Text Amendment - Project Re:Code – Proposed Draft Sections: 27-1200 – Landscaping; 27-1300 – Off-Street Parking; 27-1100 – Proportionate Compliance This is the fourth meeting of the City Zoning Commission and the third meeting of County Zoning Commission on the Public Review Draft sections of the new Zoning Codes for the City and County. This session will cover Landscaping, Off-Street Parking and Proportionate Compliance. The City and County Public Review Drafts for this topic areas are very similar and will be presented together in this hearing.

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The current zoning regulations for the City were adopted on May 3, 1972 and the County zoning codes were adopted on November 6, 1973. The City and County amended and revised their separate zoning regulations several times before the codes were unified in December 1997. The 1972 City zoning regulations and 1973 County regulations both had minimum off-street parking requirements based on the primary uses on property. In 1984, the City Council moved the off-street parking regulations from the Zoning code to the Site Development section (City Code section 6-1203). When the zoning codes were unified in 1997, subsection 27-1200 became the off-street parking section for the County only. The city off-street parking code has had minor amendments over the years, however both codes are essentially unchanged since the early 1970s. 

Landscaping in the city code was first adopted in 1974 and consisted of a percent of the undeveloped land area to be kept in landscaping or social gathering spaces. Landscaping included not just living plant material. Outdoor plazas, transit shelters, fountains, benches and other "aesthetic buffering" could be counted as landscaping. The original city landscaping code required approval from the Building and Engineering Divisions but not the Planning Division. The county zoning code only required screening of commercial parking lots adjacent to residentially zoned land.

A formal landscaping code was not adopted into the County zoning code until 1988 when a similar landscaping requirement to the city's provision was adopted. The County landscaping requirement was focused on off-street parking lots and the Planning Division was responsible for approvals. In 1983, the City adopted the S 27th Street Corridor District that included special landscaping requirements and a point system for approving new developments or re-developments. In 1986, the City created the Medical Corridor district and again included a point-based system for improved landscaping in the district. The City and County added the Entryway/Interchange zone districts in 1993 and this code section included special landscaping requirements based on simplistic formulas of buffer yard width and number of plants. In 2004 and 2005, the City adopted the Shiloh Corridor Overlay districts (North and South) and these code sections included specific landscaping standards for property in the city and within 500 feet of the centerline of Shiloh Road. The 1997 unification of the City and County zoning code merged the primary landscaping requirements for off-street parking, and buffering of residential property to commercial property into a new code section 27-1100. This landscaping requirement applies within the city limits to all commercial zone districts and multi-family developments that are not within one of the special zone districts or overlay areas.

In preparation for amending the zoning codes, the City and County separated the zoning codes in 2017. The Board of County Commissioners took the lead in 2018 by drafting and amending its separate zoning code to consolidate landscaping requirements into a single code section, eliminating the separate landscaping requirements for the Entryway/Interchange zoning districts. The amended county Landscaping code was adopted in May 2019. Housekeeping adjustments are proposed to this new section to fit it into the new code structure and to make minor corrections. The proposed City landscaping code is similar but includes more zone districts than the County code. The off-street parking code for the City and County is updated to include more rational parking ratios, and in the City it allows off-sets for transit and requires development in some mixed use districts to supply a bike rack in addition to off-street vehicle parking spaces.

As the Working Groups and Steering Committee developed these new site requirements, ideas and tools were considered for bringing existing sites closer to compliance. All the working members agreed a "nonconforming" designation for property would stigmatize and suppress re-development. The current landscaping and off-street parking codes both contain provisions for improving or adding to site developments when certain trigger points are met. These are single trigger points and can be arbitrary and have not achieved the intent to encourage site improvements. For example, the landscaping "trigger" point is either a 25% increase in the gross floor area or a 25% increase in the number of required off-street parking spaces. Once this trigger point is activated, the entire site needs to meet all the minimum landscape requirements. This has led to incremental additions or changes in building uses just below the 25% trigger point. The same site could do multiple "24%" increases and never require any landscaping improvements. The off-street parking code has a similar provision where less than a 10% increase in the off-street parking minimum, requires no site improvements or new parking spaces. In addition, the code exempts from any off-street parking all buildings existing before the adoption of the City zoning code (May 3, 1972). Again, this single trigger point has allowed serial building improvements without adding any off-street parking. The new code is proposing a new section for Proportionate Compliance and is specifically drafted to achieve site improvements over time and make those improvements reasonably related to site changes.

Landscaping - Draft Code Section 27-1200
The Steering Committee for Project ReCode appointed a Landscaping Working Group in December 2017. The Working Group consisted of seven members who met monthly throughout 2018 and 2019. Dave Green in the Planning Division provided staff assistance to the group. The City Parks Superintendent, Mike Pigg, and City Forester, Steve McConnell also participated throughout the discussions. City Engineer III Chris Hertz and members of the Billings Downtown Alliance consulted with the Working Group as well about provision for street trees in the Central Business District. The city currently has five landscaping codes - S 27th St Corridor, Medical Corridor, EBURD, Standard, North & South Shiloh Overlay Districts and Entryway/Interchange Districts. The proposed city landscaping code will apply in all zone district except for EBURD. The EBURD hybrid form-based code was specifically developed to assist in the re-development of this district with the goal of better livability and more walkable areas. The existing EBURD code will be updated to fit it in the new code structure and correct minor errors.

