CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Pass the ordinance approving variances for a private gym and lacrosse training facility for the property located at 655 N. Washington Street (Jax Lax) - DEV-0170-2025
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DEPARTMENT: Transportation, Engineering and Development
SUBMITTED BY: Anna Franco, AICP, Community Planner
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
The Planning and Zoning Commission conducted the public hearing regarding DEV-0170-2025 on April 15, 2026, and recommended approval of the petitioner’s request (approved 6-0). Staff concurs.
BACKGROUND:
The subject property is approximately 0.28-acres (12,500 square feet) and is located on the west side of Washington Street between 7th and 8th Avenue. The property is zoned B3 General Commercial District and is improved with a 6,405 square foot, 1-story, vacant building, previously used as an auto body shop, and a gravel parking and outdoor storage area. Adjacent uses include a multi-tenant office building to the south, which shares a wall with the building on the subject property, single-family residential across the public alley to the west, an auto shop and U-Haul facility to the north, and retail and multi-family uses across Washington Street to the east.
DISCUSSION:
The petitioner and property owner, Throw Me a Bone, LLC, requests approval of a variance to the minimum parking facility setback and minimum number of required off-street parking spaces to renovate the vacant building for a private gym and lacrosse training facility and construct a paved parking area adjacent to the building.
The proposed parking area will be located directly north of the existing building on the property and will replace the current gravel surface and fenced outdoor storage area on the property. Due to the limited width between the existing building and the north property line, the petitioner is proposing a one-way drive aisle with angled parking. The one-way drive aisle will provide vehicular access onto the subject property from Washington Street and egress onto the alley at the rear of the property. A landscape island is proposed on the east side of the parking area to provide a barrier between the proposed parking spaces and the public sidewalk along Washington Street and a 6” curb and fence will provide a barrier between the parking area on the subject property and the parking area on the U-Haul property to the north.
Parking Facility Setback Variance
The petitioner is requesting approval of a variance to decrease the required 5-foot minimum parking facility setback along the north property line to 0 feet. Per Municipal Code Section 6-9-2:4.3.2 (Off Street Parking Facilities), parking facilities where permitted shall not be located within 5 feet of any property line except in the case of combined parking facilities. The proposed parking area on the subject property is not combined with the parking facility on the property to the north and therefore the 5-foot setback is required.
Findings of Fact
Staff is supportive of the proposed parking setback variance as inadequate width is available on the property to provide both the required setback and the required parking spaces. Further, the proposal brings the property more into compliance by providing a paved surface for the parking area and by providing an ADA accessible space. The petitioner’s responses to the Standards for Granting a Zoning Variance are attached. Upon review, the Planning and Zoning Commission and staff agree with the petitioner’s findings and recommend their adoption by the City Council.
Parking Space Variance
The petitioner is also requesting approval of a parking variance to reduce the minimum number of parking spaces required for a “fitness facility” use. Per Municipal Code Section 6-9-3:6, a fitness facility is required to provide 4 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area. The existing building is 6,405 gross square feet and therefore 26 parking spaces are required. The petitioner is providing 9 spaces (including one ADA parking space), which is 17 spaces short of the minimum requirement.
Due to the private nature of the gym and lacrosse facility, the petitioner says that the facility will have limited parking needs. On weekdays before 5:00 p.m., the building will host 2 to 3 personal trainers and clients, and in the evenings, the building will be used by the petitioner and his son to train for lacrosse. The petitioner estimates that no more than 6 vehicles will be parked on the property during the weekdays. On weekends, the petitioner estimates that a maximum of 8 vehicles could be parked on the property due to overlap between gym clients and lacrosse training in the early morning hours.
Findings of Fact
Based on the projected parking demand outlined by the petitioner, staff believes the provision of 9 parking spaces is sufficient to meet the demand of the private gym and lacrosse facility as described by the petitioner and supports the request. The petitioner’s responses to the Standards for Granting a Zoning Variance are attached. Upon review, the Planning and Zoning Commission and staff agree with the petitioner’s findings and recommend their adoption by the City Council subject to the following condition:
• If the City’s Zoning Administrator determines that the private gym and lacrosse facility’s parking needs cannot be accommodated with the parking on the subject property, the Petitioner shall take adequate measures to meet the parking needs of said facility, including but not limited to limiting business hours of operation, altering the number of employees or other business operations, constructing additional parking spaces, and/or establishing an overflow parking location off-site as necessary, which shall be subject to the review and approval of the Zoning Administrator. Failure to timely take adequate measures to accommodate the facility’s parking needs may result in the City’s revocation of the parking variance.
Based on the discussion at the PZC hearing, staff included the following additional condition in the attached ordinance approving this variance to limit the parking variance approval to the proposed business:
• The variance shall not run with the land, but is granted solely to Throw Me a Bone LLC and shall not be transferrable to any other individual or entity, including but not limited to future owners, lessees, assignees, or other series of Throw Me a Bone LLC.
Exterior Building Modifications
In addition to the construction of the paved parking area and interior renovations, the petitioner is proposing several changes to the exterior building façade that will change the overall look of the building. The existing building is currently composed of brick on the front façade facing Washington Street and cinder block on the north and west facing facades (the south facade is a shared wall). According to the petitioner’s architect, the existing brick façade is over 70 years old and has been poorly maintained.
To provide consistent treatment on all façades of the building and to meet minimum insulation requirements, the petitioner is proposing to install dark gray hardie board siding on the exterior of the building. The petitioner is also proposing to remove the two garage doors at the front of the building and replace them with an entry door and new windows. All but two of the windows on the north facing facade will be removed and filled and the remaining windows will be replaced.
Staff finds that the proposed exterior building modifications are consistent with the intent of the Citywide Building Design Guidelines and will improve the appearance of a currently vacant and dilapidated building.
Planning and Zoning Commission Action
The Planning and Zoning Commission conducted the public hearing to consider the variances requested with DEV-0170-2025 at the April 15, 2026 meeting. During the public hearing, the petitioner provided the PZC with an overview of the proposed uses of the property, which included using the rear portion of the building to play lacrosse with his son and using the front 1,500 square feet of the building as a private gym for one personal trainer to conduct one-on-one training with clients.
Following the petitioner’s presentation, the Commission referenced written public comment received from a nearby resident expressing concerns that the variance would result in overflow parking on adjacent residential streets and asked staff to confirm hourly parking restrictions on nearby streets. The Commission also asked the petitioner about potential changes to the business model and future parking demand in relation to the requested parking variance. Further, the Commission asked staff about mechanisms in place to prevent future property owners from violating parking restrictions. In light of the petitioner’s presentation, and the limited uses of the property he described, the PZC indicated that their concerns with the proposed reduction in parking spaces from 26 to 9 had been alleviated. The Commission provided positive remarks about the petition due to the long vacant status of the property, closed the public hearing, and voted to recommend approval of the petitioner’s request (approved 6-0). Staff has included an additional condition in the proposed ordinance to limit the parking variance approval to the proposed business consistent with the PZC’s discussion.
Key Takeaways
• The petitioner requests a variance to decrease the required 5-foot minimum parking setback to 0 feet along the north property line and a variance to reduce the required minimum number of parking spaces on the subject property from 26 spaces to 9 spaces.
• The Planning and Zoning Commission and Staff are in support of these requests subject to the conditions of approval noted above.
FISCAL IMPACT
N/A