CITY OF INTER-OFFICE
GAINESVILLE COMMUNICATION
TO: City Plan Board
FROM: Planning Division Staff
SUBJECT: Petition 122TCH-04 PB. City of Gainesville. Amend the City of Gainesville Land Development Code to allow four unrelated persons to reside in a residential unit in the RC, Residential Conservation, Zoning District.
Planning Division staff recommends denial of Petition 122TCH-04 PB.
On April 12, 2004, the City Commission directed staff to initiate a petition to amend the Land Development Code to allow four unrelated residents, instead of three, in the RC (12 units/acre Residential Conservation District) zoning district. The proposed amendment does this by revising the Code’s definition of a family within the RC District.
Overview
The RC district was established to provide suitable zoning protection to older single-family areas that have unique social, historical and physical characteristics, and, as development patterns have changed, have become vulnerable to ills associated with lack of investment. Those ills can include crime, vacant commercial and residential properties, aging infrastructure, and others.
Areas zoned RC reflect the City’s desire to maintain the single-family character of those neighborhoods and to work toward neighborhood revitalization. Based on property appraiser records, 79.5 percent of housing units in the RC zoning district are single-family dwelling units. Of those single-family dwelling units, 54 percent are classified as homestead exempt.
The attached map shows the location of RC zoned land in the City. Most RC zoned properties within the city are located in the Duval, 5th Avenue, and Pleasant Street neighborhoods. There are also small concentrations in the College Park and Pine Park neighborhoods. In 2001, residents of the Pine Park neighborhood, which is located near the southwest corner of Northwest 6th Street and Northwest 23rd Avenue, requested to be rezoned to RC from RMF-5 (12 units/acre single-family/multiple-family residential district), in order to protect the single-family character of the neighborhood.
These neighborhoods are located in older areas of the city and compared to the city as a whole, contain a higher proportion of low-income and moderate-income residents. Generally, these neighborhoods have older, smaller and less expensive homes, and therefore, are attractive for rental units.
The land use designation applied to the RC district does not necessarily identify it as either a single-family or a multiple-family district. That is demonstrated by the fact that both the RC and the RMF-5 zoning districts are limited to land with a Residential Low land use designation. Another zoning district allowed on land with a Residential Low land use designation is the RSF-4, single-family district. Additionally, the zoning districts allowed under the Residential Low land use designation can be described as transitional because they allow higher density single-family development and limited multiple-family uses (up to two-family dwellings in the RC district and up to four-family dwellings in the RMF-5 district).
Analysis
When analyzing this petition, important considerations are lot size and lot width. Compared to all of the other single-family and multiple-family residential districts except the mobile home district (MH), the RC district allows the smallest and narrowest lots. The minimum permitted lots size is 3,000 square feet in both the RC and MH districts. The minimum permitted lot size for a duplex is 6,000 square feet in the RC district. The minimum permitted lot width is 35 feet for a single-family unit in the RC district. The next smallest lot width in a residential district is 50 feet.
With respect to existing RC zoned lots, staff research indicates the following:
Approximately 23% are less than 4,000 square feet in size.
Approximately 42% are less than 5,000 square feet in size.
Approximately 56% are less than 6,000 square feet in size.
Approval of this petition would allow more people per unit in the district with the least amount of land per lot. Based on the following, two scenarios may result.
The size of a standard parking space is 8.5 feet X 17 feet = 144.5 square feet.
A typical front setback is 20 feet.
Each individual renter owns one automobile.
Few RC zoned units have garages or access to rear parking.
The first scenario that may result is lots where most or all of the front yard is devoted to parking. This scenario may have negative aesthetic, environmental and/or stormwater management impacts.
The other scenario is additional cars parked in the public rights-of-way. The second scenario is problematic because neighborhoods in the RC district generally have particularly narrow streets and rights-of-way.
An issue that has been raised by property owners in the RC district is that, due to the City’s current definition of family, occupancy of homes is limited to no more than three unrelated persons, although two-family dwellings are allowed in the RC district. For example, a four-bedroom single-family house in the RC district would be limited to one “family” as defined in the code. At the same time, the RC district would allow two families in an adjacent duplex. In this respect, the RC district is similar to all other city districts that allow both single-family and multiple-family buildings. Discussion by owners of rental properties with the City Commission about this possible inconsistency has prompted this petition.
Some, however, believe that there is no inconsistency. Experience with both stable and declining neighborhoods indicates that negative impacts (such as noise, uncontrolled parking, and poor maintenance) are more closely related to the administration of units (which is, generally, more effective when fewer persons live in each unit) than to the number of units in a neighborhood. In fact, when the City’s Landlord/Tenant Ordinance was adopted, the Commission made a finding that the result of more persons occupying a dwelling than is permitted by the code is a “public nuisance and causes deterioration of the surrounding property values”. Largely for these reasons, staff has determined that there appears to be no defensible basis for allowing an additional unrelated occupant on RC zoned properties.
Increasing the allowed number of persons per unit may make the goal of maintaining owner-occupied single-family housing more difficult in RC neighborhoods, which are particularly stressed. Allowing more people per unit increases the value of the unit as a rental. For that reason, a probable effect of approving the proposed change would be increased rentals in the affected neighborhoods, which, for single-family units, are split approximately evenly between rental and owner-occupied, at present.
The land development code states that maintaining the character of these neighborhoods is desirable, due to their unique social, historical and physical characteristics. The proposed change may make this more difficult to achieve. The RC zoning district is intended for areas where existing single-family development should be maintained. Staff believes that the RC district should continue to be given all of the regulatory protections of single-family zoning districts, and that the proposed increase in the allowable number of unrelated persons living in a unit should be denied.
This petition may increase the potential number of rentals available, particularly for individuals. For that reason, this petition may increase some affordable housing opportunities.
Respectfully Submitted,
Ralph Hilliard
Planning Manager
RH:JW
Attachments: Proposed Revisions
