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Despite the development incentives and flexibility afforded by the mixed-use zoning and the Peninsula's strong real estate market, the Corridor has not experienced the level of investment and development activity that is occurring in the Downtown. A primary objective of this project is to identify obstacles to realizing the Corridor's development potential and devise approaches that will work in light of these constraints, while delivering the type of benefits the community expects. The City has already recognized some of these challenges, including the proximity of the lower density residential neighborhoods; predominance of small, shallow, and irregularly-shaped sites; and fragmented ownership patterns. Due to its designation as State Route 82, any proposed changes to the design and operation of EI Camino will require approval by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). This means Caltrans's role needs to be defined eariy in the planning process. The Downtown Precise Plan has already recognized the potential that the central pa�t of the Corridor has as a key activity center. It proposes a conceptual design for improvements along EI Camino including traffic improvements, formal rows of trees, widened sidewalks, decorative pedestrian-scaled lighting, and street furniture. Completion of the first phase of these improvements in 2010, along with the development of the Villa Montgomery housing project on EI Camino at Vera, have already contributed to the transformation of this section of the Corridor. Activity centers are more widely dispersed in the rest of the Corridor, where parking lots create a barrier between public sidewalks and buildings. In addition to finding ways ta improve the pedestrian experience along EI Camino Real, the Corridor Plan should also focus an approaches that can facilitate changes to create a western gateway to the Downtown and to improve pedestrian and bicycle connections between the residential neighborhoods to the west, the Caltrain station, and the rest of the Dawntown. The Plan should leverage the Corridor's proximity to the Caitrain station and bus routes along EI Camino and also propose approaches to overcome or, at least minimize, the barrier that EI Camino now creates between the neighborhoods in the western part of the City and the jobs, services, and retail outlets in the Downtown and farther east. The work the Consultant is completing for the City's Public- Private Defined Benefits Program required them to gain a thorough understanding of the community's aspirations as expressed in adopted plans and the current regulations. Consultant also has a firm grasp of local real estate economics and development trends, which will be necessary ta ensure that the proposed plan will be feasible and effective. Consuitant will undertake further examination of the policies and zoning provisions applicable to the project area along with analysis of recent development activity subject to those rules to determine whether changes to the existing General Plan are warranted or current policies provide sufficient flexibility. Moreover, although the form of new development that zoning standards and design guidelines dictate is important to determining whether projects will be sensitive to nearby neighborhoods, the types of uses that are allowed and incentivized by regulations must also be considered. How uses perform and whether they wil! degrade or make a positive contribution by meeting the needs of surrounding residents can often affect neighborhood character as much as the form of devefopment. REV:0$-12-15 VR Page 10 of 21 ATTYlAGR2015.164/Professional Services Agreement with Dyett& Bhatia