(a) Purpose and intent. The city recognizes that institutional uses, while providing valuable services to the community, often also create negative impacts on surrounding uses, particularly surrounding residential uses. Negative impacts of institutional uses may include, but are not limited to: high traffic levels; increased truck and delivery traffic; increased emergency vehicle traffic; nighttime traffic; overflow on-street parking; noise; visual impacts and building massing inconsistent with low density residential character; construction impacts; and lighting levels. The purpose of this section is to establish appropriate standards for institutional uses that reduce impacts on surrounding uses.
(b) Standards.
(1) Street adjacency.
(A) New institutional use sites located in residential zoning districts of R-1, R-1A, RS-1, R-3, R-4, RM-12, RM-24, RM-50 and RM-100 may not be established unless adjacent to an arterial or collector street, along at least one shared property line. Conversion of existing institutional use sites or buildings from one institutional use to another is allowed only when the new institutional use is allowed in the underlying zoning district, all necessary land use approvals are issued and all applicable city code standards are met.
(B) New institutional use sites located in all other zoning districts are not required to be adjacent to an arterial or collector street.
(2) Maximum floor area ratio. All institutional uses must not exceed the following floor area ratio standards, which vary by zoning district and street adjacency.
Maximum Floor Area Ratio | ||
When Adjacent to Arterial or Collector Street | When Not Adjacent to Arterial or Collector Street | |
Single-Family Districts R-1, R-1A, RS-1 | 0.35 | 0.20 |
Multi-Family Districts R-3, R-4, RM-12, RM-24 | 0.50 | 0.35 |
Multi-Family District RM-50, RM-100 | 2.00 | 1.00 |
SC District | 0.50 | 0.50 |
All other districts | See district requirements | See district requirements |
(A) Exceptions:
(i) The density of assisted living facilities with fully functional and separated living units including code complying kitchens, bathrooms and living space is regulated by the units per acre standards in the underlying zoning district rather than the floor area ratio standards listed above.
(ii) Fire stations are not subject to the maximum floor area ratio standards listed above. Fire stations are required to be strategically located within residential zoning districts in order to meet the public health, safety, and welfare needs of the city.
(3) Access. All institutional access points and drive aisles must be located and designed to minimize impacts on surrounding residential uses while meeting traffic engineering and public safety objectives.
(4) Screening/buffering. A perimeter landscape buffer is required pursuant to screening requirements contained in city code § 21.301.15(d)(2), where the institutional site directly abuts property that is used for single-family residential uses and either zoned or guided for single-family residential uses, unless a waiver is obtained pursuant to standards in § 21.301.15(d)(1)(F).
(5) Structure setbacks. In addition to the applicable underlying zoning district setback standards, institutional structures must be set back a minimum of 50 feet from property lines directly abutting a single-family residential use that is either zoned or guided for single-family residential use.
(6) Deliveries and loading areas. Loading area locations and delivery vehicle routes must be designed to minimize impact on surrounding residential properties and must comply with the requirements contained in city code § 21.301.06(j). To ensure public safety, frequent truck and heavy vehicle traffic must be separated from institutional parking areas.
(7) Traffic impacts. The City Council finds that high traffic levels associated with institutional uses can have significant negative impacts on nearby residential uses.
(A) Prohibition. The establishment of a new institutional use or the expansion of an existing institutional use that creates traffic levels above the following thresholds as documented by a traffic study prepared by a qualified, independent traffic engineering professional under the supervision of the city is prohibited unless the City Council finds that the negative impacts, reasonably attributable to the proposed institutional use, on surrounding residential uses can be sufficiently mitigated to levels consistent with residential livability and pedestrian and motorist safety:
(i) Adds 300 or more trips per day to a local residential street at least once per week on a regular basis;
(ii) Adds 100 or more new trips per day on a local residential street, such that the total trips on that local residential street add up to a total of over 1,000 trips per day at least once per week on a regular basis; or
(iii) The proposed use or expansion is expected to produce 100 or more trips per hour on a local residential street during the peak hour of trip generation for the proposed site, at least once per week on a regular basis.
(B) Traffic study. When the Public Works Director or designee determines a proposal has the potential to cross the thresholds listed above, the applicant must fund a traffic study to be prepared by a qualified, independent traffic engineering professional under the supervision of the city. The traffic study must, at a minimum, identify the following components:
(i) Existing and new trips generated from the site;
(ii) The distribution of the new trips to and from the site along all affected roadways. The distribution of trips must extend from the site to the arterial network;
(iii) Associated impacts from the new trips to the local streets, including factors that contribute to the general health, safety and sense of well being for adjacent residents, including, but not limited to:
(aa) Safety and capacity impacts to intersections;
(bb) Speeding and other nuisance behavior from drivers;
(cc) Time of peak impacts, including the peak hour of trip generation from the site, the occurrence of delivery and/or service vehicles; and
(dd) Context of traffic visiting the site (emergency vehicles, local patrons, employees, regional traffic and the like).
(iv) Mitigation measures to address livability concerns, including but not limited to:
(aa) Intersection control changes;
(bb) Roadway geometric changes;
(cc) Construction of pedestrian facilities, including sidewalks, curb bulbs and pedestrian warning devices; and
(dd) Construction or purchase of traffic management devices, including traffic circles, speed radar signs and other context sensitive solutions identified in the Cities Traffic Management Program.
(C) Mitigation measures. Any mitigation measures proposed to address the negative traffic impacts must be implemented or constructed as part of the development or expansion.
(c) Street classification. The classification of streets as arterial, collector or local throughout this section is as designated by the City Comprehensive Plan.