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5.0 OVERVIEW OF PROPOSED AMENDMENT: 5.1 Prior to establishing the PUD in 1999, zoning on the property was B-1; the high-tech laboratory and limited retail sales permitted in the PUD agreement are conditionally permitted uses in the B-1 district. Added flexibility of building and site design seems to have been a significant reason that the 1999 application was for a PUD rather than a Conditional Use Permit which would have allowed the desired uses on the property without the site plan flexibility. In fact, nearly all of the comments in the public record pertaining to the review and approval of the original PUD were related to the size of the proposed structure and the overall layout of the site; any concerns over the uses on the property were quickly revealed to be, at their core, concerns over site development. 5.2 The tenant space adjacent to Lexington Avenue has been vacant for two or more years, this is no doubt due in part to the restrictive nature of the existing PUD agreement. Planning Division staff believes that the surrounding area would benefit more from a flexible PUD agreement that allows a greater variety of low-impact uses than a persistent vacancy in such a visible location. 5.3 The antiques/handicrafts/gifts sales permitted in the existing PUD represent quiet, low- traffic retailers, and accommodated the specific retail tenant that occupied space in the building after its expansion. Because there is no practical difference between a small antique dealer and any other office or retail use that generates a small amount of customer traffic, Planning Division staff has determined that any such use with a similar intensity would be equally appropriate in that location and could be permitted in an amended PUD. 5.4 The current request is for a book store that sells predominantly used books. Melissa Olson owns The Bookshop, which is currently housed in the Har Mar Mall, and the proposed PUD amendment would allow her to relocate her business into the building at 1940 Lexington Avenue. According to Ms. Olson, The Bookshop currently sees an average of about 30 customers per day, and she anticipates equivalent customer traffic in the new location. Given the nature of her store, Ms. Olson expects that the customer traffic would never exceed 45 people per day. Planning Division staff believes that this level of customer traffic is consistent with the kind of gift shop that is already permitted in the PUD. 5.5 The PUD Amendment request also identifies the future possibility of incorporating a small cafe/coffee shop as an amenity for customers of The Bookshop. With appropriate limitations on the size and scope of such a cafe, Planning Division staff believes that it may be compatible with the PUD and other uses in the surrounding area. 5.6 Rather than amending the existing PUD to permit only the one or two proposed additional uses, Planning Division staff believes that the amendment should be broadened to include other retail and office uses of a similar intensity to what is allowed in the existing PUD; this will eliminate the need to amend the PUD each time a new, equivalent tenant seeks to move into the building. This would also allow for greater marketability of the property which should help to minimize the amount of time a tenant space remains vacant during times of turnover. 5.7 The following table identifies the land uses that are allowed in the underlying B-1 District and allowed in the existingPUD (in normal type), land uses that are allowed in PF07-O50 RPCA 090507 Page 2 of 4 � �-�,