A temporary moratorium on certain uses in some Business/Industrial (B/I) zoned areas ended on March 28, 2017. With the moratorium’s expiration, the City Council concurred with City staff and the B/I business community that the mix of permitted and conditional uses could be reviewed and improved.
The City then held a town hall like meeting at City Hall on May 17, 2017, with property and business owners in the B/I zone, and reported back to the City Council on July 18.
At that meeting, the City Council directed staff to continue to collaborate with the Business/Industrial community to amend the permitted/conditional uses and to add/modify use definitions for the B/I zone.
The City held a workshop on September 20 that solicited participation from the Business/Industrial community, and wider food/beverage/restaurant businesses on the Island. Information about the meeting identified several questions that the City wanted to use to focus the discussion (see attached press release and letter to business owners). The workshop divided participants into groups based on B/I zoned areas -- Sportsman Club, Day Road, and New Brooklyn -- to discuss the questions. The three groups then reported back to the whole group.
The group as a whole then discussed questions related to craft food and beverage businesses (see attached comment table).
The following overarching themes were expressed at the workshop:
1. Let the market and business owners decide where businesses can locate. Some businesses need the foot traffic to thrive, other businesses need sewer, and the City's zoning regulations can't account for all of the analysis that a business owner has to go through to choose a location.
2. The volume of professional services and healthcare business at Coppertop are working because of it's location, and the City shouldn't eliminate those uses from possibly locating at Day Road or New Brooklyn. The group was not opposed to keeping them as conditional uses.
3. The craft food and beverage industry could grow substantially, and the City should recognize the opportunity, and develop regulations that don't inhibit that growth, such as limiting on-site sales of producers.
4. Coincidentally, all 3 B/I nodes are close to schools, and the city should continue to allow those recreation uses (e.g., karate, ballet, rock climbing) in those areas as a way to reduce overall vehicle miles traveled.