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r #2417 - Amend B-5: Add Drugstore Use November 19, 1998 Page 3 Additional Discussion Please review the staff memo and exhibits of November 10. This is the lird recent zoning code amendment related to the Grace Baptist Church site. The first was rezoning from LR-IC to B-5, a reflection of the idea that this site is perhaps not appropriate for single family residential use given its proximity to Navarre, although it might have been an ideal site for a multiple family use such as townhomes. The second amendment was to allow coffee and bagel shops subject to a bunch of limitations and requirements, perhaps in hindsight an over-reaction to a specific developer's needs to make his development marketable. Both Council and Planning Commission have acknowledged a need to thoroughly review the zoning in Navarre, outside the context of tweaking the B-5 district uses. In staffs opinion, we should ultimately strive toward performance zoning rather than adding to or subtracting from our outdated lists of allowed uses as individual developers appear. However, we are again faced with a request to which we must respond. In staffs opinion the drugstore use is not a bad fit for the "serving the neighborhood, compatible with the neighborhood" intent of the B-5 district. It will not generate excess traffic. It will not have anywhere near the potential noise or lighting impacts of the restaurant or gas station/convenience store use next door. It will provide a use that is acknowledged by many people as needed in the area. However, it is difficult to separate the proposed use amendment from the constraints of this individual site, because this is the only individual site in the B-5 district with enough acreage to be considered for such a use. The B-5 zone contains very few properties, most of which are already developed. It would take the redevelopment of a combination of 2 or 3 existing sites in any of the other B-5 areas to accommodate the drugstore use as it exists in the 1990’s. As a result, it is relatively unlikely that one of those sites would attract a drugstore use. The fact that all of the properties in the B-5 district are subject to a 30% or 35% hardcover limitation due to their proximity to the lake, makes it that much more difficult to accommodate a 10,000- 15,000 s.f. retail building meeting parking and other site requirements. A significant share of the existing B-5 development does not meet the hardcover standards in effect today. Clearly, the church site is difficult to develop due to topography, shape, and the existing and future stormwater pond constraints. Further, it is relatively visible from the adjoining neighborhood, in that it is a 'through lot' bordered on 2 sides by a residential zone, and its slopes will make it somewhat aifficult to buffer from the neighborhood. The current proposal for development of the church site results in excess hardcover due to the building size and the resultant parking requirements, as well as the need to accommodate the delivery and drive-thru functions. As a result, stormwater management on site will likely be difficult, as will hiding the proposed massive retaining walls.