ACTION REQUESTED:
Title
Communication from the City Manager and the Community Development Director with Recommendation to Adopt the Following:
A. An ORDINANCE Amending Appendix B, the Zoning Ordinance, of the CODE of the City of Peoria Relating to OPEN AIR CAFÉS.
B. An ORDINANCE Amending Appendix C, the Land Development Code, of the CODE of the City of Peoria Relating to OPEN AIR CAFÉS.
Body
BACKGROUND:
Staff is continually working to simplify zoning regulations and recommends the following changes relating to beer gardens and open air cafes:
1) Consistent terminology
Review of current regulations found discrepancies between the terms used for beer garden and open air café. Using the narrow term of beer garden does not describe all types of outdoor seating areas and automatically implies alcoholic beverages will be served, which requires site approval by the Liquor Commissioner after a hearing before the Liquor Commission. Staff proposes to delete the term "Beer Garden" and replace with "Open Air Café" to describe all outdoor seating areas. Whether the outdoor seating area serves alcohol is determined through the separate liquor license review process, which also has requirements for fencing the area and how the alcohol is served to the customer. This proposed change also eliminates overlapping review processes of the Planning & Zoning Commission and Liquor Commission.
2) Consistent regulation
Staff also found differences between the Zoning Ordinance and Land Development Code regulation of beer gardens. The following tables show that the Land Development Code allows beer gardens as a permitted use in CN Neighborhood Commercial, while the Zoning Ordinance requires a Special Use in the C1 General Commercial.
District |
Zoning Ordinance Beer Garden |
C1 General Commercial |
Special Use |
C2 Large Scale Commercial |
Permitted |
|
|
District |
Land Development Code Beer Garden |
CN Neighborhood Commercial |
Permitted |
CG General Commercial |
Permitted |
B1 Downtown Commercial |
Permitted |
The C1 district of the Zoning Ordinance is comparable to the CN district of the Land Development Code and should regulate a beer garden (or open air café) in the same manner.
Since the Zoning Commission meeting, Staff realized that an open air café is defined as accessory to the establishment it serves. An open air café is customarily found adjacent and accessory to a principal use such as a restaurant or bar/tavern. Therefore Staff has revised the proposed text amendment to allow open air cafes as accessory uses instead of a permitted or special use.
ZONING COMMISSION ACTION:
The Zoning Commission found that the request met the Findings of Fact requirements and VOTED 5 TO 0 TO APPROVE.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: N/A
NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS: None
IMPACT IF APPROVED: The term "Beer Garden" will be replaced with "Open Air Café" and may be allowed as an accessory use in non-residential districts.
IMPACT IF DENIED: The current regulations will remain unchanged with inconsistent terminology and regulation between the Zoning Ordinance and the Land Development Code
ALTERNATIVES: N/A
EEO CERTIFICATION NUMBER: N/A
WHICH OF THE GOALS IDENTIFIED IN THE COUNCIL'S 2014 - 2029 STRATEGIC PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION ADVANCE?
1. Grow Peoria: Businesses, Jobs, and Population
WHICH CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR(S) FROM THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION IMPLEMENT?
1. Have an efficient government.
DEPARTMENT: Community Development