Laserfiche WebLink
Director Keating continued his presentation and noted that <br />in their analysis, staff looked at the overall land needs. This <br />project was not considered in the Comprehensive Plan but was <br />structured to be considered separately. Research showed that <br />malls generally require about 10 acres for every 100,000 sq. ft. <br />of mall area; so, there is a need for about 75 acres there. Also <br />since it is customary to have peripheral development around a <br />mall, the additional amount of 51 acres that was proposed for <br />peripheral development was considered a valid request. Director <br />Keating continued that staff looked at all the commercial nodes <br />in existence in the County and found there were not adequate <br />sites to accommodate a regional mall. There is another mall site _. <br />that has the right zoning and has DRI approval in the county, but <br />staff's position is that there is no guaranty that mall will be <br />built. Staff realized there probably is no one best site in the <br />county for a regional mall; so, there is no reason not to <br />consider two. The county very probably can't support two mall <br />facilities, but staff did not feel it was appropriate to prohibit <br />s <br />another potential mall site from being designated as long as <br />adequate safeguards are put in place to keep the land from being <br />used for other commercial purposes than a regional mall. <br />Commissioner Scurlock asked about the county's inventory of <br />existing vacant commercial property, and Director Keating advised <br />that in the 12 existing commercial nodes, and this doesn't <br />include the large comnerci*al/i-ndustrial-nodes along the inter- <br />state, there' -are 679 acres designated as commercial and of that <br />305 acres presently are vacant and some that are not vacant are - <br />in non-conforming'uses. Overall countywide, it was determined <br />that while there is plenty of commerci.ally designated land to' <br />accommodate the needs for the next 20 years, it is not available <br />in large enough parcels to accommodate a regional mall. <br />Commissioner Scurlock noted that, therefore, the question is <br />not whether or not there is sufficient space to accommodate <br />retail commercial, but whether or not you want a mall site. <br />�I <br />SEP Z 31 <br />