Introduce Ordinance #14-14 Amending City Code Section 117-118 Entitled The COR Amending Minimum Floor Area Ratio and Maximum Parking Requirements in The COR-1 Sub-District

The purpose of this case is to introduce an ordinance amending City Code to lower the minimum Floor Area Ratio from 0.75 to 0.65 in The COR-1 Sub-District.

The City Council has directed Staff to consider an ordinance that would lower minimum density requirements in the COR-1 Sub-District and study how this amendment would impact the remainder of the future development of The COR, while still generally preserving the vision of the Development Plan.

The Public Hearing Notification was published in the Anoka County UnionHerald.

The Zoning Code for the COR, known as the Design Framework, establishes minimum Floor Area Ratio and maximum surface parking stalls in the COR-1 Sub-District. Floor Area Ratio is an equation of the floor area of a building compared to the area of the lot in which the building sits. A high Floor Area Ratio indicates a larger and taller the building, providing a dense and compact development pattern. The Development Plan for the area generally one-quarter mile from the Northstar Commuter Rail - Ramsey Station plans for higher densities and shared, structured parking facilities, guided by Minimum FAR and Maximum Parking standards.

At their September 9, 2014 City Council Meeting, the City Council directed Staff to explore an amendment to City Code that is intended to better respond to market conditions in Ramsey related to density requirements in The COR. The intent is to preserve the original vision of The COR Development Plan and work towards higher densities, but provide a zoning tool that is more flexible and adaptive to market conditions that allows projects to incrementally build towards the ultimate vision and provide for future infill development.

The amendment does have the potential to have secondary effects to the original planned development, most notably in The COR-1 Sub-District. The amendment may result in larger surface parking lots, thus resulting in smaller buildings for both residential and commercial. The effect of the ordinance, although still potentially the vision, is the potential that future higher densities for a single blocks through shared, structured parking becomes less of a likelihood. It should be noted that it is not necessarily a requirement to have structured parking in order to achieve the desired transit-oriented development. As the development of The COR progresses, the City will regularly evaluate how we are delivering a land use plan that maximizes the investment in transit for the area.

At the September 4, 2014, the Planning Commission also briefly discussed the topic of FAR. At that point, the Planning Commission requested additional market data that demonstrated that the construction of structured parking resulted in price points per residential unit outside of the market for Ramsey.

At the previous Planning Commission meeting, the Commission recommended market analysis regarding structured parking and the effect on the marketability. While a specific market analysis has not been provided, the City has been provided with a document prepared by Minnesota State University, Mankato regarding feasibility of structured parking on their campus. The results of that study are attached.

Additionally, the broker representing the City on several land-sale transactions, CBRE, has stated that it is unlikely that a structured parking ramp will be feasible in our current market without subsidy.

Below is a summary of the potential outcomes of this policy change (in The COR-1 Sub-District):
 

1. Reduced guarantee, but ultimate goal of previously forecasted households.
2. Reduced guarantee, but ultimate goal of shared, structured parking.
3. Predominance of one (1) to two (2) story buildings rather that two (2) to four (4) story buildings as originally planned.

The ordinance is being prepared as part of normal Staff duties.

The Planning Commission held a Public Hearing on October 9, 2014 and recommends that the City Council adopt the ordinance that allows densities to more incrementally and organically build. The ordinance would allow a response to current market conditions, build incrementally, but not necessitate a major amendment to the Development Plan.

The Planning Commission did ask for two components in moving the amendment forward to City Council.

First, the Planning Commission did ask for the opportunity to review the Ordinance a second time after the City Council introduced the Ordinance in order to receive policy direction from the City Council and ensure a well rounded understanding of the policy outcomes of the amendment.

Secondly, as part of the request to review the Ordinance a second time, the Planning Commission did ask for Staff to prepare visual aides to better understand the concept of Floor Area Ratio. Staff has included GENERALIZED graphics depicting the concept of Floor Area Ration. Furthermore, Staff is working on more specialized visualizations that are more catered to the policy question in front of the City Council at this time dealing with overall development impacts, versus site-specific impacts.

Motion to introduce Ordinance #14-14 amending Minimum Floor Area Ratio requirements in the COR-1 Sub-District.