Bill Type and Number: Ordinance 2007-564

Sponsor: Council President at the request of the Mayor

Date of Introduction: May 8, 2007

Committee(s) of Reference: LUZ

Date of Analysis: May 11, 2007

Type of Action: Ordinance Code amendment

Bill Summary: The bill amends Ordinance Code Chapter 656 – Zoning Code – and Chapter 30 – Planning and Development Department – to change various regulations and procedures with regard to the Downtown Overlay Zone, the Planning Commission, and the Downtown Development Review Board. The bill shifts the authority for review of and recommendation on exceptions, variances, waivers and other actions within the Downtown Overlay Zone from the Planning Commission to the JEDC’s Downtown Development Review Board (DDRB), the successor to the current JEDC Design Review Committee. For administrative actions applying to the Downtown Overlay Zone, all current references to actions by the “Zoning Administrator” are changed to refer instead to the designated JEDC employee assigned to handle downtown overlay issues. The bill establishes application fees for a non-multi-phase “staff only review” and a multi-phase Downtown Design Review Board review.

The bill adds additional language Zoning Code Part 3, Subpart H – Downtown Overlay Zone and Downtown District Regulations – to clearly state that the development guidelines for downtown are not meant to be totally prescriptive, but suggestive of the quality and design approach expected for downtown projects. The Downtown Development Review Board is authorized to approve deviations from the established downtown development guidelines for good cause, and may develop supplemental design guidelines. The bill removes the requirement that parking garages must have ground floor retail space from garages that are not located in the defined “Central Core” or on “Retail Pedestrian Oriented Streets”, but these other garages are required to disguise their street faces with appropriate architectural elements (windows, decorative panels, etc.)

The DDRB is established with 9 voting members and 11 ex officio members for a total of 20.

Background Information: The bill is intended to shift review and approval of downtown development and redevelopment projects from the Planning Commission to a board with a sole focus on downtown issues, which combines ex officio representatives of entities with downtown interests and responsibilities (Downtown Vision, Inc., First Coast MPO, Waterways Commission, JTA, etc.) with private sector experts in architecture and planning, and 3 downtown property owners or full time employees of downtown businesses.

Policy Impact Area: Downtown development review and regulation

Fiscal Impact: Undetermined

Analyst: Clements