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the downtown, and 3) it acknowledges the relatively low viability of commercial spaces in the rear of a lot and which may also not be visible from the street. Staff also proposed relaxing the policy language from LD-P.18 prohibiting residential building entries along Main Street as this requirement may preclude or severely limit upper-floor residential potential given that not every property may be able to provide a side or rear entry to its residential upper-floors, or such entries may not be able to meet Fire or Building Code requirements. Task Force Discussion and Recommendation The Task Force unanimously voted to support the revisions to allow ground-floor residential behind commercial uses in the Downtown Commercial, Mixed Use- Downtown, and Mixed Use- Transitional zoning districts and to allow residential entrances along the frontage, provided certain design parameters are met. In addition, the Task Force specified the following: • Support for the requirement of a 50-foot minimum depth for commercial spaces along Main Street, with potentially a lesser requirement for other streets (with staff to provide a recommendation on this depth)' • Inclusion of a "Right-to-do Business" ordinance, to avoid conflicts between residential and commercial uses Staff Recommendation/City Council Direction Ground Floor Residential Staff recognizes the concerns raised by the PDA, Chamber of Commerce, and members of the development community about the viability of projects where ground- floor residential is prohibited. However, there is also an important need to retain viable and well-designed commercial spaces throughout downtown's commercial and mixed- use areas. Therefore, as a middle ground between the more stringent prohibition on ground-floor residential included in the draft DSP and the more permissive policy direction set by the Task Force at its recent meeting, staff recommends amending the policy language with respect to ground floor residential uses as follows: • Generally requiring residential uses to be on upper-floors only (in the three districts discussed); however, allowing ground-floor residential in the rear of a site through a discretionary review, including a Planned Unit Development (PUD) approval process, and subject to the following requirements: o That such projects incorporate street-fronting commercial space, with a minimum depth of 50-feet be required along Main Street, and 40-feet along other streets; and o For redevelopment sites. there should be no net loss of commercial square footage. As a point of clarity, the 50-foot minimum depth for commercial spaces would only apply in instances where ground-floor residential is proposed. There would be no minimum depth for commercial on lots where no ground- floor residential is proposed. Page 7 of 15