AgdaPkt 2011-06-13 - Laserfiche WebLink

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7.A. - Page 1 To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From the City Manager J u ne 13, 2011 SUBJECT Zoning Ordinance Amendments Establishing the Mixed Use Corridor Zoning District RECOMMENDATION Hold Public Hearing and introduce an Ordinance, which amends Article 53 of the Zoning Code to establish the "Mixed Use Corridor Zoning District", and which makes associated revisions throughout the Zoning Code (Attachment 1) BAC KG RO U N D Implementation of the new General Plan, adopted on October 11, 2010, is now under way. The first implementation action, the adoption of the Downtown Precise Plan, was taken by the Council in January. This implemented the "Mixed Use — Downtown" land use designation from the Built Environment Element. Currently, the Planning Division is in the process of creating additional new zoning where warranted by the General Plan. This will occur in phases as resources permit. The next land use designation to receive implementing zoning is "Mixed Use — Corridor." This land use designation is applied along segments of major streets which are lined primarily with commercial and retail uses. Specifically, this change will affect stretches of EI Camino Real, Veterans Boulevard, and Broadway, as well as small portions of adjacent side streets. While these corridors are currently predominately automobile-oriented with limited provisions for pedestrians and bicyclists, the General Plan envisions the corridors transformed into mixed-use, multimodal environments which not only function well as automobile routes, but are also hospitable to pedestrians and other users. Mixed Use Corridors will contribute to a more compact pattern of development where it makes the most sense, and provide for graceful transitions to adjacent residential areas. The staff and consultant team has prepared the Mixed Use Corridor Zoning District Ordinance based on previous planning work as well as strong public feedback. The foundation of the ordinance was provided by the vision for this land use type as outlined in the new General Plan. The recently adopted Downtown Precise Plan also offered lessons for dealing with regulations for a similar, albeit more urban, pedestrian-oriented setting. In addition, a study session was held with the Planning Commission in February in order to obtain direction on very specific aspects of the land use regulations which were not fully refined in the General Plan. Furthermore, public input has been sought throughout this process and actually commenced during the in-depth outreach for the new General Plan some time ago. During the development of the General Plan, the basic standards for the Mixed Use Corridor General Plan land use designation were