City Zone Change 967 – 430 Josephine Drive – A zone change request from Residential Multi-Family (RMF) to Community Commercial (CC) on Lot 15 of Josephine Subdivision, a 1.724 acre parcel of land generally located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Lake Elmo Drive and Josephine Drive. Presented by Nicole Cromwell, Zoning Coordinator

Planning staff is recommending approval based on the findings of the 10 review criteria as required by BMCC 27-1502 for Zone Change 967.

OWNER: Orville Kurtz
AGENT: David Goodridge
LEGAL DESCRIPTION: Lot 15, less 3,167 sf for Lake Elmo, of Josephine Subdivision
ADDRESS: 430 Josephine Drive
CURRENT ZONING: Residential Multi-Family (RMF)
EXISTING LAND USE: Single family dwelling, over-sized shop, commercial storage yard
PROPOSED USE: Same with a taxi cab company
SIZE OF PARCEL: 1.724 acres

None.





 

SUBJECT PROPERTY	Zone Change Special Review	DATE	FOR	APPROVED (Y/N)	ADDITIONAL DATA
430 Josephine Dr	City ZC 490	Nov 18, 1985	RMF to CC	No	Proposed Auto Repair for car rental company
SURROUNDING PROPERTY	Zone Change Special Review	DATE	FOR	APPROVED (Y/N)	ADDITIONAL DATA
429 Josephine Dr	County ZC 203	Sept 1978	RMF to CC	Yes	Long Construction
441 Josephine Dr	City ZC 913	July 22, 2013	CC to RMH	Yes	Replace a MH
491 Hilltop	City ZC 622	Sept 8, 1997	RMF to CC	Yes	Mini-storage warehousing
917-921 Lake Elmo	County ZC 232	May 1, 1979	RMF to RP	Yes	New office bldg
832 Lake Elmo	City ZC 285	April 28, 1980	RMF to RP	No (withdrawn)	New office
832 Lake Elmo	City ZC 297	Nov 24, 1980	RMF to RP	Yes	New office
822 Lake Elmo 331 & 333 Hunt Lane	City ZC 297	Nov 24, 1980	R-60 to RP	Yes	New offices
1125 Lake Elmo	City ZC 922	Aug 25, 2014	RMF-R to CC	Yes	Mini-storage warehousing
1540 Lake Elmo	City ZC 543	Oct 15, 1990	R-70 to RP	Yes	New office bldg
743 Lake Elmo	City ZC 253	June 5, 1979	R-60, R-70 & NC to CC	Yes	Mini-storage warehousing

NORTH:	Zoning: Community Commercial (CC) Land Use: Long Brothers Trucking, Storage and Construction
SOUTH:	Zoning: Residential Multi-Family (RMF) Land Use: Single family dwellings
EAST:	Zoning: RMF Land Use: Single family and multi-family dwellings
WEST:	Zoning: RMF Land Use: Multi-family dwellings

The proposed zoning, Community Commercial (CC), will allow the owner to sell the property without the financial and legal burden of its legal non-conforming status for zoning. The new owner can continue the commercial use of the property in conformance with the new zoning district designation. The new owner, City Cab, needs a property where there is space to store the cab fleet, do minor repairs and maintenance on the vehicles and where the business owner can reside. This property provides these essential qualities. Cab and taxi service is in high demand in Billings, where the aging population will need to rely on alternative modes of transportation in the decades to come. When this property was zoned RMF in the County in 1973, Mr. Kurtz's business, Heights Equipment Repair, had already been in business for at least a decade. The business has been a legal non-conforming use since 1973. Mr. Kurtz has retired and would like to sell the property.  

The property is located at the intersection of Lake Elmo Drive, a collector street and Josephine Drive, a local street. Property to the north is zoned CC and has been used by the Long Brothers for warehousing, storage for a trucking company and heavy contractor's storage. This business to the north has existed before zoning was adopted in 1973. Property to the east, south and west across Lake Elmo Drive is zoned Residential Multi-family (RMF). These properties are developed for single family and multi-family dwellings. Lake Elmo Drive carries about 11,000 vehicle trips per day, a heavy traffic load for a collector street. The city re-built Lake Elmo Drive about 10 years ago to add curbs, gutter, sidewalk, a center turn lane, and a multi-use path. Prior to this reconstruction, Lake Elmo Drive had no sidewalks, curbs or gutters in this section. Josephine Drive provides an east/west connection between Main Street and Lake Elmo Drive. A one-time traffic count over 10 years ago, showed about 1,500 vehicle trips per day. Josephine Drive has only a 20-foot paved street section without curb, gutter, parking lanes or sidewalks.

The legal non-conforming uses and status of the property makes it difficult to insure, maintain, sell, re-finance or invest in property improvements. A non-conforming property tends to become neglected due to these substantial legal and financial difficulties. It also tends to bring down adjacent property values due to this dis-investment. The proposed zoning will alleviate this burden and allow the property to stabilize as a conforming use. The site does not meet the city's current site development standards for issues such as storm water management, parking, paving, screening and landscaping. Any new buildings or significant changes in use will trigger compliance with some or all of these site development requirements. The proposed use, City Cab, is not significantly different than the prior use by Mr. Kurtz. 

Planning staff has reviewed the application and the 10 review criteria  as required by BMCC 27-1502 for this zone change and is recommending approval based on the proposed findings. The proposed zoning, CC, is consistent with the 2016 Growth Policy and the 2006 Heights Neighborhood Plan. The Heights Neighborhood Preferred Land Use map shows this area as a future mixed use area. It was anticipated this area would combine a mixture of residential, offices, retail and service businesses. The proposed zoning is consistent with this goal and land use map. The property's non-conforming status is an economic burden to the current owner and any future owner who would like to preserve, maintain, and continue the existing uses. Removing this burden is consistent with the 2016 Growth Policy for economic growth and sustainability. Any potential future uses or new buildings would trigger compliance with the city's site development standards and this is consistent with the 2016 Growth Policy on well developed public and private landscapes.