title
REZONING - HISTORIC OVERLAY DISTRICT - UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS HISTORIC DISTRICT - SOUTH (B)
ORDINANCE NO. 0-01-64, PETITION NO. 33ZON-01PB
An Ordinance of the City of Gainesville, Florida; rezoning and imposing the overlay historic preservation/conservation district category on certain properties zoned "RH-1: 8-43 units/acre residential high density district", RH-2: 8-100 units/acre residential high density district", "OR: 20 units/acre office residential district", "OF: General office district", and "MD: Medical services district"; consisting of approximately 34 acres, MOL; and generally bounded on the north by an alleyway located north of Southwest 1st Avenue, on the east by Southwest 9th Street, on the south by Southwest 7th Avenue and on the west by Southwest 12th Street; providing a severability clause; providing a repealing clause; and providing an immediate effective date.
recommendation
The City Commission adopt the proposed ordinance.
explanation
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT STAFF MEMORANDUM
On December 10, 2001 the City Commission approved petitions 32ZON-01PB and 33ZON-01PB on first reading to establish the historic district overlay on property in University Heights located north and south of University Avenue. During the hearing an issue was raised about what standards will be used to review projects in the new district. Section 30-112(6) states that all certificates of appropriateness, except those for demolition or relocation, shall be guided by the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings. It is anticipated that these standards will be used until more specific standards can be developed for the newly created district. The standards for the University Heights district will be tailored to the unique character and multi-family nature of the area.
A question was also raised about how the historic preservation standards would be coordinated with the Special Area Plan for University Heights in the City's land development regulations. City staff will explicitly incorporate the vision articulated in that Special Area Plan into the historic preservation standards as they are developed. The introduction or preface to the standards will discus that this is an area for redevelopment, because of its proximity to both downtown and the University of Florida. The standards themselves will be customized to encourage rather than discourage redevelopment, for example allowing new construction on vacant parcels to be built somewhat forward of adjacent historic structures rather than maintaining a strictly parallel build-to line, and allowing compatible development forms, such as row houses, where allowed by zoning, on blocks adjacent to existing historic single-family structures. Likewise, as the Special Area Plan is updated as part of the overall update of the land development regulations, the Special Area Plan will be revised to explicitly recognize that historic design guidelines will
apply as well. Projects will be reviewed by the Historic Preservation Board prior to going through site plan review to the Development Review Board, as is the case in the other historic districts.
CITY ATTORNEY MEMORANDUM
The City Commission, at its meeting of October 22, 2001 authorized the City Attorney's office to prepare and advertise the necessary ordinance rezoning certain lands within the City of Gainesville.