CHAPTER 6. LAND USE
“An analysis of
natural land types, existing land covers and uses, and the intrinsic
suitability of lands for uses such as agriculture, forestry, mineral
exploration and extraction, preservation, recreation, housing, commerce,
industry, and public facilities. A map
shall be prepared indicating suitable projected land uses for the
jurisdiction.”
GOAL (LU-1.0): To
promote orderly development and arrangement of land uses throughout the
community; provide ample space for future growth, ensure the compatibility of
adjacent land uses and follow sound environmental planning principals.
I.
Summary of Existing Land Use
Lewiston is sited on a series of benches rising from the river valleys to the broad flat area of the Orchards. Growing from the site of the original settlement at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers, Lewiston grew both south and east in the latter part of the 19th and into the early 20th Centuries. In the late 1890’s, the flat lands in what is now known as the Orchards was beginning to be subdivided into five acre parcels and located in the County. It was this original platting that set the stage for the current development issues in this, the largest part of the City.
|
Zone Designation |
Name |
Area (acres) |
% of Total Zones |
|
R-1 |
Suburban
Residential |
1768.03 |
16.21% |
|
R-2 |
Low Density
Residential |
1642.96 |
15.06% |
|
R-2A |
Low Density
Residential |
1940.69 |
17.79% |
|
R-3 |
Medium Density
Residential |
644.52 |
5.91% |
|
R-4 |
Higher Density Residential |
208.98 |
1.92% |
|
TOTAL |
|
6205.18 |
56.89% |
|
Zone |
Name |
Acres |
% of Total |
|
C-1 |
Local Commercial |
8.57 |
0.08% |
|
C-2 |
Tourist Commercial |
2.85 |
0.03% |
|
C-3 |
Community
Commercial |
159.29 |
1.46% |
|
C-4 |
General Commercial |
659.58 |
6.05% |
|
C-5 |
Central Commercial |
23.55 |
0.22% |
|
C-6 |
Regional Commercial |
242.38 |
2.22% |
|
TOTAL |
|
1096.22 |
10.06% |
|
Zone |
Name |
Acres |
% of Total |
|
M-1 |
Light Industrial |
647.65 |
5.94% |
|
M-2 |
Heavy Industrial |
368.5 |
3.38% |
|
P |
Port |
187.5 |
1.72% |
|
Total |
|
1203.65 |
11.04% |
|
Zone |
Name |
Acres |
% of Total |
|
A |
Airport |
840 |
7.70% |
|
Zone |
Name |
Acres |
% of Total |
|
F-2 |
Agricultural
Transitional |
1501.07 |
13.76% |
GOAL
(LU-2.0): Assure that there is
sufficient commercially zoned land available in the City.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-2.1: Review and revise the
Comprehensive Land Use Plan Map as necessary to assure that sufficient land is
available in each commercial zone, particularly those accommodating local
commercial services and those serving the travelling public. Such review should occur every three years,
or more frequently, if necessary.
Resulting expansions to commercial zones should be in conformance with
the other goals and objectives of this plan.
LU-2.2: Review the zoning ordinance to
assure that commercial zoning designations accommodate varied commercial
activities sufficiently, while protecting adjacent land uses. Assure that commercial zoning designations have
distinct and meaningful differences that fulfill a planning purpose. Revise the zoning ordinance as necessary.
GOAL
(LU-3.0): Create the organizational
and programmatic structure necessary to facilitate the vitality and viability
of the Central Business District.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-3.1: Assist in the rejuvenation of
the Downtown Business Partnership, and its efforts to establish and promote a
healthy CBD.
LU-3.2: Develop a Downtown Plan
in conjunction with the Downtown Business Partnership, the Chamber of Commerce,
the Historic Preservation Commission, and other organizations that have an
interest in the CBD.
LU-3.3: Such a Plan may be implemented
in conformance with or substantially similar to the Main Street Program
developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
GOAL
(LU-4.0): Assure that uses in the
CBD enhance its viability.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-4.1: Encourage and facilitate uses
that are viable in and that enliven the CBD, including specialty retail, office
uses, and restaurants. Review and
revise the zoning ordinance as necessary.
LU-4.2: Encourage the use of the upper
stories of downtown buildings. Evaluate
the feasibility of residential and professional office uses in these upper
stories. Identify what, if any,
renovations may be necessary to meet provisions of the Uniform Building Code.
