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EDD six zoning districts were created, one of which is the ED-LNR district. The district was <br />created in the zoning text, but not affixed to any specific parcels. <br />The primary purpose of the ED-LNR district is to allow land use conversion of these existing lots <br />and residential dwellings to small-scale offices and/or low impact services provided that the <br />structures are limited to 5,000 square feet in gross floor area with a district maximum height of <br />30 feet. Due to these aforementioned limitations on project intensity, the ED-LNR allows a <br />reduction in the normally required 100-foot width EDD perimeter buffer to 50 feet. However, all <br />buffer planting requirements are still required to be met. <br />The existing ED-LO-1 district severely restricts usage for some- of the lots in both Tract 1 and <br />Tract 2. The original thought was that some of the tracts would recombine and develop as one <br />project. This has not occurred even though some properties offered for sale adjoin each other. <br />There are, or have been recently, three properties offered for sale along this corridor. Anecdotal <br />comments have indicated that the primary reason for lack of sales and conversion of these <br />properties to offices and low impact services has been due to the current zoning district <br />requirements. However, the EDD Design Manual that sets the internal buffer requirements <br />between adjacent land uses is just as likely the reason. The proposed buffer text amendments <br />(addressed at this same meeting) to the EDD Design Manual will allow buffer flexibility for <br />existing structures and will provide, if approved, the necessary language to allow these existing <br />residential properties to develop individually rather than as a part of a larger scale project. <br />ZONING OFFICER ANALYSIS: As required under Section 20.3.3 of the Orange County Zoning <br />Ordinance, the Zoning Officer is required to: `...cause an analysis to be made of the application <br />and, based upon that analysis, prepare a recommendation for consideration by the Planning <br />Board and the Board of County Commissioners'. <br />Staff Findings and Analysis <br />1. Both Tract 1 and Tract 2 are located within the Hillsborough Area Economic Development <br />District, which by definition is an Economic Development Node. <br />2. The ED-LNR district was created to allow for low impact uses on smaller lots, and also to <br />allow for adaptive reuse of existing structures provided that all subdivision, zoning, and <br />building code provisions are met. <br />3. Both the ED-LNR and the ED-LO-1 districts permit a maximum impervious surface <br />coverage of 50%. <br />4. The maximum height of structures in the ED-LNR district is 30 feet. The maximum height <br />of structures in the ED-LO-1 district is 60 feet. <br />5. When a site within an ED-LNR district adjoins the exterior boundary of the EDD the <br />perimeter buffer may be reduced to fifty-(50) feet. The perimeter buffer of a site within <br />the ED-LO-1 district is 100 feet. All of the parcels in Tract 1 are less than 200 feet in <br />width. <br />6. All interior landscape buffer requirements are the same in each district. <br />Due to the fact that the ED-LNR district was originally created for future application to lands <br />included in the petitioned areas, a County initiated petition is reasonable and necessary to <br />remove impediments to conversion to more suitable land uses. In conjunction .with the <br />proposed buffer text amendments, land in the area can more easily convert uses. For future <br />