Editor’s note: This is the first in a three-part series describing various aspects of land-use entitlements for hotel-development projects.
Spring has arrived and with it the season for new construction. For those projects that intend to break ground in the next year or so, hotel-development teams are engaging the design team to address the programming goals for the hotel.
At this time, the land-use entitlements required for the site should not be overlooked because of the potential ramifications to the building design. The approval process to grant land-use entitlements occurs before the creation of construction drawings for a building permit. However, if the requirements are not known to not be intensive, the processes can occur concurrently.
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Philip Stewart |
Land-use requirements are obtained when a piece of property is shown to meet the requirements of a locally administered zoning ordinance usually in a clear and objective way. Development aspects controlled by a zoning ordinance include the size of a building, its location on the property, its height, its use (such as for a hotel), and occasionally, its appearance. An important distinction is land-use entitlements concern site design, while a building permit concerns a building design’s compliance with fire resistance and life-safety requirements.
The first step of understanding the land-use requirements for a site is to determine whether the property can be developed as a hotel. A zoning ordinance contains a list of designations assigned to sections of land within a city, county, township or parish, which gives “zones of land” distinctive requirements from other zones. For example, different types and sizes of buildings are allowed in commercial zones rather than residential zones. As might be expected, hotels generally appear in some type of commercial zone because the pre-existing infrastructure and development patterns can support a building the size of a hotel.
Once the zone type for a property is established, it should be determined if a hotel is a permitted use for the site. If not, approval can still be gained to develop a hotel by undergoing an alternative review process that can grant the use through complying with a set of conditions. This is a lengthier and more costly process because it will require the assistance of a planning consultant or even a land-use attorney depending upon the complexity of the process.
The size and shape of a property also determines its development potential. Key factors include minimum setbacks, which define how close a building can be constructed to its property lines. In urban areas, there might not be setback requirements as it is desirable to build structures close to the public sidewalk. In other places, a building may be required to be constructed some distance from the property line so it blends well with other pre-existing structures around it. A building’s height is also regulated for conformance with overall development patterns. The zoning ordinance also regulates the floor area ratio for a property. This is the maximum square footage allowed for a building relative to the size of the property. For example, if a 100,000-square-foot property has a FAR of 2.0, then a building can be constructed that is 200,000 square feet.
The zoning ordinance also controls the amount of parking that is permitted for a property. Typically, hotels in suburban locations need one parking space per key plus a handful of additional spaces for staff. In many urban locations, however, the maximum parking allowance might be less than this to encourage use of public transit. Knowing this at the beginning will allow a development team the opportunity to negotiate a need for additional parking with the governing body.
The most time-consuming and risky aspect of land-use entitlements is approval of a hotel development through a public hearing process. Additional time is required to submit preliminary designs, which are subject to review by a public body such as an architectural design review board. While the criteria used to review the project should be clear and objective in nature, it is common for individual board members to be influenced by their personal design tastes when making a decision about whether to approve a project. Design review through a public-hearing process is required in specifically designated design districts or in historic districts. The hotel-development team and its consultants should always determine if the zone in which a development property is located contains an “overlay” set of requirements.
Zoning ordinances vary from place to place. Development is more restrictive on the East Coast and the West Coast of the United States while restrictions tend to be more relaxed in Midwest and South. Knowing the rules of the local zoning ordinance upfront will allow a hotel-development team to make informed decisions about the development value of a piece of property and will avoid potential pitfalls during the hotel-development process. While most development teams are aware the overall cost of a project is determined by the local construction market as well as the project schedule, understanding the requirements of land-use entitlements will minimize the surprises that occur during the pre-development phase of a project.
Philip Stewart is a practicing architect with Myhre Group Architects Inc. located in Portland, Oregon. He specializes in all aspects of mixed-use and stand-alone hotel development projects ranging from coordination of entitlements through design and construction. He has also spent time on the other side of the dais, serving on a local planning commission.