urban future
vmu faq's
Guadalupe 31 is located on the former site of a strip center, lube shop and restaurant.
Find answers to questions about VMU, the VMU Overlay and the Opt-in/Opt-Out process.
If you don't see the answer to your question, email Brewster.
Where can someone build a Vertical Mixed Use (VMU) development?
VMU developments are permitted on the following:
- properties with an MU ("mixed use") zoning designation.
- commercially zoned properties within the VMU Overlay – i.e., commercially zoned properties on Core Transit Corridors and Future Core Transit Corridors.
Commercially zoned properties larger than 3 acres outside of the VMU Overlay have a conditional use permit to develop as VMU.
What is the Opt-In/Opt-Out (OIOO) process?
The OIOO process is a 90-day period during which neighborhoods can recommend customizations to the applicability of the VMU Overlay in their neighborhoods.
These customizations include:
- Recommending properties within the VMU Overlay that should be ineligible for a set of bonuses that trigger affordable housing. Generally speaking, this is called “opting out.”
- Extending the benefits of the VMU Overlay to properties outside the overlay. This is called “opting in.”
- Removing properties from the VMU Overlay.
During the OIOO process, neighborhoods recommend which properties within the VMU Overlay should be opted out; which properties within the VMU Overlay should be removed from the overlay; and which properties should be opted in to VMU.
When does the Opt-in/Opt-out process end?
The deadline for neighborhoods to recommend properties to be opted out of the VMU Overlay was June 4, 2007. For neighborhoods that recommended properties to be opted out by that time, these neighborhoods can revise their recommendations for those properties. The Council will vote at the end of July on the deadline to submit the revised applications. This deadline is likely to be some time in early August.
There is no deadline for Opt-in recommendations.
Won't the ground floor retail in VMU developments just be national chains that displace local small businesses?
Perhaps the biggest myth about VMU is that the retail on the ground floor tends to be national chains.
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National chains usually demand stand-alone branded buildings. |
VMU ground floor spaces are almost always filled with local businesses. |
National chains resist locating in VMU developments for two reasons.
First, national chains prefer stand-alone buildings that emphasize their national branded building shape – they want customers to recognize the shape and look of their stores no matter what city in the world their customers are driving in.
Second, national chains usually have prototype internal layouts that require standardized dimensions, standardized entrance and loading locations, and standardized configurations for drive-throughs and merchandise arrangements. They build stand-alone prototype buildings to accomodate their national standardized layouts, and they resist the non-standard dimensions of ground floor spaces in mixed use developments.
Does the City intend to direct more traffic onto the Core Transit Corridors?
Absolutely not. These are transit corridors, not traffic corridors. The idea is that by making these arterials more pedestrian- and bike-friendly, more people will choose alternative transportation methods. It does not mean the City intends to widen the street, or increase the speed limit, or do anything to encourage vehicular traffic.
Who came up with the VMU Overlay?
The VMU Overlay was created by the citizen task force that wrote the Commercial Design Standards Ordinance. It included a balanced mix of neighborhood advocates, real estate developers, affordable housing leaders, design professionals, architects, and bike-riders. The task force had a 100% consensus rule, meaning no provision was included unless everyone agreed to it.
The task force's recommendation for the VMU Overlay was adopted as a policy by City Council in May 2005. In November 2005, the Council adopted revised recommendations submitted by the task force. The ordinance the group negotiated was passed unanimously by City Council in August 2006.
I love my quiet, residential street. Does the VMU Overlay mean someone can knock down the house next door to build a VMU building on it?
No. The VMU Overlay only applies to commercially zoned properties. Granted, there are some single-family houses with commercial zoning on major arterials that could be redeveloped as VMU. In other words, the VMU Overlay helps protect single-family neighborhoods by directing density away from where it doesn’t belong – quiet neighborhood streets – and toward where it does belong: the corridors.
Will the VMU Overlay bring super-tall buildings to my neighborhood?
No. VMU buildings cannot be built any higher than a developer could already build on a given site. For example, any site zoned “LR” can be redeveloped to a height of 40 feet. If a VMU building is built on that LR site, it can be no higher than 40 feet. (Most properties on Core Transit Corridors are entitled for either 40 or 60 feet.) In addition, VMU buildings are subject to regular compatibility standards that limit heights near single-family houses.
Is the VMU Overlay the only place that multi-story mixed-use projects can be built?
No. As examples like the AMLI building on Second Street or the Saltillo Lofts demonstrate, developers can already build projects with first-floor retail and condos above. That is because a mixed-use zoning category (“MU”) already exists that allows development with a mix of uses. However, MU does not require mixed-use development, and it does not come with any of the design standards required by the VMU Overlay. In other words, VMU is a special, neighborhood-enhancing kind of MU development with higher standards and tougher requirements.
Does opting out a property make it impossible to build a VMU building there?
No. Opting out only refers to the bonuses that trigger affordable housing, the parking reduction, and the additional ground-floor uses. VMU buildings can be built on opted-out properties, albeit not as densely – and without the affordable housing.
What does it mean to “remove a property from the VMU Overlay”?
A property that is removed from the VMU Overlay cannot be developed as a VMU building. (By extension, the bonuses and responsibilities of the overlay also no longer apply.) However, remember that the VMU Overlay is not the only way properties become entitled for redevelopment as multi-story mixed-use projects. If the property already has MU zoning, it can be redeveloped as condos, even if it’s not part of the VMU Overlay.
What does it mean to “opt in” a property?
In addition to recommending certain properties be made ineligible for the bonuses and responsibilities of the VMU Overlay, neighborhoods can recommend that properties outside the VMU Overlay be “opted in.”
The effect of opting in depends on a property’s existing entitlements:
- Properties with an MU zoning designation. Opting in makes these properties eligible for the bonuses and responsibilities of the VMU Overlay. It also means any MU property must meet the design standards of VMU buildings.
- Properties without an MU zoning designation. These properties are ineligible for mixed-use development unless they are opted in to allow VMU buildings. These properties may be opted in with or without the bonuses and responsibilities.
Who makes the final OIOO decisions?
After the 90-day OIOO process, the City Council will have 45 days to approve, deny, or modify neighborhood OIOO requests.