Transcript Document

Planning Commission
Presentation
October 24, 2006
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Big Box:
Keeping Pace with Austin
A Common Sense Update for
Austin’s Land Development Code
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How Big is Too Big?
• When Austin’s Land Development Code was drafted, the average retail
store was 2,000 square feet.
• Today’s big box stores can be more than 100 times that size with
buildings over 250,000 square feet and more than 20 acres of paved
parking. Impacts are much larger and affect a greater area.
3
Big Box Policies in Other Cities Summary
• Store Size Caps are in place or proposed in 23 US cities,
including Santa Fe, Rockville, Hailey, North Beach, Boxborough,
Ashland and in the countries of Norway and Ireland.
• Formula Business Restrictions are in place or proposed in 18 US
cities including San Francisco, Chicago, Sanibel Island, Pacific
Grove, Bristol and Sausalito.
• Economic Impact reviews are in place or proposed in at least 10
US cities and 3 states including Los Angeles, Santa Cruz,
Carbondale, Bennington, Brattleboro, Vermont, California, New
Jersey.
4
Cities That Have Store Size Caps
Brookside - Kansas City, MO
Northhampton, MA
North Beach - San Francisco, CA
Rockville, MD
Agoura Hills, CA
Santa Fe, NM
Ashland, OR
Skaneateles, NY
Belfast, ME
Taos, NM
Bennington, VT
Walpole, NH
Boxborough, MA
Warwick, NY
Bozeman, MT
Westford, MA
Charlevoix, MI
Coconino County, Arizona (Flagstaff)
Easton, MD
Ravalli County, MT
Hailey, ID
Talbot County, MD
Homer, AK
Tuolumne County, CA
Madison, Wisconsin
Ireland (applies nationwide)
Mt. Shasta, California
Norway (applies nationwide)
North Elba (Village of Lake Placid), NY
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Cities That Have Formula Business Restrictions
Arcata, CA
Pacific Grove, CA
Bainbridge Island, WA
Port Jefferson, NY
Bristol, RI
Port Townsend, WA
Chicago, IL (under consideration)
San Francisco, CA
Calistoga, CA
San Juan Bautista, CA
Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Sanibel, FL
Coronado, CA
Sausalito, CA
Nantucket, MA
Solvang, CA
Ogunquit, Maine
York, ME
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Cities That Have Economic and Community Impact
Reviews
Impact reviews are now in place in the following cities, regions and states:
Los Angeles, California
Bennington, Vermont
Mt. Shasta, California
Brattleboro, Vermont
Santa Cruz, California
Cape Code Region, Massachusetts
Carbondale, Colorado
State of Vermont
Greenfield, Massachusetts
State of California (enacted, awaits
governor's signature)
Homer, Alaska
State of New Jersey (proposed)
Middletown, Rhode Island
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Why We Need A Common Sense Update:
• City laws have not been updated to keep pace with new big box
developments, which can be over 1200 percent larger than
traditional retail operations and may have very different impacts
than a traditional store.
• Under the current code, a 24-hour 250,000 square-foot
supercenter, with over 20 acres of paved parking, can be legally
built without any public process under the same zoning as a
2,000 square-foot mom-and-pop store.
• Major retail projects should include a guaranteed public process
to allow input from affected residents and businesses and to help
the city make informed decisions about potential costs, benefits,
location and other factors.
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Size Does Matter: Hard Facts
About Economic Impacts
• Big Box does not grow the sales tax rate - it displaces it from
existing businesses. Retail activity is the result of, not the cause
of, economic growth.
• Big Box national chains keep less money in Austin.
• Big Box = Bigger Costs to Cities
- Increased traffic
- Street and road maintenance due to truck traffic on access
roads
- Water and sewer service
- Public safety
- Social costs for low wage, uninsured employees
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The Proposed Code Change for Big Box Retail
• DOES provide a common-sense, business-friendly tool to assess
the impacts of large-scale commercial developments and make
sensible planning decisions for our city.
• DOES help the city maintain a healthy, balanced retail economy.
• DOES NOT ban big box developments or create unreasonable
obstacles to their construction.
• DOES NOT negatively affect sales tax revenues.
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What the Big Box Ordinance Does:
• Ensures a public process for major commercial developments by
requiring a Conditional Use Permit for projects larger than 50,000
square feet in a single-occupancy building. Conditional Use
Permit regulations are already part of the city code; they are used
to permit a project not allowed under existing zoning, on the
condition that it will be compatible with the area and will not
adversely affect public health, safety, or welfare.
• Expands the notice range to include all registered neighborhood
associations within one mile of a proposed project and requires a
large informational sign to be posted at the proposed site.
• Allows the city to weigh economic and community impacts of large
commercial projects under existing Conditional Use Permit
regulations.
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What Kinds of Economic Information Might Be
Considered Under a Conditional Use Permit?
“...Measures that the Land Use Commission determines are required for…the
preservation of public health, safety or welfare.”
• Estimated costs to the City for additional public safety,
infrastructure and traffic expenses.
• Anticipated positive and negative effects on local businesses
• Estimated net gains/losses for property tax and sales tax
revenues.
• Anticipated costs for public health care and housing for workers if
wages do not meet the Family Security Index (FSI).
• Architectural renderings to show consistency with commercial
design standards.
• Plans for the re-lease, re-use or sale of vacated structure to
prevent abandoned big boxes from undermining commercial
areas.
Note: City staff routinely provides similar economic information when it is
considering the use of incentives for projects.
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Conclusions
• To maintain a healthy economy, big box retail needs to keep pace
with Austin’s focus on mixed use, diverse, sustainable
development plans.
• Austin’s Land Development Code has not been updated to
address massive changes in the retail landscape.
• A Conditional Use Permit for future big box retail gives the city a
tool to assess a project’s economic and community impacts.
• Conditional Use Permits are reasonable, legal, business friendly
and make common sense.
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Supporters of the Big Box Ordinance
• Austin Independent Business Alliance (325 member businesses
representing more than 6,000 employees)
• Austin Neighborhoods Council
• Austin Central Labor Council
• American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME) 1624
• The Austin Area Human Services Association (65 member
organizations)
• Liveable City
• Over 100 individual community leaders
• 59 percent of Austin residents say they are concerned with the
increasing number of big box stores in Austin (2004 poll, Opinions
Analysts).
• 71 percent said the Austin City Council should do more to
promote the interests of local businesses over those of national
big box chains (2004 poll, Opinions Analysts).
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