If anyone can answer my questions I would appreciate it:
1.It is stated that the changes would make these properties in compliance with our comprehensive plan and this is just a reconciling of AM zoning with the plan. Is this the case? 1 a. It appears that some of these properties are in clearly residential areas that happen to border on commercial areas and would not necessarily have frontage in what is now considered commercial. Would they be permitted to change their frontage to front on Gulf?
2. Some of the properties on Gulf appear to already be in a commercial zone how would the ROR designation affect them?
3. Once an area / property is designated ROR does it have to involve a commercial and residential combination to comply or can it be either or e.g. strictly commercial - strictly residential?
4. In looking at the ownership of these properties on the county records it would appear that they are mostly (but not all) owned by persons associated with PAR or family members of a city commissioner. Is there a concern that this is spot zoning?
If anyone can shed light on these questions it would be appreciated.
Thank You,
Answers to your questions are forthcoming.
ReplyDeleteHum, I’ll try to answer your questions, although I’m not an expert.
ReplyDeleteThe public hearing on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009, 6:30 p.m. at City Hall will be a hearing on the rezoning of 24 lots and it will be held by the Planning & Zoning (P&Z) Board. It’s not with the City Commission. At some point, I think the City Commission will also be required to hold a public hearing to complete the rezoning process (will have to check on that). Basically, if the rezoning is approved, it will change our City’s local zoning map.
We received a ‘notice’ letter from the City about the P& Z Board Dec. 15th public hearing as we live very close to a few of the ‘24 lots’. Part of the notice letter says “Please accept this letter as notice that the City of Anna Maria is the applicant for a rezoning of the lots noted below. All lots are currently zoned Commercial District (C-1) and the requested zone district is Residential/Office/ Retail (ROR). The requested rezone is being proposed to bring the zoning on the lots in compliance with the City of Anna Maria’s Comprehensive Plan.” The letter then lists the 24 lots and their addresses and concludes with, “All interested parties and the recipient of this notice may appear at the meeting and be heard regarding the request. Copies of the proposed request are on file at the City of Anna Maria City Hall Building Department and may be reviewed by the public between the hours of 9:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M. Monday through Friday, exclusive of holidays or call the City of Anna Maria at 708-6130 Ext.25.”
Before getting to your questions here’s a little background:
There are two maps – the Future Land Use Map, which is part of the Future Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan), amended on Dec. 11, 2007, and the local zoning map, which is part of or related to our City’s Land Development Regulations (LDRs). In cases of inconsistency between the two maps, the Comp Plan’s Future Land Use Map takes precedence over the local zoning map.
The Commission adopted Comp Plan amendments on Dec. 11, 2007. At that time, designations of 24 lots were changed from Commercial to ROR on the Future Land Use Map of the Comp Plan. That legislative decision followed years of discussion and public input at numerous P&Z Board and Commission meetings and public hearings.
Currently, the 24 lots have ROR designations on the Comp Plan’s Future Land Use Map and they have C-1 zonings on the local zoning map. I think the current C-1 zoning of the 24 lots is inconsistent with their ROR designations in the Comp Plan. As far as commercial development rules go, the C-1 Zoning Code language allows a maximum of two stories of commercial use in a structure while the ROR Comp Plan policy language allows just one story of commercial use in a structure.
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Hum, you asked:“1. It is stated that the changes would make these properties in compliance with our comprehensive plan and this is just a reconciling of AM zoning with the plan. Is this the case?”
ReplyDeleteMy answer is yes, I think so. If approval is given for the rezoning, the zoning of the 24 lots will change from C-1 to ROR on the local zoning map. In my opinion, ROR zonings on the local zoning map for the 24 lots would be consistent with (or ‘in compliance with’, as the City is saying) the ROR land use designations for the 24 lots on the Comp Plan’s Future Land Use Map. We’ve been told that the State doesn’t obligate the City to change the zoning map but the City is allowed to make a policy decision to do rezoning. In this case, the rezoning would eliminate inconsistency between the two maps.
Over the past year or so, the P&Z Board and the Commission have discussed the issue of making the local zoning map ‘match’ or look exactly like the Comp Plan’s Future Land Use Map. I believe there was consensus that this be done. Part of making the zoning map look like the Comp Plan’s Future Land Use Map would be to change the zonings of the 24 lots from C-1 to ROR. The point has been raised that leaving the 24 lots with a C-1 zoning might lead to confusion for future development. Let’s say Mr. X buys one of the 24 lots. He knows the lot is zoned C-1. He looks at the local Zoning Code but doesn’t look at the Comp Plan. He sees that the C-1 Zoning Code allows two stories of commercial retail use in buildings in the C-1 zoning district and he puts in an application to build two stories. Mr. X would not get a development permit from the City for a two story commercial building because his lot has an ROR designation in the Comp Plan and the Comp Plan allows only one story of commercial in ROR. Rezoning the 24 lots from C-1 to ROR would be a way to eliminate that potential confusion.
