Downtown Zoning Overhaul

[jaxnyc79]

https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2018/12/20/new-height-restrictions-parking-changes-and.html

Lori Boyer plans to file legislation by February 1 to overhaul downtown zoning requirements.
Highlights:
Elimination of height restrictions for much of downtown
A Set-aside of public space for any riverfront projects, with tiered height allowances the further away a structure gets from the river
Elimination of minimum parking requirements for most uses with exception of hotel and residential projects
A ban on new surface parking lots visible from the street over a certain size, "size TBD"

[thelakelander]

In another effort to simplify things, the city would have eight overlay districts as compared to the 10 overlay districts that are in place. The main changes here would see the expansion of the Central Core and Cathedral districts, the removal of the Institutional district -- which is where the jail is located -- and the consolidation of three districts that overlay the stadium area into one sector called the Sports & Entertainment district.

I'd be interested to see how the overlay districts treat LaVilla. In this map, it splits LaVilla's main commercial, cultural and most historically significant section into two to three separate overlay districts. It should be included in one sector, similar to what is being down with the Sports & Entertainment district. If not, the little sense of place the remaining historic buildings around Broad and Ashley provide will be incrementally lost as the area becomes a hodge podge of infill with different design criteria.



https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/the-cawton-report-boyer-working-to-streamline-downtown-zoning-rules

[Steve]

Update on this:

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/legislation-aims-to-overhaul-design-standards-to-make-downtown-more-uniform

I think the concepts are very good in here (like eliminating minimum parking and letting the market dictate parking needs). I'd want to understand exactly what the details are. For example, if you get the boundaries of the districts wrong by even a single block, you can alter the proper historic use of the properties and make development unnecessarily harder.

[thelakelander]

^The original map pictured above did get LaVilla's boundary wrong. It omitted everything east of Jefferson. I reached out to Councilwoman Boyer back in January with my concerns. Luckily, they did go back and shift the LaVilla boundary east so Genovars Hall, Clara White Mission, Masonic Temple, etc. is now located in the proper district.

[Charles Hunter]

To Steve, the bill numbers are in the article, should be easy to look them up at http://cityclts.coj.net/coj/cojBillSearchNew.asp?type=PL

[acme54321]

What's with all of the holes in the new overlay?

A ban on new surface parking lots visible from the street over a certain size, "size TBD"

Didn't see any mention of this.

[fieldafm]

What's with all of the holes in the new overlay?

Looking at the image that the Daily Record posted, those non-shaded areas look to be parcels that are already zoned CCBD or have existing PUDs.

[Kerry]

Why exempt hotels and residential from minimum parking requirements?  If someone wants to build a hotel and provide no parking let them try it.  I've stayed in multiple hotels that didn't provide parking.  It opened up revenue streams for nearby garages. 

[Steve]

Why exempt hotels and residential from minimum parking requirements?  If someone wants to build a hotel and provide no parking let them try it.  I've stayed in multiple hotels that didn't provide parking.  It opened up revenue streams for nearby garages. 

For what it's worth, while it was a quick glance I couldn't find the hotel/residential exception thing mentioned in the December article anywhere in Boyer's bill. Believe it or not I agree with you. The Brand Standards for every hotel chain I can think of allows for Valet Parking in lieu of onsite parking, and I agree on the residential thing. I think you'd have a hard time selling condos in Downtown Jax without parking but to your point, that's a business decision.

[Kiva]

We don't need parking. Soon we will all be zipping around downtown in the JTA clown cars!

[thelakelander]

Lol, we haven't gotten to JTA today! The biz journal has an article out about JTA considering using elevators to get AVs from the Skyway to the ground instead of ramps. Talk about a bottleneck and capacity choking idea...

[Kerry]

Lol, we haven't gotten to JTA today! The biz journal has an article out about JTA considering using elevators to get AVs from the Skyway to the ground instead of ramps. Talk about a bottleneck and capacity choking idea...

If they make it like the Falkirk Wheel sign me up...

https://youtu.be/DxKWSQDeA78

[thelakelander]

That boat lift thing totally thing defeats the concept of saving money and time (transit frequency would be toast and moving max capacity crowds would be restricted) over just paying to modernize the system with new rolling stock.

[Kerry]

The Falkirk Wheel has a coolness factor to high for Jacksonville to pull off anyhow.

[heights unknown]

The Falkirk Wheel has a coolness factor to high for Jacksonville to pull off anyhow.

LOLOL...