COUNCIL COMMUNICATION
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Jeff Thuneman, Development Services Director
SUBJECT:Title
Adopt Ordinance No. 24-1333 Amending Lake Havasu City Code Title 14, Zoning (Development Code), Section 14.03.02, Table 3-1, to Remove Self-Storage (Mini-Storage) as a Permitted Use in the Mixed Use-General (MU-G) District, and Section 14.04.07 to Clarify Exterior Material Types Permitted in Commercial Zoning Districts (Chris Gilbert)y
Body
FUNDING SOURCE:
N/A
PURPOSE:
To approve a City-initiated application removing self-storage-mini-storage as a permitted use in the Mixed-Use-General (MU-G) District and to clarify the exterior material types permitted on buildings in commercially zoned districts.
BACKGROUND:
The two text amendments contained in this request were directed to staff through the Mayor’s office and are as follows:
Section 14.03.02, Table 3-1: Removal of the Self-Storage (Mini-Storage) Use Category from the Mixed Use-General (MU-G) District. The MU-G District is the last commercial district permitting this type of storage use, typically for boats, RVs, and miscellaneous household goods. The City previously removed this use category from the General Commercial (C-2), and Commercial Southgate (C-SGD) Districts in November of 2021. If this amendment is approved, the only Districts that will permit this storage related use category in the future will be the Light Industrial, (LI) and Industrial (I) Districts.
Section 14.04.07.C.2: Clarify exterior material types permitted on buildings in commercial zoning districts. On February 13, 2024, the City Council gave direction on this amendment following a discussion item presentation. Its direction was to remove the specific exterior materials list from this section and permit corrugated metal exteriors in a manner that does not result in a completely metal building. This proposed amendment achieves the direction given by Council by requiring such structures to have at least 30% of an alternate material on any façade facing a public street, not including alleyways.
The Planning Commission recommended approval by a 7-0 vote at its April 3, 2024, Regular Meeting with two recommended conditions:
1. A 180-day grace period to submit plans for storage unit projects be provided to the owners of the remaining Mixed-Use-General (MU-G) properties within the City.
2. The owners of the remaining Mixed-Use-General (MU-G) properties be notified in writing of this code change following approval by the City Council.
COMMUNITY IMPACT:
Both proposed amendments will have impacts on the community. The removal of storage units from MU-G will only impact a limited number of properties but will continue to push storage units out of commercial areas and into more appropriate industrial areas. Clarifying exterior materials on commercial buildings will provide more design options and allow innovative materials to be used when designing these types of buildings.
FISCAL IMPACT:
N/A
ATTACHMENTS:
Ordinance No. 24-1333
Tracked Changes Development Code Amendments
SUGGESTED MOTION:Recommended Action
I move to adopt Ordinance No. 24-1333 amending Lake Havasu City Code Section 14.03.02, Table 3-1 and Section 14.04.07.C.2; the changes made to Section 14.03.02, Table 3-1, to become effective ninety (90) days from the adoption of this Ordinance.