City OKs Large Retail Zoning Ordinance
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jennifer [email protected]
The council reviewed the ordinance at its Jan. 22 meeting. It was tabled to allow councilmen time to further review the ordinance.[[In-content Ad]]Warsaw Plan Commission approved, at its Jan. 14 meeting, submitting a favorable recommendation for the ordinance to the council.
City Planner Jeremy Skinner wrote the zoning ordinance for large retail sales establishments with the plan commission's input. The commission has been reviewing and working with Skinner for the past six months on drafting the ordinance.
"The purpose of the ordinance is not to be restrictive to developers, but provide minimum guidelines and development design standards they must meet," Skinner said.
The ordinance defines a large retail sales establishment as a single retail or wholesale user which occupies no less than 65,000 square feet of gross floor area, and offers for sale a wide variety but limited selection of consumer products. The establishments require high parking-to-building area ratios and may have a regional sales market.
The ordinance also provides eight development plan design standards for all improvements and new construction within a commercial zoning district.
The design standards include all facades visible from adjoining properties or public streets excluding improved or unimproved alleys must include pleasing scale features. Facades greater than 100 feet must incorporate recesses and projections a minimum of 4 feet in depth and a minimum of 20 feet within each 100 feet of facade length.
Building facades must include a repeating pattern that must include no less than three of the following elements: color, texture or material module change.
Roof lines must provide variations to reduce the massive scale of the structures and to add visual interest to any building equaling or exceeding 100 linear feet.
Prominent exterior building materials must be of high quality, and the C-4 downtown zoning district designation restricts exterior building material to permit only brick, limestone or natural stone materials.
The use of high-intensity colors, metallic colors, black or fluorescent colors is prohibited and each principal building or tenant space must have a clearly defined, highly visible customer entrance.
Plan commissioner and city councilman Jeff Grose said the ordinance is a step in the right direction that will help the community.
"We tried to make an imaginary box where we could see the community and developers in the same box and this ordinance encourages us all to be in the same box without being too restrictive," Grose said.
Plan commissioner and city councilman Joe Thallemer also supported the ordinance.
"We as a plan commission put ourselves in the developers shoes when constructing this ordinance and came up with workable standards for them to follow," Thallemer said.
Gary Salyer, commercial real estate broker for CB Ellis, said he was worried the ordinance was too restrictive for developers at first, but said he now feels the ordinance is appropriate.
Latest News
E-Editions
The council reviewed the ordinance at its Jan. 22 meeting. It was tabled to allow councilmen time to further review the ordinance.[[In-content Ad]]Warsaw Plan Commission approved, at its Jan. 14 meeting, submitting a favorable recommendation for the ordinance to the council.
City Planner Jeremy Skinner wrote the zoning ordinance for large retail sales establishments with the plan commission's input. The commission has been reviewing and working with Skinner for the past six months on drafting the ordinance.
"The purpose of the ordinance is not to be restrictive to developers, but provide minimum guidelines and development design standards they must meet," Skinner said.
The ordinance defines a large retail sales establishment as a single retail or wholesale user which occupies no less than 65,000 square feet of gross floor area, and offers for sale a wide variety but limited selection of consumer products. The establishments require high parking-to-building area ratios and may have a regional sales market.
The ordinance also provides eight development plan design standards for all improvements and new construction within a commercial zoning district.
The design standards include all facades visible from adjoining properties or public streets excluding improved or unimproved alleys must include pleasing scale features. Facades greater than 100 feet must incorporate recesses and projections a minimum of 4 feet in depth and a minimum of 20 feet within each 100 feet of facade length.
Building facades must include a repeating pattern that must include no less than three of the following elements: color, texture or material module change.
Roof lines must provide variations to reduce the massive scale of the structures and to add visual interest to any building equaling or exceeding 100 linear feet.
Prominent exterior building materials must be of high quality, and the C-4 downtown zoning district designation restricts exterior building material to permit only brick, limestone or natural stone materials.
The use of high-intensity colors, metallic colors, black or fluorescent colors is prohibited and each principal building or tenant space must have a clearly defined, highly visible customer entrance.
Plan commissioner and city councilman Jeff Grose said the ordinance is a step in the right direction that will help the community.
"We tried to make an imaginary box where we could see the community and developers in the same box and this ordinance encourages us all to be in the same box without being too restrictive," Grose said.
Plan commissioner and city councilman Joe Thallemer also supported the ordinance.
"We as a plan commission put ourselves in the developers shoes when constructing this ordinance and came up with workable standards for them to follow," Thallemer said.
Gary Salyer, commercial real estate broker for CB Ellis, said he was worried the ordinance was too restrictive for developers at first, but said he now feels the ordinance is appropriate.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092