Both city and county landscaping codes are based on a "point" system that requires a minimum level based on the adjacent development and prioritizes low-water plantings so xeriscaping is encouraged. The Working Group determined the primary focus of any new site should be provision of street trees. Street trees provide many financial benefits to the community and to property owners. These benefits include reduced particulate air pollution, reducing heat islands in dense urban environments, reduced heating and cooling energy required for buildings, trapping and reducing storm water runoff, shading sidewalks to improve walkability of neighborhoods and adding property value and marketability to individual properties. The provision of street trees for new development is not part of the point-based provisions that primarily apply to interior property boundaries. The basic provision for street trees for all new developments is one tree for each 40 lineal feet of street frontage in the city limits and one street tree for each 50 feet of street frontage in the county.  Outside the city limits, street frontage landscaping will not be required in the Agriculture, or Rural Residential zone districts. The minimum width of street frontage landscaping will not apply within the Central Business District or in the Neighborhood zone districts. Staff noticed the draft will need to be clarified to ensure minimum widths for street frontage landscaping are not applied in these two zone districts.

The draft code also outlines where bufferyards must be installed on property lines. Not every adjacent land use needs to have a buffer or the same type of bufferyard. Residential uses need additional screening so bufferyards between heavy commercial uses and residential uses have more points and requirements than an office use adjacent to a residential use. The draft code specifies four different types of bufferyards (B, B1, B2 & B3), and the chart indicates what type of bufferyard is required for new development adjacent to existing development or zone districts. The table below is from the City draft landscaping code.

The County draft code has a similar bufferyard chart:

In Lockwood where the Mixed Use zone districts and urban density Neighborhood districts might be used, the bufferyards as specified in the city draft code would apply between uses.

The "B" bufferyard is too ensure there is a visually distinct area separating property with similar developments. For example, a large commercial zone district would have at least a few trees not on the street frontage or in parking lots. A screening bufferyard would not be required in these locations but it does provide landscaping benefits. There are several large heavy commercial zone districts where this landscaping would help to control dust, weeds, noise and provide some stormwater benefits.

The "B1" bufferyard is meant to be used between similar uses to visually enhance the space between the uses:   B1: Visual Enhancement is intended to create a partial visual separation between uses or districts. This B1 buffer does not require any fencing or trees and allows shrubs and perennial plantings to define the area. The minimum width is six feet and the number of "points" required per lineal foot is .3. If the common property line is 60 lineal feet, then 18 points are required within the 6-foot wide bufferyard. Six of those points must be in shrubs or perennial plantings. The bufferyard widths are averaged over the length of the property line. Turf grass is not allowed in the B1 bufferyard but ornamental grass, shrubs and perennial plants are encouraged. A perennial border with a split rail fence along the shared property line would achieve at least 24 points and more than the required minimum of 18 points in the B1 buffer.

The "B2" bufferyard is intended where uses are not quite similar and need more screening: B2: Filtered Screen is intended to create a semi-opaque visual separation between uses or districts. This buffer does require tree points, shrub/perennial points and lawn grass and fencing are options. The minimum width of this buffer is 10 feet and the minimum number of points per linear foot is .5. Bonus points are available where existing trees are retained, where naturalized and native plants are kept and where the developer is proposing to use a "low-impact" development plan approved by Engineering. The low-impact development plan would incorporate the use of permeable pavement or use of storm water in a planting bed.

A 60-foot common property boundary would require 30 landscaping points and 21 of those points have to be for trees - either retained or new plantings. Larger caliper trees achieve more points as do retained mature trees. For example, one newly 2.5" to 4" caliper tree would gain the required 21 tree points for this B2 bufferyard. The remaining nine points could be gained through plantings, fencing or site amenities such as benches, outdoor seating or boulders. 

The "B3" bufferyard is meant to provide an opaque landscape and fencing screen between incompatible uses such as industrial uses near a mixed use district or residential uses adjacent to heavy commercial districts. B3: Screened Separation is intended to provide both space and a partial visual separation between uses or districts. This bufferyard is intended for use where a new development is located adjacent to a district or use that is significantly different in intensity, such as a residential district next to an industrial district. The B3 buffer requires an opaque screen fence and requires a minimum of 1.1 landscape points per linear foot of property boundary. The screening fence is allowed .4 landscape points per linear foot of property line. A 60-foot common boundary would require a total of 66 landscape points. Twenty-four of those points are gained from the opaque fence. Thirty-six tree points are required and can be accrued by planting four conifers (six to eight foot height) in the bufferyard. The remaining six landscape points can be completed with organic mulch, decorative rock mulch, retained native landscaping or standard/bonus landscaping points.

