AgdaPkt 2016-01-11 Closed and Joint SA PFA

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8.A. - Page 1 REPORT To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From the City Manager January 11 , 2016 SUBJECT Professional Services Agreement with Dyett & Bhatia for the preparation of the El Camino Real Corridor Plan RECOMMENDATION By motion, approve and authorize the City Manager to execute the Professional Services Agreement with Dyett & Bhatia for the preparation of the El Camino Real Corridor Plan in the total amount of $195,604. BACKGROUND El Camino Real serves as a critical arterial in Redwood City, connecting communities from San Francisco to San Jose. Over time, the corridor has evolved into an auto- oriented thoroughfare with inconsistent facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists, businesses, and residents. Given its regional prominence and common issues, the Grand Boulevard Initiative (GBI) was developed to achieve a shared vision that links transportation and land use. It is a collaboration of the 19 cities and two counties who have jurisdiction within the corridor to rethink the corridor's potential for housing and urban development, balancing the need for cars and parking with viable options for transit, walking, and biking. The City's General Plan includes a number of goals and policies which call for transforming "the El Camino Real Corridor into a "Grand Boulevard". In 2011 and 2013, the City rezoned sections of the corridor to Mixed Use Corridor - El Camino Real (MUC- ECR) and Mixed Use Neighborhood (MUN), consistent with the General Plan's principles. In 2015, staff initiated a Request for Proposals (RFP) process for the preparation of an El Camino Real Corridor Plan. The planning process would begin with community outreach and input. As an initial goal, the corridor plan would evaluate and consolidate the recently-rezoned areas into a cohesive plan for the entire corridor, look for affordable housing opportunities, incorporate the community benefits program (Partnership Redwood City) recently adopted by Council and focus on small business preservation. In addition, the plan would build upon the existing zoning framework to provide more certainty for residents, business owners, property owners and developers. In particular, the plan could contain: