Title
Ordinance - Public Hearing Continuation and Final Reading of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 155 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Mansfield, “Zoning” by Amending Special Purpose District Regulations and Creating a New Section 155.073 “S, South Mansfield Form-based Development District” (OA#22-003)
Requested Action
To consider the subject ordinance amendments.
Recommendation
The Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing on June 6, 2022 and voted 5 to 0 to recommend approval. (Commissioners Axen and Gilmore were absent.)
Staff recommends approval with the revisions (see redlines in the attached draft ordinance).
First Reading
City Council voted to table this case at the June 13, 2022, meeting. Staff proposed revisions to the draft ordinance to clarify the provisions for a development agreement and special land assemblage plans.
Description/History
The S, South Mansfield Form-based Development District, is a proposed zoning district that intends “to enable and to encourage a development pattern that is compact, mixed-use, walkable, and sustainable” and also intends “to create and to reinforce a world-class entertainment destination, that is in proximity to national and multi-national corporations and small employers, and will promote the expansion of premium retail, restaurant, residential, office, and cultural choices”.
This form-based development district is based on the methodologies of the rural-to-urban transect. The rural-to-urban transect is a cross-section of the human environment showing a range of different habitats from the most rural to the most urban condition. The rural-to-urban transect of the human environment used in the S, South Mansfield Form-based Development District is divided into four distinct transect zones, which are as follows:
1. The T-3, urban edge transect zones, shall consist of primarily of low intensity residential areas with some mixed-use.
2. The T-4, urban transition transect zones, shall consist of a mixed-use, but a primarily residential urban fabric.
3. The T-5, urban center transect zones, shall consist of higher intensity buildings that can accommodate retail, offices, row houses, and multi-family dwellings.
4. The T-6, urban core transect zones, shall consist of buildings of the highest intensity and highest height, with the greatest variety of uses.
Development and redevelopment within the transect zones may be further regulated by the introduction of three overlay districts that modify provisions of the transect zones in order to achieve an even more specific economic, physical, or cultural outcome:
1. [EOD, Entertainment Overlay District]. All land bounded to the East by the future extension of Heritage Parkway southward; to the West by State Highway 360; to the North by the railroad right-of-way; and to the South by Lone Star Road shall be assigned to the EOD and provisions of the form-based development district are modified as follows:
a. Building height for allowable civic uses shall be determined by warrant.
b. Single-family residential (detached) is prohibited.
2. [TOD, Transit Overlay District]. Land located within 2,640 feet of an existing or a funded rail transit station shall be assigned to the transit overlay district, and uses are exempt from the required parking in order to encourage transit use and ridership.
a. Land within 660 feet of the rail transit station shall be exempt from the required parking.
3. [RCD, Regional Center Development Overlay District]. The RCD is assigned to all land located within 660 feet of the right-of-way for an existing limited-access highway or the alignment and the allocation of right-of-way for a new limited-access highway, and the provisions of the form-based development district are modified as follows:
a. Principal buildings shall be no less than 1,500 net square feet.
b. Principal buildings shall be no less than four stories.
c. Principal buildings less than four stories dedicated exclusively to food service establishments or retail establishments may be approved by warrant.
Like the D, Downtown District, this form-based development district provides an array of frontages in order to positively influence and shape the appearance, the design, and the function of public and private space. Frontages are the “area between a building façade and the vehicular lanes, inclusive of its built and its planted components.” The frontages permitted under the S, South Mansfield Form-based Development District are allocated in the transect zones as provided below:
1. Porch and fence (T-3, T-4).
2. Dooryard and terrace (T-3, T-4, and T-5).
3. Stoop (T-4, T-5, and T-6).
4. Forecourt (T-4, T-5, and T-6).
5. Shopfront (T-4, T-5, and T-6).
6. Gallery (T-5 and T-6).
7. Arcade (T-5 and T-6).
As the emphasis is on superior architecture and urban design, there are no limitations on the intensity of development nor minimum or maximum lot widths. The intensity of development is determined by the parking required for the use.
Principal building height is as follows:
1. T-3: three stories.
2. T-4: four stories.
3. T-5 and T-6: no height restrictions.
Outbuildings are limited to two stories in height and they may be no higher than the principal building on the same lot.
All multi-family residential buildings must be a minimum of four stories in height.
Furthermore, the building function and specific use table has been expanded from the usual residential, lodging, office, and retail uses to include the following:
1. Agricultural (i.e., the agricultural uses will support increased opportunities for local food production);
2. Civic (i.e., the civic uses are intended to nurture and to sustain a unique scene for arts, culture, and entertainment); and
3. Industrial (i.e., the industrial uses are intended to attract, expand, and retain innovation, research, and technology employment opportunities).
Warrants are incorporated into the text of the form-based development district to ensure a development review process that is expedited and predictable.
Architecture is driven by provisions primarily focused on the aesthetic quality of exterior walls, roofs, openings, attachments, shopfronts, and visual screening.
For all proposed projects on two (2) or more acres of land, a special land assemblage plan will be required. The purpose of a special land assemblage plan is “to create and to reinforce a pedestrian oriented and a balanced pattern of development with a complementary mixture of retail, residential, employment, and civic choices within a walkable, compact, and visually harmonious environment, in order to provide for greater integration of public and private improvements and infrastructure, and to encourage and to enable thoroughfare connectivity.” A special land assemblage plan requires additional standards concerning thoroughfare networks, civic space, and building disposition; and it also allows for flexibility in the allocation of transect zones, signage standards, and architecture. A development agreement is also required --- subject to approval of the City Council --- to ensure that the intended outcomes of a special land assemblage plan will be realized and achieved. A development agreement must be approved prior to any submittal of a special land assemblage plan, building plan or site plan for review.
In sum, the S, South Mansfield Form-based Development District provides development standards within each transect to control:
1. Lot Standards (i.e., dimensional considerations).
2. Building Disposition (i.e., building placement).
3. Building Configuration (i.e., building height).
4. Frontage Standards (i.e., design of public and private space).
5. Building Function (i.e., building and lot use).
6. Parking Standards.
7. Landscape Standards.
8. Signage Standards.
9. Non-Conformities.
10. Building Materials and Configuration (i.e., architecture).
11. Light Levels (i.e., illumination).
The S, South Mansfield Form-based Development District is intended to allow targeted areas that are ripe for high-profile development opportunities to leverage provisions with increased flexibility to develop property effectively and efficiently in exchange for urban design excellence from those property owners and developers that use the code.
The code regulated regulates the development and modification of buildings and other elements of the built environment within the private lot, based on the following premises:
1. That building regulations should equitably balance the rights of the individual and the interests of the community as a whole.
2. That building form individually and collectively defines and supports the public realm.
3. That building configuration should support walkability, safe streets, and safe public spaces, creating pedestrian friendly neighborhoods.
4. That building scale should both define streets and public spaces as rooms and they should vary by context and intensity in coordination with neighboring properties.
5. That workplace, retail, and entertainment, and housing for a variety of ages and incomes are all in close proximity, with appealing open spaces and gathering places.
Prepared By
Jason Alexander, Planning Director
(817) 276-4244