Commercial Uses in Subdivisions

Part of the issue of including other uses in PRD neighborhoods is the overall viability of these secondary uses.  

The Planning Commission was concerned that allowing small-scale commercial or office uses might result in businesses that fail and leave the neighborhood with vacant space right in the heart of the neighborhood.   The issue was one of ensuring the balance between residential and secondary uses is appropriate to foster success.  

Staff clarified to the Planning Commission that the proposed Code language is opening PRDs to the possibility of including mixed use or town center concepts with supportive secondary uses. The final decision is one to be made by the applicant, who will decide what the viability of the commercial uses will be.  Staff also pointed out that some types of uses may be more viable in the future with new gridded street patterns and development patterns being developed as a result of the Code changes initiated by this project.  

Concerns over the types of uses that could be integrated in the PRD were also discussed.  These were addressed when staff talked about how the Code would be structured to include a strictly defined set of uses (as described by the Planning Commission as “service-oriented commercial" - dry cleaners, barbershops, etc.).

Mixed-use Buildings vs. Neighborhood Center

One of the issues that was addressed by the Planning Commission during their last meeting was the integration of other land uses into PRD developments.  The PRD Code has always envisioned the integration of supportive uses in residential PRD subdivisions.

One of the suggested amendments presented for the PRD Code update is to create more refined standards for the integration of other uses in PRD neighborhoods.   

The concept of commercial in residential areas (provided they are tightly regulated to ensure compatibility) was seen as a positive by the Planning Commission.  The preference being the integration of mixed uses in residential PRD developments with developments that are more like "Town Centers" than mixed-use buildings. 

The regulations that structure how these "Town Center" type additions to PRDs are designed will focus on many different aspects, including:

• walkability;
  
• appropriate architecture:
  
• appropriate location (central to new PRD);
  
• addressing impacts such as building size, traffic impacts, orientation to the street; and,
  
• specifically defined list of approvable uses that are compatible.