It is the City's policy that most of the frontage along the major highway corridors should continue to be zoned and developed for single-family residential purposes to be consistent with the residential objectives in the Comprehensive Plan and to generally confine commercial development to locations where commercial uses and zoning currently exist to achieve the commercial objectives as also specified in the Comprehensive Plan. However, compared to the other highways, it is recognized that these objectives will be difficult to achieve along Darrow Road because of the street's higher traffic volume, the magnitude of multi-family, office and industrial uses currently existing, and the continued pressure for additional nonresidential development.
The Darrow Road Overlay District-1 is established for the portion of Darrow Road south of Lillian Road and Bryn Mawr Drive. The Darrow Road Overlay District-2 is established for the portion of Darrow Road north of Lillian Road and Bryn Mawr Drive. These two Darrow Road Overlay Districts are intended to not only continue to encourage single-family developments, but to also recognize that well-designed non-single-family developments may be compatible with the uses along Darrow Road provided they do not fragment or isolate existing low density residential areas and are designed in a manner and at a scale consistent with the prevailing residential character of the corridor and adjacent residential areas. Therefore, these two Overlay Districts provide for limited non-single-family developments to be considered in locations that meet the objectives of the Darrow Road Overlay Districts. Each application shall be subject to a careful evaluation to ensure that any non-single family development occurs only according to the established criteria. Such needed assurances are not possible if the area were to be rezoned to a conventional office or commercial district.
These Darrow Road Overlay District regulations are designed to achieve the following objectives:
(a) To continue to encourage the preservation of single-family residential areas;
(b) To provide development options that protect the Darrow Road Corridor from strip commercial development;
(c) To manage the location and intensity of non-single-family development in a manner consistent with the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan;
(d) To ensure that new or expanded non-single family development is compatible with surrounding land uses by requiring sequential development of heretofore residential property to avoid isolation of single-family homes;
(e) To ensure that the general building appearance of new development occurs in a manner and at a scale consistent with and otherwise maintains the basic character of the underlying single-family residential districts;
(f) To ensure safe and efficient traffic flow along Darrow Road;
(g) To ensure that all non-single-family development complies with these objectives by requiring a site plan and establishing a review process to ensure that all development is consistent with the approved plan;
(h) To ensure continued vitality of abutting stable and developed neighborhoods.
(i) In addition, the regulations of the Darrow Road Overlay District-1 are intended to promote development that has the same design characteristics as this unique residential area located along the southern portion of Darrow Road.
(Ord. 2007-222. Passed 1-10-08.)