AgdaPkt 2019-03-11 Joint SA PFA - Laserfiche WebLink

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Elements and Strategies for Preserving Neighborhoods in R1 and RH (Hillside) Areas of Redwood City A great number of single-family residential areas are now experiencing development and rebuild trends seen elsewhere in the Bay Area that over time pose a cumulative, long term adverse impact to some of the most desirable attributes of Redwood City's historic, affordable, and architecturally significant areas. A good number of our community view the trend towards larger, anomalous, and poorly designed replacement homes with alarm, due to the impacts on privacy, character, affordability, and increased speculation that dramatically drives up prices. In addition, the city has lagged behind others in considering and adopting effective residential development guidelines, compatibility criteria, and application review and noticing procedures. To meet these impending challenges, while affording property owners with an ability to improve upon older housing stock and reasonably meet the space and usability needs of modern families, the city needs to move expeditiously to augment policies and implementation as follows: 1. Look to the General Plan Most believe the current 2010 General Plan provides a sufficient basis for the following improvements in implementation. That is not to say that certain policies might not also be re-evaluated and strengthened in correlation with updates in implementation. The 2010 General Plan has been the "hook" that the public and the Planning Commission has recently cited as grounds for appealing applications for "too -large" homes that are also stylistically non -conforming the the existing neighborhood. However, while the General Plan clearly outlines the goals of the City (preservation of neighborhood character and historic resources), the City has failed to follow up the General Plan with more specific guidelines and zoning changes. 2. Develop Core Principles and Design Standards for Universal Application Redwood City has to date not adopted official residential development guidelines. An interim set of guidelines focused on architectural compatibility was approved recently. However, there is an argument that core design principles would be of benefit regardless of whether a particular neighborhood setting or interests compels consideration of compatible design with prevalent architectural styles and home sizes. Core principles could be developed based on comparisons with those of other cities, architects, the city's architectural advisory committee, and the public to guard against bulky, poorly considered designs, to achieve an acceptable level of adherence to a particular style if modeled on a well-defined model, and to ensure appropriate articulation of massing and proportions. City staff and Council has already been provided with a copy of the Design Guidelines adopted by the City of Burlingame when faced with many of the same issues a few years ago. There is no need to "reinvent the wheel", and by