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ITEM 9

City Council Memorandum Development Services Memo No. 24-060

Date:

November 4, 2024

To:

Mayor and Council

Thru:

Joshua H. Wright, City Manager
Andy Bass, Deputy City Manager
Kevin Snyder, Development Services Director

From:

Lauren Schumann, Planning Senior Program Manager

Subject:

PLH24-0036 Commercial Building Adaptive Reuse Policy
Adoption of Resolution No. 5848

Proposed Motion:

Move City Council pass and adopt Resolution No. 5848 approving PLH24-0036 Commercial Building Adaptive Reuse Policy, city policy establishing objective standards to allow multi-family residential development or adaptive reuse of existing commercial, office, or mixed-use buildings on parcels at least one (1) acre in size but not larger than twenty (20) acres without requiring a public hearing, if the developer provides ten (10) percent of the total dwelling units for either moderate-income or low-income housing for at least twenty (20) years, as recommended by Planning and Zoning Commission.

Background:

In May 2024, Governor Hobbs signed and authorized House Bill 2297 Commercial Building; Adaptive Reuse
The bill is mandated for municipalities with populations exceeding 150,000, which must comply by January 1, 2025
Under HB 2297, municipalities may identify or exclude ten percent of existing commercial, office, or mixed-use developments that would allow redevelopment into residential uses without a public hearing (i.e., the Rezoning/Preliminary Development Plan process)
The proposal is to exempt areas where the policy could not occur to protect employment corridors and the historic downtown district; lands within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airspace traffic patterns and in vicinity of airports are exempt from adaptive reuse per the bill.
Eligible properties must have existing commercial, office, or mixed-use buildings on parcels at least one (1) acre in size but not larger than twenty (20) acres.
Per state law, eligible non-residential properties can develop as residential uses with no public hearing if a minimum of 10% of the total number of units is reserved for moderate-income or low-income housing for at least twenty years.
Development standards including parking and building setbacks must comply with multi-family requirements within the zoning code.
The maximum permitted density of a redeveloped property shall be equal to any multi-family development within one mile of the building to be redeveloped.
The height of a redeveloped property may not exceed five stories. When located within 100 feet of single-family residential uses, height is limited to two stories.

Methodology

Utilizing the City of Chandler's Geographic Information System (GIS) database, staff identified all commercial, employment, office and mixed use buildings within Chandler; 4,271 buildings were identified
Unincorporated parcels were not included in the total, as these are outside the city limits
Per HB 2297, lands in the vicinity of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) licensed general aviation or public airports were excluded (i.e., FAA Traffic Pattern Airspace for the Chandler Municipal Airport and Stellar Airpark)
City staff identified the following areas to protect (collectively 128, or 2.99%, of existing buildings):
- Price Road Corridor from the Loop 202 Santan Freeway to Chandler Heights Road
- Southeast corner of Arizona Avenue and Loop 202 Santan Freeway due to its location within the Chandler Airpark Area Plan, which prohibits new residential uses to protect future operations of the airport
- Historic Downtown colonnade buildings
The remaining buildings, a total of 2,721 or 63.7% of existing commercial, office, or mixed use buildings, would be eligible under the policy
HB 2297 allows modification or re-classification of the policy every ten years

Public Outreach
This request was noticed in accordance with the requirements of the Chandler Zoning Code

Discussion:

On September 9, 2024, City Council held a work session to discuss the requirements of HB 2297, as well as other policies and programs related to housing. The attached resolution incorporates City Council direction provided during the work session.

Attachments

Resolution

Building Analysis

HB 2297 Commercial Building Adaptive Reuse