Table of Contents

Active Transportation

The city’s zoning code offers a points-based density bonus to developers within a designated district, with “exceptional bicycle parking and facilities” as one of the categories (§54.299.32-4). The standards to be met vary by use, but all include requirements for both parking and storage facility that includes amenities such as a repair station, and showers and changing rooms (for non-residential).

Affordable Housing Programs

The city’s codified ordinances incentivize affordable housing development by creating an exemption from impact fees (§2-271). Owners or developers have a set of reporting requirements to ensure that units remain affordable for a certain period of time after construction; otherwise, impact fees must be paid retroactively. The city’s zoning ordinance establishes a workforce housing district and incentivizes affordable housing development through lower parking requirements. Article 2, Part 15 is a mandatory inclusionary zoning regulation that requires 20% of units to be affordable in all residential developments in workforce housing districts. §54-317 lists how many off-street parking spots are required by land use, with significantly fewer spots required for affordable housing.

Green Stormwater Infrastructure

The city’s zoning code offers height and density bonuses for various building sizes with points provided for stormwater management features, green roofs, and low-impact development (LID) features. It provides different point amounts for tactics that decrease stormwater runoff and impervious surfaces, green roofs greater than 700 square feet or 30%, and green roofs greater than 1,500 square feet or 60% (§54-299.32). The zoning code describes the point allocation and requirements for each of these categories (§54-299.3.2.i).

Historic Preservation

The city’s zoning code sets up an Old and Historic District and Old City District (§54-230 to 54-249). It establishes two Boards of Architectural Review, one for small projects and one for large projects, that have the authority to review applications for construction or demolition in these districts and to issue certificates of appropriateness.

Housing Supply Planning

The city's zoning code encourages increasing housing supply and affordable options for all by establishing a workforce housing district and incentivizing affordable housing development through lower parking requirements. Article 2, Part 15 is a mandatory inclusionary zoning regulation that requires 20% of units to be affordable in all residential developments in workforce housing districts.

Short-Term Residential Rentals

The city’s zoning ordinance addresses short-term residential rentals as both residential accessory uses and commercial uses.

The city allows for three types of residential accessory short term rental uses with a permit: Category 1 (within the city’s Old and Historic District, §54-208.1), Category 2 (within the city’s Old City District, §54.208.2), and Category 3 (located anywhere else in the city except the peninsula, §54-208.3). General requirements address residency requirements, advertising, liability policy, guest register, licensing, and other operational requirements; the code also details application requirements and violations (§54-208).

The Short Term Rental ST overlay zone (§54-227) establishes areas where commercial short-term rental and bed and breakfast uses are allowed as conditional uses. The code offers standards for commercial short term rental use that address occupancy limits, conditions for commercial short-term rental conversion, and notes the requirement for an annual license.

Definitions for residential and commercial short term rentals and related terms are provided (§54-120).