The bufferyard point system applies across all zone districts and all proposed and existing land use categories. This will fill the gaps in some areas where residential uses in a commercial zone district are not screened or buffered. This will also helped to even out the application of landscaping across the city and county.

Off-Street Parking - Draft Code Section 27-1300
Off-street parking has been a key element in most land use regulations since the 1950s when car ownership and provisions for high speed individual transportation were adopted nation wide. It is estimated there are 19 parking spaces in the city and county for each vehicle registered in Yellowstone County or about 3.6 million parking spaces - public and private. There are about 194,000 passenger and light vehicles registered in Yellowstone County and a "driving age" population of about 124,000. In a 36-block area of downtown there are over 6,800 parking spaces (public & private), although the Central Business District is one of the two zone districts where off-street parking is not required for new development. The other district is the East Billings Urban Renewal District (EBURD). The City provides over 2,500 public parking spaces downtown although this is less than half of the downtown parking supply. The EBURD district has abundant parking both on-street and off-street. There are many older commercial sites that are "over-parked" with mostly empty parking lots even on the busiest day of the year. 

The off-street parking code for both the City and County are out-of-date and not based on current understanding of parking demand or land use categories. The old standards are based on the busiest retail day (for retailers), or other high demand day/times for types of land uses. The City staff, the Parking Board and Parking Division started a revision to the off-street parking code in 2012 and a draft was completed in 2014 but never adopted. The Urban Issues Working Group and County Issues Working Group started the discussions on off-street parking using the 2014 draft as a base. The 2014 draft included language to allow transit off-sets, more finely tuned parking ratios and allowance for parking demand management tools. The Public Review Draft for the City also includes a requirement for bike racks (one in most cases) in the Mixed Use zone district where non-motorized transportation is more prevalent. A long discussion on the right amount of parking for multi-family developments resulted in an upgrade from the current code to require 1.5 spaces per unit (regardless of bedrooms) and an additional 10 spaces for each 100 dwelling units for visitor parking. City Engineering did an ad hoc parking study of several multi-family developments and found high

The proposed code for the city has a maximum parking limit that may be adjusted based on a specific request to the Planning Director. The request can be granted administratively and is based on a site analysis. Additional parking area may be granted but must be off-set with additional landscaping. The county code does not have a maximum off-street parking limitation or a bicycle parking requirement. Shared parking agreements are still encouraged especially where uses have different parking demand during day/night use. Transit off-sets and some on-street parking off-sets are also allowed within the City.

Off-street parking ratios are generally lower than current requirements but new land categories were added to ensure specific local uses were addressed. For example, the large format retail for furniture, flooring or similar warehouse style sales has an adjusted parking requirement to reflect the actual demand for parking. 

Proportionate Compliance - Draft Code Section 27-1100
This is a new code section for both the City and County. The off-street parking code in the County zoning code and the standard Landscaping code for the city have "triggers" for compliance. The approach however is an "all or nothing" standard that does not serve the community or the developer very well. The intent with this new code section is to ensure continuous improvement for existing developments as property is re-used, renewed and re-modeled for new uses. Buildings and property developed in the 1950s and 1960s is ripe for re-development and if proper tools are not in place, the community will miss the opportunity to improve the landscaping and parking conditions - until the next development cycle. This section does not apply to other site characteristic such as a non-conforming use, or a non-conforming building standard. These will continue to be handled through the Nonconforming Use or Nonconforming Structure section of the zoning code. These have restrictions of expansions and changes that do not apply to site development characteristics.

The table in the draft code shows how this approach will work:

Table 27-1100.1: Applicability of Development Standards
	Res. Multi-Unit		Mixed-Use and Public		Comm.		Ind.
New Development	Percent compliance with development standards
New Development	100		100		100		100
Existing Development
Interior Change(s),	Apply Sec. 27-1102.B.2
Redevelopment:
Less than 10% GFA	n/a		n/a		n/a		n/a
Between 10% and 75% GFA	Apply Sec. 27-1102.B.2
Greater than 75% GFA	100		100		100		100
Use Change with Increased Parking	Apply Sec. 27-1102.B.3
Nonconformities
See Section 27-1500 for applicability of nonconformity standards

Section 1102.B.2 reflects how the proportion of improvement or expansion is applied for these site improvements:
The Development Standards covered by this section include landscaping, off-street parking, site design in the Neighborhood and Mixed Use districts including facade renovations and roof updates. Zone district requirements not eligible for Proportionate Compliance such as height, lot coverage, minimum setbacks and land uses, would be viewed as legal nonconforming uses or structures. The restrictions and regulations for these issues are covered by Section 27-1500 - Nonconformities. Nonconformities in general cannot be expanded or changed except to bring the structure or use into compliance with the regulations. Some minor adjustments can be allowed.
 

Staff recommends the City and County Zoning Commissions review the draft sections and invite public comment.