The attached ordinance amends Chapter 58 of the Land Development Code to provide flexible development standards for vacant, non-conforming one and two-family residential lots in the Parramore Heritage Overlay District and includes the following changes:

• Expand the purpose of the Parramore Heritage (PH) Overlay District to provide flexible development standards for non-conforming lots of record, or lots being replatted to match a plat recorded prior to 1959.
• Flexible development standards would be administered via a Modification of Standards by the Zoning Official. Setbacks may be relaxed, at the discretion of the Zoning Official, over and above the 20% numerical standard for Modification of Standards. However, the minimum setback standards described in the ordinance must be met.
• Impervious surface ratio (ISR) requirements may be relaxed up to 10% for the total lot area, and up to 20% for the front yard area, subject to the approval of the City Engineer.
• All residential development within the PH Overlay District will be subject to appearance review with consideration to architectural elements such as exterior finish, front porches, windows, and mechanical equipment.
• In order to encourage infill residential development, the Modification of Standards application fee will be waived.
• These provisions would apply only to lots that were vacant as of March 1, 2017.

The ordinance also amends Chapter 67 of the Land Development Code to update procedures and alternative development standards for certified affordable housing projects and includes the following changes:

• Provisions for alternative development standards for affordable one and two-family infill housing would be removed from this section and replaced by the new flexible development standards provisions for the Parramore Heritage Overlay District.
• Certified affordable housing developments would be required to have a minimum of ten (10) contiguous residential units to be eligible for alternative development standards.
• Alternative setbacks of this section would be modified to be similar to those of the flexible development standards provisions in the Parramore Heritage Overlay District.
• The neighborhood compatibility review would be completed by the Planning Official, rather than the Technical Review Committee, mirroring procedures in Chapter 58, Part 6D - Bonuses for Low Income Housing. 

The Municipal Planning Board recommended approval of the LDC amendment on March 21, 2017 (LDC2017-00014).  The adoption ordinance will be scheduled for the next available City Council meeting.