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center) shall be occupied by buildings. Section 1006.02.B. states that the floor area to lot area ratio cannot exceed .5 (50%). Both of the requirements were part of the original City Ordinances rrom 1959 and were more likely adopted as a method of reducing the impact of the buildings and their associated activities on existing, adjoining properties and street systems. In 1959, there were very few perfonnance standards to mitigate the size, shape, materials, location, light, noise, and traffic for retail development. Space (large lots) and distance (separation of buildings) were used as the primary substitute. 2.3 Staffhas interpreted Section 1006.02.C. of the City Code as follows: Building Coverage: Not more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the shopping center master planned lot area shall be occupied by the building footprint. To staff this suggests that it includes the area within the exterior walls of all commercial buildings, not parking ramps. The "Master Planned" lot area includes the main structure, all outlots, non-buildable pond, landscaping, setback, and buffer areas; all principle commercial structures or accessory structures; and accessory parking and parking structures within the legal description( s) ofthe site. The lot area must be defined within a boundary survey completed by a state registered land surveyor. The boundary survey must also include the square footage of all building footprints and the lot area in square footage. In 2002, the Council detennined that only lot area directly usable for the shopping center and its outbuildings is to be included as developable, but left unchanged the provision that only 25% ofthe land may be built upon - this is the building coverage requirement; the easements, exceptions, or road right-of-way dedications are not to be considered part of developable lot area - shrinking the lot size. 2.4 According to Section 1006, only 25% ofthe site may be built upon (building coverage), to a height of two stories above grade, and no more than 35 feet in height with a basement, and the total building square footage cannot exceed 50% of the lot area (FAR). 2.5 Given the new ordinances (2000) and the Council's definition for lot area, it has been difficult to find a universal interpretation of percent building coverage and floor area ratio (FAR) unless certain exceptions or interpretations are made. 3.0 CODE INTERPRETATIONS Staff prepared a series of calculations that demonstrate how building coverage and floor area ratios (FAR) affects all buildings within the shopping center districts. See the attached charts. 3, 1 FAR: The FAR requirement would allow a shopping center to construct building square footage equal to 50% of the lot area. This means that a one-story shopping center covering the maximum of 25% of the lot area could add an entire second level. The maximum height requirement is limited to two stories above grade or 35 feet in height above grade with a basement. (Section 1006.02.D.) When the Council adopted a new definition for land coverage, the FAR was inadvertently reduced on each site. 3.2 Coverage Irregularities: By using the City GIS system as a measurement basis (not 2