The City of Surprise has been working on an update to the Land Use Ordinance for about a year now. Thank you to Surprise members who responded to our surveys. Your input has been valuable.
Now it is time to provide your input to the City Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council on at least part of the update.
Upcoming Meeting Dates:
Nov. 17th at 4pm – City Council Work Session
Nov. 19th at 6pm – Planning & Zoning Public Hearing: Consideration of final draft
Dec. 15th at 6pm – City Council Public Hearing: Consideration of final draft
Here are the proposed language changes up for consideration:
Alternative Language
Staff will present the following alternative languages to a few sections of the LDO as provided by stakeholders in an attempt to provide the clearest understanding to P&Z and City Council. Each will then have the choice between the draft LDO as published in the agendas or can select any/all of few alternative languages.
Alternative Language #1
This section of alternative language means to reduce the minimum side setback standards for traditional single-family residential lot in R-1 and R-2 zoning. This change would reduce the minimum side setbacks to 5’ and 5’ on either side of a home.
Table 106-2c – Residential Low Density (R-1) Zoning district
Lot Category A
Min Side Setback: 5’& 5’ 8’
AND
Table 106-2d – Residential Medium Density (R-2) Zoning district
Lot Category A
Min Side Setback: 5’ & 5’ 7’
Lot Category B
Min Side Setback: 5’ & 5’ 8’
Alternative Language #2
This section of alternative language means to reduce the threshold of lot widths that the LDO considers as a narrow lot and therefore requires mitigating designs in a subdivision plat. This group of changes includes notes in the development standards tables for R-1 and R-2 zoning districts and the Lot Planning section of Chapter108-Land Division.
Table 106-2c – Residential Low Density (R-1) Zoning district
Notes
3. Subdivisions shall contain no more than seventy-five percent (75%) of lots less than forty-eight feet (48’) fifty feet (50’) wide and will include mitigating designs outline in Chapter 108 of this ordinance.
AND
Table 106-2d – Residential Medium Density (R-2) Zoning district
Notes
4. Subdivisions shall contain no more than seventy-five percent (75%) of lots less than forty-eight feet (48’) fifty feet (50’) wide and will include mitigating designs outline in Chapter 108 of this ordinance.
AND
108-2.5 Lot Planning
F. Narrow Lot Subdivisions. Subdivisions with a homogenous design of lot widths narrower than forty-eight feet (48’) fifty feet (50’) cause numerous long-term conflicts and constraints for city services, design standards, parking, and quality of pedestrian movement over the lifespan of the neighborhood. In order to mitigate these problems, the designs listed below may apply to residential subdivisions that permit a given percentage of lots to be narrower than forty-eight feet (48’) fifty feet (50’) wide according to Section 108-2a. Mitigating designs for plat are outlined below and home product designs are identified in the PEDS.
Alternative Language #3
This section of alternative language means to add a new lot category intended for higher density single-family residential products platted on individual lots in R-2 zoning districts. This change includes a new smaller lot category added in the development standards tables for R-2 zoning districts.
Table 106-2d – Residential Medium Density (R-2) Zoning district
Lot Area (sf): 2,000-3,499
Min. Lot Width (sf): 35
Min. Front Setback (ft) : 5
Max Front Setback (ft): N/A
Min. Side Setback (ft): 5/5
Min. Rear Setback (ft): 5
Max. Bldg. Height (ft): 30
Lot Coverage: 70%
Footnote: Add footnote that this lot category can only be used for a residential development with access for each dwelling unit provided by a common shared drive or rear-loaded alley.
Alternative Language #4
This section of alternative language means to add flexibility in how TND zoning districts are entitled during a rezoning process. The current proposal has a rigid requirement to include a mixture of land dedicated to commercial, residential, mixed use, and open space. The language listed below intends to enforce the calculation as a target that can vary for a given project during its rezoning process. It means to allow constraints like unique topography or creative designs as factor when the City evaluates future master planned communities.
106-4.2 Establishment of TND Zoning district
C. Required Mixture of Land Uses.
1. All TND developments will be required to provide a mixture of land uses that include residential, commercial, mixed use, and open space. Table 106-4a below identifies the specific ratios for the TARGET MIX OF land uses based on the approved number of dwelling units in the overall TND project. AN ALTERNATE MIX OF THESE LAND USES MAY BE APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL BASED ON THE INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TND DEVELOPMENT, INCLUDING ITS TOPOGRAPHY, LOCATION, OVERALL DESIGN AND QUALITY, THE INTERFACE OF ITS VARIOUS COMPONENTS AND THE INTEGRATION OF THE PROJECT INTO THE OVERALL COMMUNITY.
Alternative Language #5
This section of alternative language means to reduce the level of lot diversity within a TND zoning district. The current proposal has a strict requirement to include a mixture of lot sizes within a Development Parcel. The language listed below intends to broaden the focus of lot diversity across the entirety of a TND project.
106-4.2 Establishment of TND Zoning district
C. Required Mixture of Land Uses.
3. TND DEVELOPMENTS SHALL PROVIDE Residential neighborhoods shall be laid out providing different housing types and varying lot sizes interspersed on the same street within the same subdivision, to prevent creating homogenous subdivisions filled with repetitive housing types. Every TND DEVELOPMENT residential development parcel shall provide a minimum of three (3) distinctly different LOT CATEGORIES (AS DEFINED PER TABLE 106-4B) THAT MEET THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA lot sizes; providing:
a. A minimum of two ONE thousand FIVE HUNDRED square foot (2,000 sf1,500) differential in lot area in combination with;
b. A lot width differential of at least twenty percent (20%) TEN (10) FEET; and
c. No one (1) LOT CATEGORY lot size shall comprise more than sixty percent (60%) of the total number of residential lots within a TND DEVELOPMENT single development parcel AND EACH OF THE THREE (3) LOT CATEGORIES MUST INDIVIDUALLY COMPRISE A MINIMUM OF TWENY PERCENT 20% OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF RESIDENTIAL LOTS WITHIN A TND DEVELOPMENT.
d. ALTERNATIVES TO THESE CRITERIA MAY BE APPROVED AS PART OF THE TND PLAN OF DEVELOPMENT IF THE PROPOSED ALTERNATIVES MEET THE INTENT OF THESE LOT DIVERSITY CRITERIA.
Alternative Language #6
This section of alternative language means to add a new lot category intended for higher density single-family residential products platted on individual lots in TND-R zoning districts. This change includes new smaller lot category added in the development standards tables for TND-R zoning districts.
Table 106-4b – Development Standards for TND-R Parcels
Lot Area (sf): 2,000-3,499
Min. Lot Width (sf): 35
Min. Front Setback (ft) : 5
Max Front Setback (ft): N/A
Min. Side Setback (ft): 5/5
Min. Rear Setback (ft): 5
Max. Bldg. Height (ft): 30
Lot Coverage: 70%
Footnote: Add footnote that this lot category can only be used for a residential development with access for each dwelling unit provided by a common shared drive or rear-loaded alley.