LU-4.3: Evaluate vacancy trends in the
CBD and, in conjunction with the Downtown Business Partnership, establish a
plan to address this issue.
GOAL
(LU-5.0): Establish and promote a
vision of the CBD’s identity.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-5.1: Work with the Downtown
Business Partnership, the Chamber of Commerce, the Historic Preservation
Commission, and others to establish a cohesive identity for the CBD.
LU-5.2:
Promote functional elements of the CBD consistent with this
identity. These functional elements may
include
·
adequate parking
·
public spaces
·
sidewalk level
activity
·
pedestrian
activity
·
festivals and
special events
·
linkages with the
Clearwater River, including pedestrian linkages
·
traffic
circulation
LU-5.3: Promote design elements within
the CBD consistent with this identity.
These design elements may include:
·
landscaping and
street trees
·
street furniture,
such as benches and trash receptacles
·
entry-way design
elements
·
pedestrian scale
design, including pavers and other street and sidewalk level design elements
·
signage
·
awnings,
marquees, and arcades
·
lighting and
lampposts
·
off-street parking
in the rear
·
building design
and redesign, including height, massing, materials, and window size and
spacing,
·
public art
·
water features
GOAL
(LU-6.0): Continue to assure that
historically and architecturally significant lands, sites and structures within
the CBD are preserved.
OBJECTIVE:
LU-6.1: Continue to work with the
Historic Preservation Commission to identify such assets.
LU-6.2: Identify funding mechanisms
for such preservation.
GOAL
(LU-7.0): Facilitate the funding of
a Downtown Plan.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-7.1: Investigate funding options for CBD projects. Options may include state and federal grants (i.e., the Idaho Heritage Trust, HUD-Community Development Block Grants), a Local Improvement District, a Business Improvement District, tax-increment financing, contributions, or other options that may become available.
GOAL
(LU-8.0): Create a commercial
center focussed on the River Confluence.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-8.1: Promote the development of land
adjacent to the confluence for intense mixed-use development, including
residential, commercial, condominiums, office uses, hotel(s), and a marina.
LU-8.2: Transition Snake River Avenue
between Memorial Bridge and South Way to pedestrian and water oriented retail
uses.
21st Street/Thain
GOAL (LU-9.0): Limit additional sprawl along this strip and
mitigate the impacts of existing sprawl.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-9.1: Develop a 21st
Street/Thain Corridor Plan. Such a plan
should
·
identify the
desired future expansion of commercially zoned areas adjacent to the existing
commercial lands in this area
·
establish design
parameters for the street and adjacent right-of-way, including landscaping and
sidewalk design
·
identify
requirements for joint access and parking
·
evaluate the
feasibility of offering or requiring zero-lot line side setbacks
·
encourage the
location of parking behind buildings
·
plan for the
eventual underground installation of utilities
·
address other
design parameters that may mitigate the unsightly effects of strip commercial
development along this thoroughfare
·
identify sites
and conditions under which a Planned Unit Development may be required or
encouraged
·
identify possible
incentives to implement the plans features
·
identify possible
funding mechanisms
GOAL
(LU-10.0): To the extent that the
demand for commercial land can be accommodated, encourage the concentration of
new and existing commercial uses in existing commercial areas.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-10.1: Commercial activities should
be encouraged in the following established commercial areas:
·
Downtown
·
21st
Street/Thain
·
Bryden Avenue,
- at Thain
- at Southgate Shopping Center
- at the Airport
·
East Main Street
·
South Way
- at Snake River Avenue
·
16th
Avenue
- at 21st Street
- at 8th Street
·
East Lewiston, in
proximity to Highway 12
·
5th
Street and Preston
LU-10.2: Limit the creation of
additional geographic areas zoned commercial.
LU-10.3: In conjunction with the
periodic review of the Land Use Plan Map, gradually phase in any new commercial
areas and/or additions to existing commercial areas in order to promote compact
and contiguous commercial nodes.
LU-10.4: Do not permit the intrusion of
non-commercial uses into commercial zones.
LU-10.5: Do not permit the development
of isolated commercial uses in non-commercial neighborhoods.
LU-10.6: Limit the size, configuration
(compact) and location of neighborhood commercial nodes. Limit uses in such nodes to convenience
services.
LU-10.7: Encourage the enhancement,
revitalization, and renewal of existing under-utilized commercial areas. Strategies may include the creation of small-area commercial design guidelines, street
and right-of-way design, and the creation of business improvement districts.