Hum you asked: "1 a. It appears that some of these properties are in clearly residential areas that happen to border on commercial areas and would not necessarily have frontage in what is now considered commercial. Would they be permitted to change their frontage to front on Gulf?"
I don’t know how someone would go about having their property’s frontage changed from the side street to Gulf Dr. I’ll mention here that all 24 lots, to be considered for the rezoning, are now in the Residential/Office/Retail (ROR) land use category of the Comp Plan. This mixed use ROR land use category allows commercial use and is considered a commercial land use category in the Comp Plan. In the Gulf Drive area and I’d say 7 of these ROR land use category lots directly abut properties that are in the Residential land use category in the Comp Plan.
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Hum you asked: “2. Some of the properties on Gulf appear to already be in a commercial zone how would the ROR designation affect them?
ReplyDelete3. Once an area / property is designated ROR does it have to involve a commercial and residential combination to comply or can it be either or e.g. strictly commercial - strictly residential?”
I’ll try to answer those two questions together. The lots in the Gulf Drive area that will be considered for the rezoning are 115 Palm Ave., 117 Palm Ave., 9802 Gulf. Dr. (2 lots), 9806 Gulf Dr. (2 lots), 9902 Gulf Dr.(2 lots), 9901 & 9903 Gulf Dr.(2 lots), 9907 Gulf Dr. and 203 Spring Ave..(the other 12 lots included in the rezoning request are 6 lots on the 100 block of Pine Ave. and 6 lots on N. Bay Blvd.) All the lots are already designated in the ROR land use category on the Future Land Use Map of the Comp Plan and they are currently zoned C-1 on the local zoning map.
Let’s say I own a vacant 2 lot parcel of 11000 sq. ft. on Gulf Dr. and it has the current ROR Comp Plan designation as well as C-1 zoning. Even though the Comp Plan says, in the ROR land use category, structures can be developed in a variety of ways (the maximum being a structure with one ground level commercial and two story residential), I think I am currently limited by the C-1 zoning. The C-1 zoning code tells me I can only build a commercial use, not a residential use in the C-1 zoning district. I think I’m also currently limited to building just one story of commercial use because the Comp Plan policy does not allow two floors of commercial in ROR. If the rezoning is approved and my zoning changes from C-1 to ROR, then my zoning will match my ROR Comp Plan Future Land Use Map designation. I’ll be able to build what the Comp Plan and zoning code say I can for ROR. With a new ROR zoning on my 11000 sq. ft. parcel, I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to develop any one of the ROR zoning code options: a) one-story ground level office/retail; b) one-story elevated office/retail; c) one-story office/retail with one or two story residential; d) one-story elevated office/retail and one story residential; e) one-story ground level residential; f) one-story elevated residential; or g) two-story elevated residential. I won’t be obligated to develop a mixed use combination; I could choose to do a solely commercial or solely residential use. I’ll have to follow the LDRs for my height limit, lot coverage, onsite parking requirements, etc.
Hum you asked: "4. In looking at the ownership of these properties on the county records it would appear that they are mostly (but not all) owned by persons associated with PAR or family members of a city commissioner. Is there a concern that this is spot zoning?"
I don’t think there is an issue of spot zoning here but it’s best to ask an expert that question.
Btw, the county property records don’t show accurate, updated zoning and future land use information for some of the lots. People can go to the City Clerk’s Office and request copies of the current 2007-2020 City of Anna Maria Future Land Use Map and the current City of Anna Maria zoning map. Those are the maps to go by.
I’ll end by saying, the answers I’ve just given are my opinions and recollections and shouldn’t be taken by anyone as totally accurate or as legal advice (not that you would). Everyone should do their own due diligence.
Thank you for the thorough response, it does help. In fact the city should do a better job of explaining matters like this to avoid misunderstandings. I appreciate how much time it took for you to compile the response.
ReplyDeleteThank You
The action does not require changing the all-important Future Land Use Map of the Plan. If it did, then the action would require the City Commission to approve any such change by at least a 4-1 super majority. The super majority requirement, you may recall, was put in place as an amendment to the city charter by the voters in the November 2008 election. That provision (super majority requirement) was one of the more important pieces of legislation in recent history. It's an insurance policy that helps us preserve what we've got! And the only way it can be removed from the charter is by referendum.
ReplyDeletePLEASE NOTE: Had the election last month gone differently, and the two losers had actually won... well, they didn't. So lets leave it at that.
Thanks, Robin. As usual, your comments are thorough and instructive.
ReplyDelete