 designation allows one-family dwelling units, two-family dwelling units, multi-family dwelling units, group homes, foster care facilities and family day care homes.

“The mixed-use would allow for in- creased lot coverage and increased total impervious surface coverage. Mixed-use provides for residential over retail, so this would give the opportunity to put small shops on the ground,” Gilbert told the board.

Board members John Burns, Ken Mc Donough, Fred Bartizal and Dan Morhaus expressed their collective desire that the ordinance eventually presented to the city commission for adoption, modification or rejection should reflect the board’s 2021 consensus.

Serna cautioned that downzoning those properties from R-3 to R-2 could expose the city to future legal challenges – including Bert Harris claims seeking compensation for the loss of the development rights currently granted by the R-3 zoning.

Ordinance opposition

Burns adamantly expressed his oppostion to Ordinance 22-541 as presented during Wednesday’s meeting and he questioned why it didn’t reflect the board’s 2021 consensus.

“What I don’t understand is that we had a consensus. We had a clear recommendation. What I would
be looking for is an ordinance that implements that consensus recommendation,” Burns said.

Regarding the proposed mixed-use zoning designation, Burns said, “The MXD zoning district has allowances for a couple other things. Instead of 35% lot coverage, it goes to 70% – twice the lot coverage. Any time you increase the lot coverage you decrease the spacing between the structures and that affects the general appearance of the area;
and it can or cannot affect property values, as can placing a ROR bottom story retail/office down- stairs. Seventy percent lot coverage changes the character of the area as well. It’s expansion of, essentially, a commercial district. In addition, the maximum lot coverage plus impervious (surface) goes from 40% to 85%, which decreases the greenspace and affects the entire area in a different fashion.”

In defense of the ordinance language presented that day, Gilbert said city staff was originally charged with bringing the city’s zoning designations into agreement with the city’s existing FLUM designations, and the ordinance presented reflected that city commission directive.

Public input

A handful of potentially impacted residents and property owners attended Wednesday’s meeting. During public input, homeowner Herman Fernandez expressed concerns that mixed-use zoning would create additional parking issues and lead to the commercialization of those residential areas. He said staff’s proposed rezoning would not be a positive move for the permanent residents living in those areas.

Planning board rejects proposed rezoning ordinance
Resident Herman Fernandez is concerned about the proposed mixed-use rezoning. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

“What is our goal here? I know things change as time goes on, but I’m not sure this is a good move,” Fernandez said.

Property owner Evelyn Stob said she likes the board’s proposed R-2 zoning designation better than city staff’s proposed mixed-use zoning designation.

Fernandez’s neighbor, Mark Heller, said he doesn’t want bars and restaurants being located in areas currently zoned for residential uses.

Gilbert said he doesn’t think the commission’s intent in 2008, before his arrival, was to allow for more bars and restaurants, but to allow for ground-level retail operations with residential units above.

In response to the board’s request for a revised ordinance, Gilbert said he’s not comfortable rewriting the ordinance without first discussing it with the city attorney. He also said changing the current FLUM designation from ROR to medium density residential would require a second and separate ordinance.

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Rezoning would allow residential units above commercial

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Bradenton Beach, Community News.

BRADENTON BEACH – The city is considering rezoning several residential properties between Second Street North and Cortez Road from multi-family residential to mixed use.

Building Official Steve Gilbert said the proposed rezoning would impact about two-thirds of the properties from Highland Avenue west to Gulf Drive, and from Second Street North to Cortez Road.

The Planning and Zoning Board will hold a public hearing on the proposed rezoning of those properties on June 15 at city hall at 1 p.m. The meeting is open to the public, with public input accepted.

The hearing will be followed by a public hearing before the city commission on Thursday, July 21. The proposed rezoning to be discussed at these hearings would require city commission approval.

Public notices were mailed to all property owners whose properties could potentially be rezoned. Notices were also sent to all property owners located within 300 feet of the properties proposed for rezoning. The notice references lot numbers but not specific addresses and includes a map that indicates where the potentially-impacted properties are located.

City’s rezoning efforts could impact dozens of property owners
The properties located within the dotted lines on this map could potentially be rezoned from multi-family residential to mixed use. – City of Bradenton Beach | Submitted

“If your lot is inside the dotted line, those are the properties affected. It’s not changing anything other than those 20 to 30 lots listed on the notice,” Gilbert told The Sun.

Gilbert said the properties currently have multi-family residential (R-3) zoning designations that allow up to 18 residential units per acre.

“This is first step in getting our Zoning Map to be consistent with the Future Land Use Map that was adopted in 2008 when the comprehensive plan was revised. It’s taken this long to get to the point where we’re starting down the road of making our zoning map consistent with the Future Land Use Map,” Gilbert said.

“Back in 2008, when the city adopted the 2020 comprehensive plan, the Future Land Use Map set all of those lots aside to be retail/office/residential. You could have a little store, a pizzeria or a lawyer’s office on the ground level with residential above. Back when they were talking about this stuff, they wanted to make the downtown area a walkable community. How do we do that? We put mom and pop shops on the ground and somebody can live upstairs or rent a place upstairs. You don’t need to bring your car to go to Bridge Street. You can go downstairs and get a bite to eat and go back upstairs if you want. Currently those properties are all multi-family residential, and commercial and retail uses are not allowed,” Gilbert said.

The proposed rezoning from R-3 to Mixed Use would give property owners choices.

“It allows for the stand-alone residential use to continue in this district, even a new residential structure built according to FEMA’s flood plain and elevation requirements. Nobody’s losing the right to continue that use, but if you had a ground-level structure you’d have to rebuild with an elevated structure. There’s no way around that with FEMA,” Gilbert said.

“The developer could do a single-family dwelling or do what the Mixed Use zone district contemplates: A small commercial space on the ground, parking in the front, side or back and two stories of residential units upstairs. The alternate scenario is a developer buys four lots with old houses on them, tears all four houses down and can now do a storefront with multi-family residential units upstairs,” Gilbert said.

“There’s no impact to existing uses and existing owners. They can continue to use their property as is. Within the limits of the land development code, they can still renovate, repair or remodel their homes. There’s nothing prohibiting them from the continued use of the property as it currently sits and nothing takes this away as long as they own the property. And it should not affect resale values because the Mixed Use zoning gives the buyer more flexibility in whatever fashion best suits their investment needs or the return on their investment,” Gilbert said.

“If anybody has questions about how their property might be impacted, I encourage you to call the building department at 941-778-1005, ext. 210, and ask for Steve or Luis; or send an email to stevegilbert@cityofbradentonbeach.com. We’ll be happy to help you out,” Gilbert said.