LU-10.8: Assure that existing
commercial nodes achieve and/or maintain convenience and accessibility.
GOAL
(LU-11.0): Discourage the
development of additional strip commercial areas, and limit the expansion of
existing strip commercial development.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-11.1: Restrict neighborhood
commercial nodes to a compact configuration.
LU-11.2: Develop a 21st
Street/Thain Corridor Plan. Do not
permit the extension of the 21st Street/Thain Commercial Strip
beyond Powers Avenue at 14th Street. Development at this location
should require a Planned Unit Development.
LU-11.3: Limit additional commercial
zoning designations to existing commercial areas.
GOAL
(LU-12.0): Establish development
standards to promote commercial activities, to protect other land uses, and to
achieve the other goals of this Comprehensive Plan.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-12.1: Investigate the feasibility of
creating overlay commercial districts in areas that are most likely to impose
adverse impacts on adjacent neighborhoods, are most likely to spread into strip
development, or in some other way may undermine the other goals of this
Comprehensive Plan. Such districts
would include area-specific design guidelines intended to address the specific
concerns in that neighborhood.
LU-12.2: Where commercial lands are on
the edges of a commercial zone, promote contract zoning and/or design review to
ensure compatible development.
LU-12.3: Review commercial development
standards and design review criteria, as appropriate, to assure the viability
of commercial uses while protecting nearby land uses. Such review may address perimeter and parking area landscaping,
signage, joint access, joint use parking, setbacks, and Planned Unit
Development requirements, among other design and development related standards. Revise the zoning ordinance as appropriate.
LU-12.4: Develop design guidelines for
each neighborhood commercial area.
GOAL
(LU-12.0): Protect residentially
zoned lands that are located adjacent to Commercially zoned lands.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-13.1: Review and revise (as
appropriate) development standards to assure that residential properties are
protected from the impacts of commercial development.
LU-13.2: Review commercial uses that
are permitted (outright or as a conditional use) in residential zones to assure
consistency with the purpose of the zone and to minimize impacts to
non-commercial uses. Revise zoning code
as appropriate.
LU-13.3: Evaluate the feasibility of
requiring a residential Planned Unit Development for parcels or groups of
parcels in excess of five acres. Evaluate the feasibility of requiring the
provision of a commercial pad in such PUD's under specified conditions.
Residential
GOAL
(LU-14.0): Provide for an
appropriate mix of housing types in each of the City’s eight planning
neighborhoods.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-14.1:
Review and revise zoning designations, as appropriate, to assure that
adequate land (both developed and undeveloped) is available for both
single-family and multi-unit residential development.
LU-14.2: Within individual
neighborhoods, discourage multi-family development within established
single-family developments.
LU-14.3:
Evaluate appropriateness of duplexes in various residential zones. Revise zoning ordinance, as necessary.
LU-14.4:
Require a Planned Unit Development (PUD) proposal for residential
development on parcels of five acres or more.
LU-14.5: Review and revise, as
appropriate, procedures and restrictions relating to the creation of additional
lots from existing interior lots.
GOAL
(LU-15.0): Maintain the design and
functional character of each neighborhood.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-15.1: Review and revise development
standards, as appropriate, to assure that new development, additions, and
remodels will maintain the design characteristics prevalent in the
neighborhood. Such characteristics may
include building height and massing, setbacks, lot coverage, lot size, and
other characteristics that define a neighborhood.
LU-15.2: When desired by the property
owners in a neighborhood, implement neighborhood-based design review. Develop and adopt neighborhood-specific
design review criteria that reflect existing and desired development patterns.
LU-15.3: Continually review permitted,
conditional and prohibited uses to assure that the mix of uses allowed by the
zoning ordinance does not adversely impact residential neighborhoods. Revise zoning ordinance if appropriate.
LU-15.4: Revise the zoning ordinance to
reduce or eliminate commercial-type conditional uses in listed residential
zones.
LU-15.5: Review and revise development
standards to buffer residential zones and/or uses from commercial and
industrial uses. Such revised standards
may address landscaping, berms, fences, walls, access, lighting, uses, hours of
operation, or other criteria as may be appropriate.
LU-15.6: Revise the zoning ordinance to
require contract zoning for commercial zone changes that abut lands designated
for residential use on the Comprehensive Plan Land Use Map.
