City Council Agenda and Packet 2018 07 03

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City Council Meeting Minutes June 12, 2018 Page 2 of 6 regulations. Staff is not looking for conclusions tonight, but rather input on specific height issues in the South Boulder Road and McCaslin Boulevard areas. Dean reviewed the history of the project including the creation of a focus group and public meetings. Staff is now in the information gathering and analysis stage and will be seeking more public input. The documents are 20 years old, some conflict with other documents, and need to be updated. Staff hopes to bring the vision of the Comprehensive Plan into these new documents and create a vision for the next 20 years. From this meeting, the key elements on which staff requests City Council input are: 1. Confirming the height policies as set forth in various plans. 2. Translating the number of stories to the appropriate heights allowed. 3. Setting or confirming policies and processes to achieve the heights which are found to be appropriate in different areas, such as allowing the heights by right, by Special Review Use, and/or by waiver request. Where the plans envision three-story buildings, we want to define the ideal height for those buildings. The current documents mostly limit three-story buildings to 35 feet and it is hard to fit three stories into 35 feet. Staff would like clarity on height vs. stories in the South Boulder Road and McCaslin Boulevard areas. Dean noted many of the city's policies (Small Area Plans, Comprehensive Plan, and design guidelines) have conflicts depending on what part of the city is being addressed. The final document should articulate where it is appropriate to have three-story buildings, what is the appropriate height for a three-story building, and what process should be used to allow such buildings. Dean noted that in the South Boulder Road Small Area Plan some areas have one or two-story buildings as a use by right and others have two or three stories allowed by Special Review Use. She noted the Louisville Municipal Code (LMC) and the CDDSG don't align with the Small Area Plan requirement for a Special Review Use process. Requiring a Special Review Use process for a development standard such as building height is somewhat unusual. Dean reviewed how the various plans conflict in the McCaslin Boulevard Small Area Plan. Use by right can have two stories or three stories in some areas. She noted that again the LMC, the CDDSG, and the Small Area Plan conflict. Staff would like input for the McCaslin Boulevard Small Area Plan if Council would like two stories at the street and allow three stories set farther back. Dean stated industry standards for the most part couldn't fit three stories within 35 feet. She reviewed what a taller building would look like with various levels of articulation and buildings with various height elevations. The real estate market really is looking for taller 12