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Memo Mixed UseMIXED USE The primary purposes of the Mixed Use Zone Districts are to: • Provide appropriate areas for and facilitate quality mixed use development in activity centers that are consistent with the Comprehensive Plan's land use and transportation goals, objective, policies and strategies; • Accommodate intensities and patterns of development that can support multiple modes of transportation, including public transit, biking and walking; • Group and link places used for living, working, shopping, schooling, and recreating, thereby reducing vehicle trips, relieving traffic congestion, improving air quality in the City and encouraging active living principles; • Provide a variety of residential housing types and densities to assure activity in the district and support a mix of uses, and enhance the housing choices of City residents; and • Integrate new mixed use development with its surroundings by encouraging connections for pedestrians and vehicles and by assuring sensitive, compatible use, scale, and operational transitions to neighboring uses. Development Standards For Mixed Use Parking Parking within the mixed use district must be located in multilevel structures or in shared parking lots, where feasible and with approval of the City. The following requirements will apply to all uses allowed by right located within the mixed use zoning district if a TDM or shared parking study has not been completed and approved by the City Council: a) A minimum of .5 and a maximum of one parking space per multi - family unit is permitted; one guest space per 15 units is permitted. b) A maximum of three parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of office space is permitted. c) A maximum of three parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of retail space is permitted. d) Where feasible, ingress and egress from parking must be from side streets or alleys. Reference point: These parking requirements are lower that required in other zoning districts. An example is the zoning ordinance requires two parking spaces for each dwelling unit. The parking requirement has been reduced because of the availability of the LRT. Travel Demand Management Plan (TDM)/ Mass Transit Links Off - street parking requirements may be reduced subject to approval by the City Council, where a TDM plan, parking and transportation study is submitted. The TDM plan, parking and transportation study is conducted in accordance with accepted methodology approved by the City staff, prepared by an independent traffic engineering professional under the supervision of the City and paid for by the applicant. These plans must address the transportation impacts of the development and proposed TDM mitigating measures and showing that parking demand will be decreased by access to nearby transit. Where a TDM plan is approved, a properly drawn legal instrument, executed by the parties concerned must be filed on the property in the Recorder's Office of Hennepin County. Discussion point: Should this be mandatory for a certain number of units or square footage of a development? Shared parking The City Council may approve the use of shard parking where: The applicant demonstrates because of the hours, size, and mode of operation of the respective uses, there is not substantial conflict in the pear parking demands of the uses for which shared parking facilities is proposed, and there is adequate parking to meet the needs for each use. A shared parking plan must be submitted where share parking is proposed that includes specific analysis on the peaking characteristics of the various uses indicated. Where a shared use of parking exists with the same site or across sites, a properly drawn legal instrument, executed by the parties concerned, must be filed as a deed restriction on all impacted properties in the Hennepin County Recorder's Office. A parking study is required and conducted in accordance with accepted methodology approved by the City staff, prepared by an independent traffic engineering professional under the supervision of the City and paid for by the applicant, demonstrating that there is not a present need for the portion of parking for which the applicant is requesting shared parking flexibility. Shared parking shall be no more that 500 feet from the front door of the building sharing the parking. Discussion point: Should there be a maximum distance for shared parking? Staff would recommend no more than 500 feet. Bicycle Parking a) Bicycle parking facilities must be provided for all office and multifamily structures and freestanding commercial uses. b) The required number of bicycle parking spaces will be based on the following: Long term Short term Multifamily Residential 1 per 2 units 1 per 20 units Retail .50 space per employee .50 space per 1,000 square feet of net building area Office .25 space per 1,000 square feet of net building area Park and Ride Facilities 10 spaces an acre 1 per 40,000 square feet of net building area 10 percent of parking stalls c) Bicycle parking facilities must be located in a secure, lockable, and well- lighted area. d) All bicycle racks, lockers, or other facilities must be securely anchored to the ground or to a structure. e) All required bicycle parking must be located within 50 feet of central or well -used building entrances. f) Long -term bicycle parking facilities provide parking for bike storage lasting six or more hours shall be located inside buildings or bike storage facility for added security. g) The amount of short-term bicycle parking required for bike storage lasting less than two hours must be provided for at each building. h) In buildings that have several uses, shared short-termm bicycle parking facilities are encouraged and should be centrally located between uses. Reference point: 50 dwelling units = 24 long term spaces /3 short term spaces Retail 13,000 square feet = long term -based on employees /7 short term spaces Office 800,000 square feet = 200 long term spaces /20 short term spaces Long term parking more than six hours Short term parking less than six hours Exterior The primary exterior treatment of walls facing a public right -of —way or parking lot on a structure shall be brick, cast concrete, stone, marble or other material similar in appearance and durability. Regular or decorative concrete block, float finish stucco, EIFS -type stucco, cementitious fiber board, or wood clap board may be used on the front facade as a secondary treatment or trim but shall not be a primary exterior treatment of a wall facing a public right -of -way. Discussion point: Should the sides and rear of a building be allowed to have an