DIR2014-00001 III ■ DIRECTOR'S INTERPRETATION
T I G A R D DIR2014-00001
DATE: April 17,2014
CODE CHAPTER: 18.640 Bridgeport Village Plan District
TOPIC: Parking Requirements and Change of Land Use
LOCATION: Bridgeport Village Plan District
I. REQUEST
City staff has received an application for a change of land use within the Bridgeport Village Plan
District (MMD2014-00003). The proposal would result in the conversion of an existing retail tenant
suite (Levi Jeans) into a restaurant (Pizzasmith). Off-street parking requirements within the Tigard
Development Code require additional parking be provided when a change of use results in an
intensification of the number of vehicle parking spaces required, such as when a retail space is
converted to an eating-and-drinking establishment. However, the applicant believes no additional
parking is warranted for a change of use under the intent and language of the Bridgeport Village
Plan District standards.
It is anticipated that some terms or phrases within the code may be ambiguous and therefore subject
to two or more reasonable meanings. Because it is not possible to identify or remove all ambiguities
in the code, a process should be established for resolving these ambiguities in advance of or
concurrent with applying for a particular permit or other action. Director's interpretations provide a
process for resolving ambiguities in such a manner. All director's interpretations are subject to
appeal to the City Council.
II. HISTORY
Bridgeport village is a shopping center located on the border of Tigard and Tualatin. Approximately
7 acres of the center is located within Tigard, and the remaining 21 acres located on the Tualatin
side. The site was a redevelopment project to convert a disused quarry owned by Washington
County into a regional,mixed-use center that spanned the entirety of the site.
In order"to simplify'the cross-jurisdictional issues of land use review and governance, the City of
Tigard created a new mixed-use commercial zone (MUC-1) and Plan District Standards (l'UC
18.640) that were intended to match City of Tualatin Requirements.' Once compatible zoning was
in place, an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) was established to temporarily transfer primary
1 See CPA2001-00001,ZOA2001-00001,and ZON2001-00001 approved under City of Tigard Ordinance No.01-07 on
June 26,2001.
DIR2014-00001 1 of 2 Bridgeport Village Parking Requirements
permitting authority to the City of Tualatin for a period of three years? The intent of this IGA was
to provide a singular body of authority to review and issue the initial land use decisions and building
permits for the entire site,including the portion within the City of Tigard. Once initial development
was complete, future permitting would be performed by the respective jurisdictions.
III. CODE ANALYSIS
As discussed in Sections I and II above, development within the Tigard portion of Bridgeport
Village is subject to standards contained within Chapter 18.640 (Bridgeport Village Plan District).
Two sections of this chapter appear to be applicable to parking in the context of a change of use
within the plan district: 18.640.500 (Off-Street Parking) and 18.640.050 (Development Standards).
Off-street parking requirements are specifically addressed in section 18.640.500 of this chapter,
which simply states "off-street parking and loading, see Chapter 18.765." No further direction is
provided, suggesting that all normal base zone parking requirements must be met when a change of
land use occurs.
That said, subsection I8.650.050.A of the same chapter states "Development shall comply with
applicable development standards, except where variances and minor variances are granted in accordance with
the terms of the intergovernmental agreement between Tigard and Tualatin." Such a variance appears to have
been granted by the City of Tualatin as part of the initial land use approvals for the center (AR-03-09
and AR-03-15). In reviewing the staff report for AR-03-15, staff noted that parking was calculated
not as an assemblage of individual land uses as is done in Tigard (i.e. retail, eating-and-drinking,
personal services, etc.), but as a generalized "Shopping Center" category that anticipated a dynamic
range of land uses during the life of the project at a rate of 5.1 parking spaces per 1000 square feet 3
This requirement was reduced further by the City of Tualatin from a minimum of 1,913 to 1,797
spaces through a shared parking analysis for Phase "A" of Bridgeport Village, which included the
affected area.
No additional floor area is proposed at this time, and the conversion of a tenant suite from retail to
restaurant appears to be within the original mixture of land uses approved by the City of Tualatin
under the parking variance. Given these facts, it would be reasonable to interpret that the base zone
parking standards of 18.765 (Off-Street Parking) do not apply in this situation.
IV. INTERPRETATION
Applications for a change of land use within the Bridgeport Village Plan District are exempt from
the provisions of Chapter 18.765 (Off-Street Parking) when no additional floor area is being created
and existing parking areas are not affected.
1
z_z_. • (t.
Kenny Asher,Community Development Director Date
2 See"Urban Services Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Tigard,City of Tualatin,and Washington
County for Durham Quarry Site",signed by Tigard on March 26,2002 and effective May 14,2002.
3 A review of the Tualatin Development Code and Staff Report for AR-03-15 did not reveal a definition for the
"Shopping Center"category contained within their parking chapter.
DIR2014-00001 2 of 2 Bridgeport Village Parking Requirements