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Alternatively, the City Council may consider alternative approaches, including an <br /> outright prohibition on ground-floor residential in some or all of the commercial and <br /> mixed-use districts, or within other defined areas, such as properties within the active <br /> ground-floor overlay. Regardless of the City Council's direction, staff strongly <br /> recommends that clarification be included in the Specific Plan that "ground-floor <br /> residential uses" does not preclude required on-site parking for otherwise permitted <br /> residential units (e.g., the garage for upper-floor residential). <br /> Street-Fronting Residential Entries <br /> Staff recommends following the Task Force's direction to allow street-fronting residential <br /> entries, subject to the provision of the revised Policy LD-P.18 that such entries be of <br /> minimal width and designed and integrated in a way that maintains a predominantly <br /> commercial building frontage on the subject property. <br /> Right-to-do-Business Ordinance <br /> Finally, staff notes the Task Force's direction to require the City to adopt a "right-to-do <br /> business" ordinance, following the approach taken by the City of Livermore for their <br /> downtown. Having reviewed Livermore's ordinance, which has relatively complex and <br /> onerous requirements, staff suggests the updated DSP allow for additional flexibility in <br /> how the City could address the concern about conflicts between residential and <br /> commercial uses. One possible approach is to include a condition of approval for <br /> residential projects, requiring a disclosure statement or covenant regarding potential <br /> noise and activity impacts associated with downtown locations. The City has included <br /> such requirements in at least six recent downtown projects, including residential/mixed <br /> use projects at 273 Spring Street, 225 Angela Street, 4791 Augustine Street, and 520 <br /> St. John Street, among others. <br /> 4. Land Use Discrepancies/Property Owner-Initiated Land Use Changes <br /> Background <br /> Land Use Discrepancies <br /> There are a number of properties within the downtown (more than 170 parcels) with <br /> existing inconsistencies or discrepancies between their General Plan designation, <br /> Specific Plan designation, and zoning. By law, all three of these documents are required <br /> to be consistent and aligned. As such, the Specific Plan update process framed how the <br /> discrepancies should be addressed, with a two-pronged approach: <br /> • For properties where the changes are relatively straightforward (e.g., not <br /> resulting in major changes to use, allowable density, or development standards), <br /> the amendments are proposed to be adopted at the same time as DSP update is <br /> adopted. These properties are included on a "Map A" of the draft DSP. <br /> • For properties where changes are more complex or would have more substantial <br /> effects on allowable development, there will be a process of further study and <br /> property owner/neighborhood outreach to those affected before any amendments <br /> are made. These properties are included on a "Map B" of the draft DSP. <br /> Page 8 of 15 <br />