09-25-2017, 08:19 AM
(09-25-2017, 07:22 AM)MidTowner Wrote: I disagree with the statement "it should always be legal to occupy a commercial storefront residentially." The way I see it, retail and commercial space add value to a neighbourhood and city in a way residential space does not. Converting ground-floor commercial units on what should be a busy retail street could in a very real way threaten the continues viability of that street.
I generally think that restrictions on development should be eased (parking spot requirements and segregation of uses especially). But I don't think it's illegitimate for the municipal government to require certain things from a development, especially since a site like this is in the busiest part of the city, and its value and the viability of the proposed development has been driven by a lot of public investment.
If a small number of storefronts are occupied residentially, it doesn’t significantly affect the street. If many storefronts are occupied residentially, then the market is telling you that there is more demand for that street to be residential than for it to be commercial.
In the first case, the rule will have little effect other than to reduce the flexibility available to those few owners who would find it useful to be able to use the storefront as a residential property. In the second case, the rule will probably cause derelict storefronts because commercial is no longer demanded in that location. Either way, the rule won’t have the effect you want.
The same observation applies to many situations, such as medical offices opening in houses, up-conversion of houses into small apartments, and the reverse of the original concept, small stores opening in former living rooms.
Zoning should restrict itself to externalities (e.g., no loud businesses in this area, but OK in this other area), safety (e.g., the city will determine where a propane distribution centre may open), and long-term thinking (e.g., protect for a rapid transit route). Every planner needs to remember that the best parts of our cities were built in a pre-zoning time, and act accordingly with humility.