exterior that is less expensive if those sides do not face a public right -of -way. A public right -of way would include an alley and a trail. Building Orientation Buildings within the Mixed Use district must be oriented toward the pedestrian by providing a direct link between each building and the pedestrian walking system, with emphasis on directing people to a transit station. The primary street side facade of a building shall not consist of an unarticulated blank wall, flat front facades or an unbroken series of garage doors. The front of a building shall be broken up into individual bays of a minimum of 25 feet and maximum of 40 feet wide. Blocks must not exceed (600) feet in length and must provide pedestrian connectors. These pedestrian connectors can be pedestrian easements and pathways or through- building linkages at least every 300 feet. All nonresidential floor space provided on the ground floor of a mixed use building must have a minimum floor -to- ceiling height of 11 feet. Reference point: The block Marketplace Lofts is on is approximately 300 feet 011 Mainstreet. Transparency A minimum of 60 percent to a maximum of 75 percent of the front street - facing facade between two feet and eight feet in height must comprise clear windows that allow views of indoor nonresidential space or product display area. Side facades abutting a public right -of -way shall have a minimum of 30 percent clear windows. The bottom edge of any window or product display window used to satisfy the transparency standard of paragraph (1) above may not be more than three feet above the adjacent sidewalk. Product display windows used to satisfy these requirements must have a minimum height of four feet and be internally lighted. Transparent windows allowing visual access into and out of nonresidential buildings shall be required on the first floor frontage along the front yard. 30 percent fenestration for windows above the first floor for all sides that abut a public right -of- way. Discussion point: Windows should be required on all floors above the first. The question is how large should the windows be? Fenestration - the design and placing of windows in a building Sidewalks Sidewalks must be constructed along the frontage of all public streets and within and along the frontage of all new development or redevelopment. Sidewalks may range in width from a minimum of five feet to a maximum of 20 feet, depending on expected pedestrian traffic. Pedestrian/Streetscapes Street trees in grates or planters are required along sidewalks for all new platted streets. Existing streets may not allow sufficient right -of -way for street trees. If the existing right of way does not allow for street trees, landscaping, trees, planters or street furniture will be added to the interior side of the sidewalk where the setback will allow. Pedestrian improvements of at least one percent of the project value shall be included in the development. These improvements shall create a high quality pedestrian experience through the provision of benches, planters, drinking fountains, waste containers, median landscaping, etc. Said improvements shall be on all public streets that lead directly to the station. Pedestrian -scale LED light fixtures that shine downward on the sidewalks and walkways shall be no greater than 12 feet in height must be provided along all sidewalks and walkways to provide ample lighting during nighttime hours for employees, residents, and customers. Discussion point: Staff was discussing to put a dollar amount on the pedestrian/streetscape improvements. A suggestion is one percent of the total cost of construction to be dedicated to pedestrian /streetscapes. Landscaping All open areas of a lot that are not used or improved for required parking areas and drives shall be landscaped with a combination of over story trees, understory trees shrubs, flowers and ground cover materials. The plan for landscaping shall include ground cover, bushes, shrubbery, trees, sculptures, fountains, decorative walks or other similar site design features or materials. The following table is a minimum value for the landscaping: Project Value Below $1,000,000 $1,000,000 - $2,000,000 $2,000,000 - $3,000,000 $3,000,000 - $4,000,000 over $4,000,000 Minimum 2 percent $20,000 + 1 percent of project value in excess of $1,000,000 $30,000 + .75 percent of project value in excess of $2,000,000 $37,500 + .25 percent of project value in excess of $3,000,000 1 percent Indoor /Outdoor Operations All permitted uses in the mixed use district must be conducted within completely enclosed building unless permitted by a conditional use permit. This requirement does not apply to off - street parking or loading areas, automated teller machines, or outdoor seating area, alone or n connection with restaurants. Discussion point: Some uses such as a small nursery we would encourage to put plants outside and through a conditional use permit we can regulate how they are outside. Permitted signs: Mixed Use district Subd. 1. Wall Signs. Each tenant other than those in multi -tenant buildings may have one flat wall sign, not extending more than 18 inches from the face of the building, except that such signage may extend from the face of the roof over a covered walk. Such wall signs shall not exceed two times of the lineal frontage of the wall to which the business is located, to a maximum of 96 square feet. Signs shall not be internally illuminated. Subd. 2. Canopies and Awnings. The design of canopies shall be in keeping with the overall building design in terms of location, size, and color. No canopies with visible wall hangers shall be permitted. Signage on canopies maybe substituted for allowed building signage and shall be limited to 25% of the canopy area. Canopies shall not be internally illuminated. Subd. 3. Projecting. Projecting signs will have a maximum size of 12 square feet and a maximum width of three feet. Projecting signs cannot extend beyond the first floor of the building. No less than 10 feet of clearance shall be provided between the sidewalk surface and the lowest point of the projecting sign. Maximum distance between sign and building face is one foot. Subd 5. Monument sign. One monument sign is allowed for developments of 10 — 20 acres provided the surface area of the sign does not exceed 100 square feet per side, 15 feet in height. This area may be increased to a maximum of 150 square feet per side for developments of over 20 acres. Discussion point: Monument signs have been included for larger developments. Monument signs do not have to be included. The thought is that larger developments use monument signs to identify a site. An example would be Excelsior Crossings.