AgdaPkt 2010-10-11 - Laserfiche WebLink

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7.A ' ' nt 6c - HOGS E-IRELAND 1.1�. -- A Land_Planning&Development Consulting Firm MEMO Date: October 4, 2010 To: Tom Passanisi, Principal Planner Copy: Chu Chang, Director Building, Infrastructure &Transportation Department Jill Ekas, Director Planning, Housing & Economic Development Department From: Hogle-Ireland, Inc., in conjunction with General Plan team members including but not limited to: Fehr and Peers, CirclePoint, and City staff Subject: Proposed Streetcar Line Additional Information Streetcars fill an important link in the transportation system, and have proven to be a great stimulus for walkable and sustainable development in cities around the country.The potential for a streetcar network is included in the New General Plan to further the City's mobility and livability goals, consistent with direction received from both the City Council and broad-based community input.Three corridors are identified in the New General Plan as potential locations that could support streetcar lines: Broadway,Middlefield Road,and Seaport Boulevard. Each of these corridors presents opportunities to provide additional transit options in conjunction with increases in employment and/or housing concentrations. Broadway and Middlefield were selected as streetcar corridors because they would connect existing and future high density neighborhoods to each other and to major activity centers such as Downtown and the Caltrain Station.The Seaport Corridor was selected because it would connect the proposed ferry and employment concentrations along Seaport Boulevard,the Port, Downtown, and the Caltrain Station.The New General Plan takes the first step towards a streetcar system for Redwood City by including an implementation measure to complete a feasibility study to fully understand costs, specific route locations, constraints, and benefits of a streetcar system in our City. Prior to implementation and construction, the streetcar system would also be subject to its own comprehensive environmental review. Staff and the New General Plan team have received and considered multiple comments regarding the streetcar system proposed in the New General Plan. Many participants throughout the New General Plan drafting process spoke in favor of the streetcar system as a viable circulator providing increased mobility options for Redwood City residents and workers. Some recent comments received by the New General Plan team focused on the Seaport Boulevard line. Further clarification and background information on that line is presented below. The New General Plan provides for increased intensities at particular locations along the proposed Seaport Boulevard streetcar line. Specifically, increased intensities are proposed via the new Commercial-Office Professional/Technology designation at both Seaport Center and Pacific Shores. Current zoning allows for 0.4 floor/area ratio (FAR) at both of these major employment centers; the New General Plan increases that allowance up to 1.00 FAR.With these increased allowances,substantial opportunities are presented for infill commercial employment development that would be possible with reconfiguration of parking into structured formats. h tt 2U p.. ;y,t]U't-:}.] (.ia.}fe 'Ac'citue, ;tt]t %�3 11.31 h,,1.:t t]s1. �{ '� .t.I.I;}1 „e ..,_ .: 111'• 11+lt+'j:�12 ii.111 CI 6 T ,ri