2_Exhibits A-C - Laserfiche WebLink

the item may be referred to the Planning Commission, as the advisory body for land use matters, for consideration and recommendation. Alternatively, the Council may recommend use of a more focused, land use-based approach, incorporating one or more of the options considered by the Task Force, such as quantified concentration limits, buffering requirements, or additional land use permitting requirements (such as Planning Commission review of new establishments). 2. Active Ground-Floor Overlay Background The draft DSP includes a newly-defined "Active Ground-Floor Overlay" (Overlay), intended to encourage land uses that activate the street and contribute to a vibrant pedestrian environment. As shown in Attachment 3 (Figure 4-2 of the draft DSP), the Overlay applies to ground floor building spaces fronting Main Street and the newly- created Mixed Use- Downtown district which covers the existing Civic Center area and former SF PUC properties. Ground-floor uses fronting the street within the Overlay would need to be an "active" use. The draft DSP includes a definition that lists such uses including retail. restaurants, art and craft studios, and other uses of similar vibrancy; but excludes uses such as banks, offices, and personal services (e.g., hair salons and massage establishments). The November 2018 draft DSP includes Policy LD-P.16, which allows some limited exceptions to the active use requirement to be granted in the Overlay by the Community Development Director/Zoning Administrator under certain circumstances, including when no similar non-active use was present within the same block. Based on comments received during the November/December outreach process, staff recommended some revisions to policy LD-P.16, including: 1) a notification be provided to the Planning Commission of the Zoning Administrator's decision to grant an exception to the Overlay, similar to other actions taken by the Zoning Administrator/Community Development Director); and 2) an additional exception for existing purpose-built bank buildings, recognizing that several of these buildings had been established in response to a prior City requirement to locate banks downtown and acknowledgment that re-leasing or re-purposing these spaces is more challenging given their often unique design. Additionally, staff recommended that the Overlay not be extended to side streets (perpendicular to Main Street) and recommended the list of active uses continue to exclude personal services, such as hair salons. These types of uses are typically by appointment and do not encourage the "walk-in" traffic desired by the other active ground-floor uses listed in the current active use definition. Staff highlighted that existing businesses and tenant spaces will be "grandfathered", and noted that personal services and can be still be located on the ground-floor on side and parallel streets off Main and on upper-stories within the Overlay. Page 4 of 15 s. It was noted the overall building height in PUD's to be 30-feet which may need to be removed if the goal is to allow additional flexibility in PUDs. Public Comments and Questions The Task Force opened up the meeting to the public. Three members from the public provided comments. One comment noted we should maximize value and volume of use we can get on the land of this downtown (MU-D) area. Construction today tends to have higher plate heights and limited this area to 40-feet will only yield two-stories and really restrict any additional height/floors. However, given the right location and design, the Council may want to allow three-stories in some instances. Another comment agrees with the Task Force recommendation in terms of allowing additional heights so the projects can be reviewed on an individual basis. The final comment requested the note about limiting PUDs to 30-feet be stricken from the DSP to allow additional flexibility especially given modern construction. Summary of February 26, 2019 Downtown Specific Plan Update Task Force Meeting Page 6 of 7 c Plan Update Task Force Meeting Page 5 of 7