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9.B. - Page 2 <br /> Additional Downtown Precise Plan and Maximum Allowable Development Background <br /> The Downtown Precise Plan (DTPP) was formally adopted by the City Council on <br /> January 24, 2011 and amended on July 22, 2013. The DTPP area consists of <br /> approximately 183-acres within the City's historic center. This plan was established to <br /> "orchestrate private and public investment actions in the Downtown". In the short time <br /> since adoption, it has become quite apparent that the DTPP is a successful planning <br /> document. There have been a total of ten (10) projects approved since adoption, and <br /> six (6) additional projects are currently proposed. In total, over 1,200 housing units and <br /> 300,000 square feet of office and retail development have been recently completed or <br /> are under construction, with additional units and office space approved or proposed. <br /> The DTPP has the authority of the Zoning Code, and includes development regulations <br /> such as use process details, historic regulations, building and landscape placement <br /> regulations, parking requirements, architectural guidelines and regulations, signage <br /> regulations and other related details. While dwelling units and floor area ratio are not <br /> restricted on a site-by-site basis, the DTPP does establish the Maximum Allowable <br /> Development (MAD) permitted for the DTPP area as a whole. <br /> As shown in the chart above, DTPP establishes the MAD for the entire DTPP area in <br /> the following amounts for the following categories of development: 2,500 residential <br /> dwelling units; 500,000 square feet ("SF") of office space; 100,000 SF of retail space; <br /> and 200 lodging (hotel) rooms (see table on page 4). The MAD allocation numbers were <br /> primarily based on economic conditions at the time. Similar numbers are also reflected <br /> in the City's General Plan. At the time the City adopted the DTPP, it also evaluated the <br /> potential environmental impacts from implementation of the DTPP, based on the MAD <br /> levels described above, as required by the California Environmental Quality Act <br /> ("CEQA"). By certifying the Downtown Precise Plan Environmental Impact Report <br /> ("DTPP EIR"), the City Council ensured that future development in the DTPP area <br /> would not require further environmental review under CEQA, provided that such future <br /> development was consistent with the MAD levels and other requirements of the DTPP. <br /> It is important to note that MAD limitations are building permit maximums, not zoning <br /> (planning stage) maximums. This can be problematic for applicants when a number of <br /> planning applications are submitted at approximately the same time. This occurred with <br /> the most recent phase of office development applications. <br /> The DTPP requires that City staff report back to the Council when the 80% threshold is <br /> reached for MAD development in any category. Although the 80% threshold has not <br /> technically been reached for any category (because building permits have not been <br /> issued for several office projects currently under planning review), the threshold for the <br /> office category is projected to be reached in 2015 if several of the pending projects are <br /> entitled. In fact, the total square footage associated with the all the pending office <br />