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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - Planning Commission - Meeting Date: 6/22/2023 (3)MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION WORKSHOP COUNCIL CHAMBERS 5850 W. GLENDALE AVE. GLENDALE, ARIZONA 85301 JUNE 22, 2023 5:30 P.M. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Crow called the workshop to order 5:30 PM. 2. ROLL CALL Present: Vern Crow, Chair Edwin Nyberg, Vice Chair Tom Cole, Commissioner John Crow, Commissioner John Geurs, Commissioner Martin Nowakowski, Commissioner Brian Hooper, Commissioner Also Present: Tabitha Perry, Planning Manager James Gruber, Chief Deputy City Attorney Randy Huggins Jr., Development Services Director Tawanda Walker -Hall, Recording Secretary 3. PUBLIC HEARING ITEMS ZTA23-XX COMMISSION INITIATIVE FOR A TEXT AMENDMENT TO THE CENTERLINE OVERLAY DISTRICT Presented by: Tabitha Perry 1. ZTA23-XX COMMISSION INITIATIVE FOR A TEXT AMENDMENT TO THE CENTERLINE OVERLAY DISTRICT Ms. Perry: Staff is requesting an initiation of a text amendment application to amend the Centerline overlay district which is necessary to provide additional flexibility to development standards, specifically to multi -family developments. The attached map is bound between 43 rd and 67th Avenues, Myrtle Avenue to North and Ocotillo Road to the South. Staff has found that we need to create more flexibility for residential development and the best way to do it is through this text amendment. We are asking the Commission to provide a consensus to move forward for staff to do research and come back before the commission for a recommendation followed by a final action by City Council. Planning Commission will not be making any recommendation for any changes to the Centerline overlay district this evening, this is only for staff to begin the work to bring back before you at a later date. Commissioner Nowakowski: You are wanting to reduce the number of required parking spaces, specifically for multi -family? What's going to be the ratio? What is it now and what will it be or is that what is going to be reviewed? Ms. Perry: That is what staff will need to review. One of the things specifically is to address the parking requirements for multi -family with two of the character districts within the overlay District. For example, the Historic Downtown District and Beet Sugar District does not require off site parking; the other two Midtown and Market does. So, we would like to go back and do the research to determine what the market demands are or what we perceive to be acceptable to bring back before you. Commissioner Nowakowski: Is multi -family allowed along the Centerline? Ms. Perry: Yes Commissioner Nowakowski: So, what we are looking at is if we go higher or denser reduce the number of parking spaces, sounds like to me. As a Glendale resident and former City employee, downtown has struggled to survive, I am in favor of looking at it. Commissioner Cole: Have we had some interest and current rules have discouraged projects moving forward? Ms. Perry: Yes, that is correct. There have been a couple of PADs that we have had to bring back before the Planning Commission and City Council because there have been parking restraints as it relates to affordable housing. Specifically, we are looking, at multi -family with a lot of emphasis on the affordable housing component. As the Commission may be aware when you look at affordable housing, the ratio of the number of parking spaces needed for the number of tenants, the market demands and parking studies have shown that not all the tenants have vehicles. So if the multi-family/affordable housing can show that location near public transportation, there may be an opportunity for us to reduce parking requirements. These are some of the things we would like to go back to and do the research and comparison to justify why we are asking for the text amendment. Commissioner Cole: I do believe it's worth looking at. There are parts of downtown that can be considered walkable and potentially revitalize some of the businesses. I would be supportive of looking at it. Vice Chair Nyberg: I agree with that think it's good to look at those options in that area. Chairperson Crow: Do we have a consensus to allow staff to move forward? All Commissioners voted yes. Chairperson Crow: We have a consensus for staff to move forward. 4. NEXT MEETING The next regular meeting of the Planning Commission is scheduled for August 24, 2023, at 6:00 p.m., in the Civic Center located at 5750 W. Glenn Drive, Glendale, Arizona, 85301. 5. ADJOURNMENT Chairperson Crow adjourned the workshop at approximately 5:09 pm. The Planning Commission meeting minutes of June 22, 2023, were submitted and approved this 24th day of August 2023. Tawanda Walker -Hall Recording Secretary