Protective Yards (TC-19-21)
Protective Yards (TC-19-21)
Protective Yards (TC-19-21): This text change proposes amending the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to reorganize requirements for protective yards associated with limited uses such that they are aggregated together in Chapter 7, rather than listed as individual use standards in Chapter 6. A protective yard is a landscaped yard area which contains no buildings, vehicular surface area, loading, storage, or display service areas and is intended to buffer and screen certain uses from neighboring properties and/or streets. By moving them out of Chapter 6, these landscaping and screening requirements become eligible for variance consideration by the Board of Adjustment which is the main purpose of this text change. Read the full TC-19-21 draft ordinance.
Background information:
On July 12, 2021, a member of the public filed a text change application proposing to amend the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to delete a provision that prohibits variances from the use standards set forth in UDO Chapter 6 Use Regulations as a means to request a variance to a protective yard requirement associated with a vehicle sales use. The prohibition on variances from the use standards in Chapter 6 has been in place since the UDO was initially adopted in 2013 and is an extension of existing state law, which provides that no change in permitted use may be authorized by variance. As such, variances to protective yard requirements associated with a Limited Use are also ineligible.
Because some use standards are integral to the definition and therefore cannot be varied, staff was concerned that allowing variances to all use standards could lead to an increase in interpretations (e.g., is the variance request valid?). This in turn could lead to an increase in Board of Adjustment appeals. Due to those concerns, and the nature of the original text change application, staff felt it would be appropriate and in the public interest to allow a property owner to seek variance relief from the protective yard requirements associated with “limited uses” by relocating those requirements from one chapter of the UDO to another. There would be no material change to the regulations or standards therein other than the protective yards becoming eligible for variance relief. As a comparison, the UDO currently allows the Board of Adjustment to vary Neighborhood Transitions which contain similar landscaping and screening requirements. The City Council authorized the staff-recommended version of this text change for Planning Commission consideration/recommendation on March 7, 2023.
Current Rules:
Currently, the UDO contains use-specific landscaping regulations for certain uses and lists them as “use standards” within Chapter 6 and they are therefore not subject to variance consideration by the Board of Adjustment.
Proposed Text Change:
Under the proposed text change the protective yard requirements associated with “limited uses” would become eligible for variance consideration by the Board of Adjustment by relocating those requirements from Chapter 6 into Chapter 7 of the UDO.
Public Meeting Schedule:
This text change is scheduled for a Planning Commission meeting in April. We will be collecting comments through March 31. Comments after this date should be submitted directly to Eric Hodge via email.