Chapter 3: Land Use and Zoning Issues
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Current Land Use Pattern
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Table 14
Land Use by Area
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| According to 2000 data, approximately 93 percent of the land area in Mayfield Heights, about 2,578 acres, had been developed. Existing land use patterns in the City are summarized in Table 14 and illustrated in Map 5. Residential uses are the most prevalent in the City as 58 percent of the land area (roughly 1,600 acres) is occupied by residential development, most of which is located to the west of the I-271 corridor. Nearly one-third of the City’s land in residential use is represented by multi-family housing units, with the remaining two-thirds represented by single-family housing units. |
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Land Use
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Total Acres
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% of Total Acres
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Residential
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Single/Two Family
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1,052
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39.3%
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Multi-family (3+ units per acre)
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509
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19.0%
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Park/Open Space
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39
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1.5%
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Total Residential
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1,600
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59.7%
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Commercial
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Retail
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342
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12.8%
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Office
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529
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19.7%
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Total Commercial
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871
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32.5%
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Cemetery
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208
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7.8%
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TOTAL ACRES
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2,679
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100.0%
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Source: D.B. Hartt, Inc. analysis.
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| Commercial land uses occupy 33 percent of the remaining land area in the City (nearly 900 acres), with retail uses located around the Mayfield Rd./Interstate 271 intersection and along Mayfield Rd. (representing 13 percent of the City’s overall available land). Office uses are located primarily in the office parks in the City’s southwest corner adjacent to the Brainard Rd. intersection at Interstate 271 (and represents nearly 20 percent of the City’s land area). A cemetery, totaling about 200 acres, represents the final 8 percent of land area in the City. Nearly all of the remaining vacant land left in the community is located in residential zoning districts with the exception of a few small parcels in the office parks. |
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Map 5
City of Mayfield Heights Land Use Map
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Current Zoning
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| Table 15 summarizes the zoning districts currently detailed in the City of Mayfield Heights Zoning Code, and Map 5 illustrates the arrangement and extent of the various zoning districts. A detailed summary of the permitted uses and development standards of all of the zoning districts can be found in Appendix B. |
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Table 15
Summary of Current Zoning District Regulations
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Zoning District
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Total Acres in District
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Classification
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Minimum Lot Size
and/or Minimum Project Size
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Zoned Density
(units per acre)
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U-1(1)
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804
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Single Family
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8,500
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5.12 units
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U-1(2)
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223
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Single Family
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40,000
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1.09 units
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U-1 (Estate)
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61
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Single Family
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20,000
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2.18 units
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U-2
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13
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Two-Family
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8,500 SF
5,000 TF per unit
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5.12 units SF
8.7 units TF
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U-2(a)
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0
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Planned Unit Development
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None
40 acres (min. project)
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3.5 units max.
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U-2(a)(1)
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113
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Planned Unit Development
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None
3 acres (min. project)
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4.75 units max.
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U-3
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211
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Garden Apt.
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8,500 SF
5,000 TF per unit
2,904 MF per unit
3 acres (min. project)
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15 units max.
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U-3(1)
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7
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Garden Apt.
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None
3 acres (min. project)
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15 units max.
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U-3(a)
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84
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Medium High Rise
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1,351 MF per unit
12 acres (min. project)
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32 units max.
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U-3(b)
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74
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High Rise
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800 MF per unit
20 acres (min. project)
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54 units max.
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U-3(c)
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21
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Senior Care
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1,351 MF per unit
12 acres (min. project)
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32 units max.
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U-4
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205
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Local Retail
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None
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Not applicable
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U-4(a)
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147
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Devpt. Dist.
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None
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Not applicable
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U-4(b)
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14
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Planned Office
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None
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Not applicable
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U-6
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208
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Cemetery
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None
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Not applicable
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U-7
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456
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HQ Office/Exec. Off. Park
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45 acres gross site area
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Not applicable
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U-8
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59
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Office, Medical, Research
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None
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Not applicable
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TOTAL
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2,690 acres
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Map 6
City of Mayfield Heights Zoning Map
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The City would benefit from a comprehensive review of its zoning regulations to achieve, at minimum, a general updating and streamlining of the regulations. Overall, the organization of the regulations could be enhanced to be more user-friendly. More significantly, the City could better manage its land resources by considering a consolidation of some of the sub-districts and revisions to the current land resources. Key areas to evaluate as part of the zoning review include:
- Districts: Zoning districts should match the type of development desired for sub-areas. Each district should have a purpose statement indicating why the district has been created. Purpose statements help to facilitate understanding of the intent of the regulations, and can often point to changes that may be desirable. Additionally, the multiplicity of sub-districts should be evaluated to determine their continuing relevance. It is possible that some such sub-districts, especially in residential districts, might not be substantively different from others and could be eliminated, or might be sufficiently different as to warrant the creation of a separate district.
- Standards: Development standards, i.e. the regulations that guide the form and density of development, should be updated where needed to reflect current market conditions or needed adjustments for flexibility.
- Amenities: Desired amenities such as landscaping and quality design should be strengthened.
- Parking and Other Requirements: Parking is a key area that should be reviewed to assure the adequacy of the current requirements given today’s market conditions and driving behavior. Fencing, lighting and similar strategies should be enhanced to protect residential areas from further encroachment by commercial developments—this is a key area of focus for Mayfield Heights.
- Process: Provisions relating to design and development review procedures should be explicit and adequate to provide for the quality of development desired. Recent zoning codes tend to provide for a consolidation of development review procedures in one section to improve the clarity of the regulations and to make the regulations more user-friendly.
In addition to reviewing the adequacy of the existing regulations for current conditions, the City should consider new provisions for its zoning code that would implement the major recommendations of this Master Plan (discussed later in Chapter 6, Implementation Strategies). Several areas could be rezoned to support new development priorities, and expanded requirements for landscaping and related provisions should be integrated to entice the quality and type of development desired.
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