The purpose of this workshop is to present the results of public engagement efforts with property owners along Lakeview Drive (east of Wood Street) and gain City Council’s direction on next steps.
Background
In 2018, based on The Hill resident feedback, the City initiated a project to engage The Hill residents and property owners in evaluating whether there is a desire to maintain the character of The Hill neighborhood. The Land Use Plan listed this project as an action item and was further spurred by council members after residents voiced concerns about the changing character of their neighborhood. City Council appointed a five-member Hill resident and property owner steering committee to guide the project. The project was divided into two phases– Phase I Public Engagement and Phase II Implementation– to determine if the concern was widespread in The Hill neighborhood.
The project boundaries included the existing Hill Area Residential (HR-1) zoning district (which included Main Street, First Street through Seventh Street, and the properties east of Wood Street on the south of Lakeview Drive) and some properties outside of the HR-1 boundary. Even though the properties east of Wood Street on the north of Lakeview Drive were zoned Standard Single-Family Residential (R-1), staff included these properties in the project boundary due to the similar character as the houses west of Wood Street. During the first public engagement opportunity (neighborhood listening sessions), the community expressed support for including the north side of Lakeview in the HR-1 zoning district. The project boundaries were also confirmed from properties on the south side of Lakeview Drive during the engagement process: no property owners indicated that they did not believe their property should be in the HR-1. When making a recommendation to rezone the north side of Lakeview into the HR-1 zoning district, staff again received support from the community. Because the south side of Lakeview was already in the HR-1 zoning district and the community did not express a desire to be rezoned, it continued to be in the HR-1 district and consideration was not given to remove it.
After an extensive public engagement process in Phase I, The Hill Neighborhood Steering Committee drafted a vision and set of recommendations that directed staff to prepare regulations to maintain the character of The Hill. Phase II concluded in July 2021 when Council adopted changes to the Hill Area Residential (HR-1) zoning district regulations, which focus on managing size and scale of buildings in The Hill. The changes in regulations apply to all properties currently in the HR-1 district, including the properties east of Lakeview Drive.
During the Phase 2 adoption process in July 2021, several Lakeview Drive property owners contacted City Council to oppose the changes to the HR-1 zoning regulations and express a desire to “opt out” of the Hill Area Residential (HR-1) zoning district. As such, during the July 20th Council meeting, City Council asked staff to engage with property owners along Lakeview Drive (east of Wood Street) to understand their concerns. On August 5th staff met with six residents for an initial meeting to discuss their concerns and next steps. The group agreed that staff would prepare a letter with zoning information and a method for Lakeview property owners (east of Wood Street) to provide input on the desired zoning for their property. The collective feedback of the area could result in a potential rezoning.
Rezoning Input Results
On August 30th, staff mailed a letter to Lakeview Drive property owners that included a Rezoning Input Form requesting property owner input on whether they desire for their property to remain in the Hill Area Residential (HR-1) zoning district or be rezoned to the Standard Single-Family Residential (R-1) zoning district. The deadline to respond was September 17 and was extended to October 6 to provide additional time for providing feedback. As of October 18, staff received input from 42 properties out of a total of 57, resulting in an overall 74% response rate. The results showed that the residents are nearly evenly split on this topic 50-50, with slight differences in opinions on the north and south side of Lakeview Drive.
Workshop
During the workshop, staff will walk through the detailed results with City Council and seek City Council feedback on a recommendation for how to move forward based on the detailed results.