HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 10082 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 10082
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council December 12, 2017
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s SUBJECT: PROPOSED ZONING ORDINANCE TEXT AMENDMENTS FOR
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1675 CERTAIN USES
The purpose of this Informal Report is to initiate minor amendments to update and add the
following uses in the Zoning Ordinance: 1) transient or short-term rental, 2) private event center
or rental hall, and 3) nonconforming two-family dwellings. Explanations for each of these
proposed amendments are provided below.
1 . Transient or Short-Term Rental: The Zoning Ordinance currently provides a definition for
Transient or Short Term Resident in Chapter 9. The use tables in Chapter 4 include bed and
breakfast home, bed and breakfast inn, and hotel/motel/inn, which allow for specific types of
transient or short-term rental use. Staff recommends adding the use "transient or short-term
rental" to the use tables in order to clarify that the use is not allowed in residential districts
outside of bed and breakfast homes or inns, and is allowed in mixed-use, commercial, and
industrial districts as a commercial use.
2. Private Event Center or Rental Hall: The Zoning Ordinance use tables do not currently
address buildings used for private events and parties, rather than for events open to the
public, such as a dance hall or club. Staff currently interprets the private use as indoor
amusement, which is allowed in the "E" Neighborhood Commercial district and above. Dance
halls and clubs open to the public are classified as bars, and are not allowed in "E" or other
districts where bars are prohibited. City Code requires dance halls open to the public to be
licensed with the Police Department. Staff recommends adding private event center or rental
hall to the use tables in Chapter 4 and adding a definition in Chapter 9. The definition would
exclude use for events open to the public with or without a fee.
3. Nonconforming Two-Family Dwellings: The Zoning Ordinance prohibits the expansion of
legal nonconforming uses, with the exception of one- and two-family dwellings. The intent of
the exception was to allow the expansion of existing dwellings made legal nonconforming after
residential uses were prohibited in commercial and industrial zoning districts. Since 2000, the
City Council has rezoned "B" Two-Family zoning districts to "A-#" One Family districts where
consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. The allowance for the expansion of existing two-
family dwellings in "A-#" One Family districts undermines the intent of the rezoning. Staff
recommends removing the exception for nonconforming two-family dwellings to expand.
Staff will brief the Zoning Commission on December 13 and anticipates action on the text
amendments by the Zoning Commission on January 10 and by the City Council on February 6.
Should you have any questions, please contact Jocelyn Murphy, Planning Manager, at 817-392-
6226.
David Cooke
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS