31C - VARIANCE - 2725 N BRISTOL ST

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Variance No. 2013-11 September 23, 2013 Page 3 General Plan and Zoning Consistency The General Plan land use designation for the site is General Commercial (GC), which allows for commercial and office uses. General Commercial districts are primarily located on commercial corridors and major arterial roadways in the City. They provide accessible commercial development along the City's arterials as well as provide support facilities and services, including offices, restaurants and various other services. The project is consistent with this General Plan land use designation. The subject site is located in the Community Commercial (Cl) zoning district. The C1 zone is a limited commercial zone that allows for certain commercial and office uses that are neighborhood- serving in nature, including health clubs and/or gymnasiums. The proposed use is consistent with the uses permitted in the C1 zoning district. Project Analysis Variance requests are governed by Section 41-638 of the SAMC. Variance requests may be granted when it can be shown that the following can be established: That there exists a special circumstance related to the property, such as size, shape, topography, location or surroundings. That the granting of the variance is necessary for the preservation and enjoyment of substantial property rights. That the granting of the variance will not be detrimental to the public or surrounding property. That the granting of the variance will not adversely affect the General Plan. If these findings can be made, then it is appropriate to grant the variance. Conversely, the inability to make these findings would result in a denial. Using this information, staff has prepared the following analysis, which forms the basis for the recommendation contained in this report. The applicant is requesting approval of a variance to allow a reduction in required parking. The entire shopping center currently contains 371 parking spaces to serve all five of the buildings, although five spaces will likely be removed to accommodate a fire access lane at the rear of the project site. The building proposed as the location of Planet Fitness is parked at a rate of five spaces per 1,000 square feet pursuant to the City's retail parking standard. Section 41-1375 of the SAMC requires one parking space per 28 square feet of physical activity area. Based on these requirements, 407 stalls are required for the project (calculated from approximately 11,404 square feet of activity area) and a total of 719 parking spaces are required on the entire site, while only 371 spaces are provided for the entire center, requiring a variance of almost 50 percent. 31 C-5