AgdaPkt 2010-05-24 special, clsd and jnt

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7.A Paae 1 REPORT To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From the City Manager May 24, 2010 SUBJECT Zoning Text Amendment for the Central Business Retail (CBR) Zoning District RECOMMENDATION Introduce an Ordinance amending Article 26 of the Redwood City Zoning Code to allow for ground floor office uses as permitted uses in the CBR Zoning District. BACKGROUND The Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PH&ED} Department is cusiness develo ing a range of strategies to address challenges facing the downtown bu p communit as a result of the on-going economic downturn. Initiatives include rhvch will Y to the Storefront Improvement Program and other types of business supop the next few be forthcoming for consideration by the City Council over ahe of ur articular concern, months. Long-term vacancies of downtown bu~tel blocks in andpnear the center of especially those on the ground floor of highly vis~ress that has been made toward town. These vacancies detract from the prog revitalizin downtown and can leave the impression that downtown is stalledears.n 9 thou h a number of new businesses have come into downtown over the last few y 9 December 2009, the Downtown Business Group (DBG} requested, in a letter t flooe In Ci 's Zoning Administrator, reconsideration of the zoning provisions for grog Central land uses within the retail core of the City as defined by the boundaries of th Business Retail (CBR} Zoning District. The DBG specifically requested provision strict would allow office uses on the ground floor of buildings within portions of tSis re aced Since that time, staff has studied options for addressing the request anPlan~ and 2 a res onses on two tracks: 1 } the Draft Revised Downtown Precise of his p revision to the CBR Zoning regulations, which constitute the purpose and conten item before the City Council (Attachment 1). Provisions allowing office uses on the ground floor throughout much of downtown dVraft the exception of Broadway and Theatre Way) are included ~n the revinePrecise Downtown Precise Plan. Council recently considered the revised) months before the Plan during a status report in March. Give that ita d because the current downtown Downtown Precise Plan can be fully reestabl rn estaff has initiated a relatively modest vacancy situation continues BR re uulat on to address this issue sooner. amendment to the existing C g aff has been tracking ground floor vacancies in the downtown area. The study St confirms that vacancies have persisted throughout the CBR district anhe CBR d stri t about 110,000 square feet of vacant ground floor space exists athenWa as well as overall. For buildings on streets other than Broadway and Th ntl exists on within Sequoia Station), almost 45,000 square feet of vacann the CBR d strict. Refer to the ground floor of about fifteen different tenant space swhellocation of these vacancies summary table and map in Attachment 2 which indicate