LU-15.7: Review the City’s zoning
ordinance to evaluate it’s effectiveness in preserving views and view
corridors. Revise as appropriate and
feasible.
LU-15.8: Maintain strict enforcement of
zoning, building, sign and other development-related codes and ordinances.
GOAL
(LU-16.0): Provide passive and
active recreational opportunities in each neighborhood.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-16.1: Implement Parks and Open Space
Master Plan.
LU-16.2: Cooperate with the Lewiston
School District to maintain community role of schools and facilities within the
neighborhoods.
GOAL
(LU-17.0): Manage traffic in
residential areas to meet the needs of local residents, as well as City-wide
needs, while minimizing disruption to neighborhoods.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-17.1: Implement the Lewiston Comprehensive Transportation Plan (12/96) and
the associated Capital Transportation Improvement Plan (1/98.)
LU-17.2:
Facilitate pedestrian and bike use in neighborhoods.
LU-17.3: Create pedestrian connections
to other uses within and between neighborhoods, where feasible.
GOAL
(LU-18.0): Provide and maintain
public services, utilities, and associated infrastructure in a cost-effective
manner, by encouraging compact and contiguous growth.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-18.1: Establish and adopt a revised
Comprehensive Land Use Map. Establish land
use zones such that growth is directed to areas that are contiguous with
existing development, and where services are readily available.
LU-18.2: Promote the development of the
area east of 10th Street (Gun Club Road) and north of Stewart Avenue as a neo-traditional
neighborhood. Evaluate possible zoning
tools for achieving this development pattern, including an overlay zone,
revised zoning standards, incentives, a new zoning designation, or other tools
as may be appropriate.
LU-18.3:
Implement the Water System Master Plan.
LU-18.4:
Implement the Sewer System Master Plan.
LU-18.5: Complete
and implement the Stormwater Management
Plan.
LU-18.6:
Implement the Regional Solid Waste Management Plan.
LU-18.7:
Implement the City’s Public Safety Master Plans.
GOAL
(LU-19.0): Where appropriate,
maintain the rural character of neighborhoods in the East Orchards and the Area
of City Impact.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-19.1: Identify areas within
neighborhoods that are rural in character.
Evaluate effectiveness of zoning ordinance in maintaining that rural
character. Revise zoning code as
necessary.
LU-19.2: Review the City’s zoning
ordinance to assure the preservation of views and view corridors. Revise as appropriate and feasible.’
GOAL (LU-20.0): Encourage and promote the growth and
development of the industrial sector of the Lewiston economy.
OBJECTIVES:
LU-20.1: Facilitate the location of
clean industry and high tech industries in Lewiston through zoning, grants and
marketing.
LU-20.2: Work with local
and state agencies to meet the needs of prospective industrial businesses.
LU-20.3: Encourage a
diversity of industrial use, particularly those suited to the local labor
market.
LU-20.4: Work with
local civic and government agencies to facilitate the expansion or addition of
industrial businesses.
GOAL (LU-21.0): Provide
adequate land for new and expanding industrial uses
OBJECTIVES:
LU-21.1:
Assure that the uses permitted in various zones will attract and
accommodate growing industrial sectors, particularly high tech industry and
incubator businesses. Review and revise the zoning ordinance, as appropriate.
LU-21.2: Assure
that adequate land is available for new and expanding industrial uses, including
wholesale commercial, warehousing, manufacturing, processing, and wrecking. In
conjunction with the review of vacancy data, review and revise the
Comprehensive Plan map as appropriate.
LU-21.3: Encourage
the development of environmentally clean industrial uses south of the airport
and in North Lewiston. Consider the
inclusion of such an employment center in a Planned Unit Development located
north of Warner Avenue and east of Gun Club Road and other centrally located
areas..
LU-21.4: Transition
the existing industrial uses north of downtown and along the Snake River from
industrial uses to commercial uses and those uses that can enhance the
proximity to the river front.
LU-21.5: Develop an
annexation policy so the existing industrial base is within the City Limits.
LU-21.6: Assure that
industrial areas are served by adequate infrastructure, including rail,
highways, streets, sidewalk, drainage, water and sewer.
LU-21.7: Assure that
lands designated for industrial use have other characteristics necessary for
development, including the existence of large parcels of flat land, and the
space for open storage and loading.
GOAL
(LU-22.0): Minimize the conflicts
associated with the proximity of industrial uses to other uses and properties.