The petitioner, Lookin Good Properties, seeks to: 1) amend the lot area requirement per dwelling unit for the upper-story residential use in the B-C (Community-Business) district from 600 square feet to 435 square feet, and 2) amend the off-street parking requirement for the upper-story residential use to one off-street space per dwelling unit.

Upper-story residential is defined by the Zoning Ordinance as “One or more residential dwelling units above a ground floor nonresidential use.” The purpose of the upper-story residential use is to encourage more residential development within portions of the Historic District (specifically, the B-C district which exists only west of Jefferson Street) without the loss of active ground floor uses, such as retail and eating establishments. The B-C district within the Historic District has historically served as the more intensive commercial area of downtown and includes much of the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard corridor.

The Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the following alternative amendment at its Regular Meeting on April 25, 2017:

• Eliminate density altogether but have a minimum dwelling unit size (450 square feet, an efficiency unit) and to require that one off-street parking space be required for efficiency and 1- and 2-bedroom units. Units with three or more bedrooms would require 1.5 parking spaces.

• The upper-story residential use also be permitted in the B-G district within the Historic District;

• That permissible ground floor uses be identified as a use condition;

• That the “active” ground floor retail option not be available to obtain an additional or “bonus” floor; and

• Adjust the off-street parking requirements for dwelling units for the RIP-C and RIP-B-1 districts — predominantly residential districts — to match the various “RIP” districts in the Historic District (i.e., to require one off-street space).

City of Savannah Zoning Staff instead recommends the following: 

• A) Eliminating the B-C district residential density requirement altogether. This would provide the maximum incentive for future residential development in the B-C zoning district; or

• B) Granting the petitioner’s original request to reduce the B-C district lot area requirement per dwelling unit to 435 square feet.