Staff recommends that the City Council waive the reading of the full text of the Ordinance, conduct the second reading of the title of the proposed Ordinance, and adopt the Ordinance approving AT-23-004 to amend Title 18, Zoning, to establish objective development standards and related updates for consistency.

The City Council held a public hearing and introduced the Ordinance at its September 12, 2023, meeting on a 4-0 vote. See Attachment 1, Exhibit A and Exhibit B (Redline version), for the Zoning Text amendment language.

This agenda item is in alignment with the following:

Goal C, Strategy 5: Promote housing development for all income levels in the community by updating the zoning ordinance to include objective standards for new multi-family residential development in order to streamline the review of applications for housing developments, and update the Housing Element, to facilitate the development of affordable housing.

Goal C. Strategy 15: Continue to review development permitting processes to streamline service and improve efficiency and develop a communication plan to disseminate modifications to staff and customers.

At its September 12, 2023, meeting, the City Council introduced an Ordinance approving a Zoning Text Amendment (AT-23-004) to establish objective development standards and related updates for consistency. A second reading of the ordinance is required for the zoning amendments to be adopted.

For a more detailed overview of the prior action, see the September 12, 2023, City Council agenda item.

See below for a summary of the proposed amendments:

General Development Regulations (Chapter 18.24):  A new section (18.24.050: Building and site design standards) establishes the objective development standards. This includes standards for entrances, roofs, building articulation, façade design, windows, tenant spaces, amenities, vehicular and bicycle parking design and placement, open space, and pedestrian circulation. 

Definitions (Chapter 18.08): Amendments to Chapter 18.08 include adding definitions for terminology used in Chapter 18.24 to better clarify and codify certain design specific terms and through figures depicting architectural features.

Zoning District Chapters: Amendments to individual zoning district chapters for districts that allow mixed-use or multi-family residential uses are included for consistency with the new objective development standards in Chapter 18.24 or the Housing Element: 

• Chapter 18.26 Marketplace Mixed Use (MMU) District
• Chapter 18.27 Village Mixed Use (VMU) District
• Chapter 18.32 Residential Districts (Housing Element program HE-1.I Implementation)
• Chapter 18.35 Corridor Mixed Use Commercial (CMU) District
• Chapter 18.37 Station East Mixed Use Residential (SEMU-R) District
• Chapter 18.38 Station Mixed Use Commercial (CSMU) District
• Chapter 18.100 511 Area District 

Off-Street Parking and Loading (Chapter 18.28): Amendments are included to establish new citywide bicycle parking standards for short-term and long-term parking.

Miscellaneous Amendments (Chapters 18.04 and 18.36): Amendments to Chapter 18.04 General Provisions and Chapter 18.36 Commercial Districts are included for consistency with the objective development standards amendments.

No fiscal impacts to the General Fund would result from adoption of the proposed zoning text amendments. The Objective Standards Project is funded under the SB2 Planning Grants Program. Proceeds from this grant covered both consultant costs as well as staff time to prepare the objective standards and related text amendments.

Staff recommends that the City Council waive the reading of the full text of the Ordinance, conduct the second reading of the title of the proposed Ordinance, and adopt the Ordinance approving AT-23-004 to amend Title 18, Zoning, to establish objective development standards and related updates for consistency.