AgdaPkt 2014-10-20 Closed and Special Joint with SA_Revised_10_17_2014

Browse Search

8.A. - Page 57 Section 4: Evaluation of Environmental Impacts surrounding the City. The Bay Plan recommends that urban development be clustered, so as to maximize views of the San Francisco Bay and to conserve natural landscape features and maximize shoreline access. The Appearance, Design and Scenic Views Chapter of the Bay Plan contain several policies pertaining to visual quality and aesthetic character (see below). The City is required to comply with the Bay Plan, and these policies will result in a less than significant impact. Policy 1: To enhance the visual quality of development around the Bay and to take maximum advantage of the attractive setting it provides, the shore of the Bay should be developed in accordance with the Public Access Design Guidelines. Policy 2: All Bayfront development should be designed to enhance the pleasure of the user or viewer of the Bay. Maximum efforts should be made to provide, enhance, or preserve views of the Bay and shoreline, especially from public areas, from the Bay itself, and from the opposite shore. To this end, planning of waterfront development should include participation by professionals who are knowledgeable of the Commissions' concerns, such as landscape architects, urban designers, or architects, working in conjunction with engineers and professionals in other fields. Policy 4: Structures and facilities that do not take advantage of or visually complement the Bay should be located and designed so as not to impact visually on the Bay and shoreline. Policy 8: Shoreline development should be built in clusters, leaving open area around them to permit more frequent views of the Bay. Developments along the shores of tributary waters should be Bay - related and should be designed to preserve and enhance views along the waterway, so as to provide maximum visual contact with the Bay. Policy 9: "Unnatural" debris should be removed from sloughs, marshes, and mudflats that are retained as part of the ecological system. Sloughs, marshes, and mudflats should be restored to their former natural state if they have been despoiled by human activities. Policy 14: Views of the Bay from vista points and from roads should be maintained by appropriate arrangements of heights of all development and landscaping between the view areas and the water. In this regard, particular attention should be given to all waterfront locations, areas below vista points, and areas along roads that provide good views of the Bay for travelers, particularly areas below roads coming over ridges and providing a "first view" of the Bay. c) Less than Significant Impact. Future housing development could change the on- and off -site visual character of the area in which it is constructed. Since the City is largely built out, the visual character of the City is urbanized. Regarding the Opportunity Sites associated with the Housing Element, the change will generally be from vacant residential and mixed -use as well as underutilized mixed -use to low -, medium -, and high- density residential and mixed -use development. Future housing development guided by the policies of the proposed Housing Element will be subject to the policies of the General Plan. The Built Environment Element, Urban Form and Land Use Section of the General Plan require the implementation of good design based upon adopted development standards and guidelines. The City aims to protect, maintain, and enhance residential neighborhoods by ensuring that new development complements and reinforces each neighborhood's unique characteristics through sensitive infill and transitions in scale from adjacent centers and corridors. The proposed Housing Element does not include any changes in land use or intensity. Therefore, the adoption of the Housing Element and future housing and mixed -use constructed pursuant to 4 City of Redwood City General Plan. The Built Environment Element, Urban Form and Land Use Section. 2010. 18 Redwood City Housing Element Initial Study