HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-04-14 City Council (11)TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: PLANNING AND
COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT
DATE:
SUBJECT:
APRIL 14, 2003 CMR:234:03
CN DISTRICT REGULATIONS PRESERVING NEIGHBORHOOD-
SERVING USES IN TI-[E MIDTOWN AND CHARLESTON
SHOPPING CENTERS
RECOMMENDATION
Staff and the Planning and Transportation Commission recommend that the City Council:
Introduce the attached ordinance (Attachment A) ma’king permanent previously
adopted interim ordinances promoting neighborhood-serving uses in the Charleston
Center.
2.Introduce the attached ordinance (Attachment B) making permanent previously
adopted interim ordinances promoting neighborhood-serving uses in the Midtown
Shopping District
BACKGROUND
On January 16, 2001, in response to the replacement of neighborhood-serving businesses
with office uses in Midtown and in the Charleston shopping center, the City Council
adopted two urgency interim ordinances limiting new non-neighborhood-serving uses in
those areas. The ordinances established development standards specific to the two
neighborhood centers. The interim ordinances were extended and amended on February
20, 2001 and again on April 23, 2001. The ordinances expired on March 2, 2003, and
could not be extended a third time on an urgency basis.
On March 3, 2003, the City Council adopted interim Ordinance No. 4781 to protect the
Charleston and Midtown areas from the creation of additional ground floor office space,
which would contribute to the current over-supply of office. That interim ordinance
expires on April 17, 2003, and would not protect Charleston and Midtown in the time it
would take for the attached permanent ordinances to take effect. Council is scheduled to
consider the extension of the interim ordinance on the same agenda as this
recommendation.
o- -Paae 1 of 3CMR:.a4:0z ~
Before adoption of the interim ordinances, Charleston shopping center and Midtown were
subject to the development standards of the Neighborhood Commercial (CN) district.
The interim ordinances added supplemental development standards meant to encourage
neighborhood-serving uses in the two neighborhood centers. It was anticipated that
completion of the Zoning Ordinance Update (ZOU) would result in new, permanent
standards appropriate to these two areas; however, work on the ZOU is still in progress.
Staff believes that the development standards established by the interim ordinance fulfill
the Comprehensive Plan goals of maintaining the neighborhood-serving character of the
two neighborhood centers, and should be kept in place, at least until work on the ZOU is
completed. The regulations allow a wide range of neighborhood-serving uses, but
prohibit offices on the ground floor of the centers unless those offices are determined by
the Director of Planning and Community Environment to be neighborhood-serving, as
defined in the code. Neighborhood-serving offices are medical or professional offices,
travel agencies, insurance agencies, or other offices considered to have a local customer
base, and all such offices require a Conditional Use Permit if they are greater than 2,500
square feet. Residential uses are also prohibited on the ground floor, although mixed use
with residential above is permitted.
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
On February 12, 2003, the Planning and Transportation Commission (PTC) reviewed the
attached ordinances, which make permanent the interim regulations that currently apply
to the Midtown Area and the Charleston Shopping Center, and voted 6-0-0-1
(Commissioner Burt absent) to recommend their adoption. The Comlnission generally
supported re-examining these standards as part of the ZOU. The PTC also requested, by
motion, that the Council consider adoption of the ordinances expeditiously and without
changes.
Four people spoke at the hearing, all of who supported adoption of the ordinances, though
some suggested changes that could be made as part of the ZOU.
ATTACIIMENTS:
A.Proposed Ordinance for Charleston Center
B.Proposed Ordinance for Midtown Shopping District
C.Planning and Transportation Commission staff report dated February 12, 2003,
without attachments
PREPARED BY:
J~n Abendschein, Management Specialist
CMR:234:03 Page 2 of 3
DEPARTMENT HEAD REVIEW:
5 EMSL(I~ r-
Director of Planning and Community Environment
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
Assistant City Manager
COURTESY COPIES:
Annette Ashton, Midtown Neighborhood Association, 2747 Bryant Street, Palo Alto,
CA, 94306
Lynn Chiapella, 631 Colorado Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306
Deborah Ju, Charleston Meadows Neighborhood Association, 371 Whitclem Drive,
Palo Alto, CA, 94306
Jean Wilcox, Charleston Gardens Association, 4005 Sutherland Drive, Palo Alto,
CA, 94303
Robert Debs, Midtown West, 3145 Flowers Lane, Palo Alto, CA, 94306
Michael Gagliasso, Middlefield Road Resident’s Association, 2064 Middlefield Road,
Palo Alto, CA, 94301
CMR:234:03 Page 3 of 3
Attachment A
ORDINANCE NO.
ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO
AMENDING TITLE 18 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE TO ADD
SECTION !8.4i.035 PRESERVING AND SUPPORTING
NEIGHBORHOOD-SERVING USES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
COMMERCIAL (CN)DISTRICT AT CHARLESTON CENTER
(PORTIONS OF THE 3900 BLOCK OF MIDDLEFIELD ROAD)
The City Council of the City of Palo Alto does ordain as
follows:
SECTION I. Findings. The Council finds and declares that:
A. In January 16, 2001, February 20, 2001, and April 23,
2001, the City Counci! adopted Ordinances 4675, 4684, and 4689,
respectively, to conserve and promote retail and neighborhood
serving uses in the Charleston Center. The last of these
ordinances expired on March 2, 2003. When these ordinances were
adopted, it was anticipated that they would be replaced by new,
comprehensive, neigb_borhood commercial standards as part of the
zoning ordinance update. This has not happened.
B. Over the 24 months they were in effect, the interim
ordinances provided valuable protection to neighborhood-serving
uses. At the request of City staff, the Planning and
Transportation Commission initiated consideration of adopting these
measures on a more permanent basis. The Planning and Transportation
Commission held a noticed public hearing on February 12, 2003 to
hear and consider public comment. The Council held a noticed
public hearing on , 2003.
C. The City of Palo Alto reaffirmed in its Comprehensive
Plan a goa! of fostering "an enhanced sense of Community with
development designed to foster public life and meet City wide
needs." (Goa! L-2, adopted July 1998). To implement that policy,
the City adopted Policy L-10~ "maintain a citywide structure of
Residential Neighborhoods, Centers, and Employment Districts..."
and Policy L-f1, "promote increased compatibility, interdependence,
and support between commercial and mixed use centers and the
surrounding residential neighborhoods."
D. Basic to the City’s land use pattern is the
availability of shopping and services within walking distance of
residentia! neig.hborhoods. (Goals L-3 and L-4.) The Comprehensive
Plan identifies four Neighborhood Centers:
030327 syn 0091199
small retail centers with a primary trade area limited to
the immediately surrounding area; often anchored by a
grocery or drug store and may include a variety of
smaller retail shops and offices oriented toward the
everyday needs of surrounding residents
(Comprehensive Plan, p. L-!8.)
E. The Neighborhood Centers are small, and
conversion of some of their ground f!oor commercial space to non-
neighborhood serving uses not only removes valuable neighborhood
serving uses but also can adversely affect those that remain.
Unless the CN standards protecting neighborhood-serving uses are
maintained in Midtow~_, they may be displaced by non-neighborhood
serving uses.
F. The City has zoned a significant portion of its
land for non-neighborhood serving uses. It has substantially more
jobs than housing, and use of CN district properties for non-
neighborhood serving uses worsens this jobs/housing imbalance at
the same time that it leads to loss of quality of life in the
neighborhoods and increases in driving.
SECTION 2. Section 18.41.035 of Chapter 18.41 of
the Palo Alto Municipal Code is hereby added to read as follows:
18o41o035 Charleston Center Ground Floor Regulations.
The regulations in this Section 18.41.035 apply to the
ground f!oor of the Charleston Center as defined in section
18.41.030(1) and shown on Exhibit A attached."Ground floor" sha!l
mean the first f!oor that is above grade.
(a) Permitted Uses. Notwithstanding the provisions of
Sections 18.41.030, 18.41.050 and 18.94.030(b), only the fo!lowing
uses shal! be permitted without a conditiona! use permit:
(!) Accessory facilities and uses customarily incidental
to permitted uses;
(2)Animal care, but excluding boarding and kennels;
(3)Day care centers;
(4) Eating and drinking services, except drive-in and
take-out services;
(5) Neighborhood-serving offices that do not exceed 2,500
square feet in floor area. "Neighborhood-serving offices" are
medical offices, professional offices, travel agencies, and
030327 s>m 0091199
2
insurance agencies that meet the standards of Section 18.4!.035(g)
below.
(6)Personal services;
(7)Retail services, excluding liquor stores;
(8) Reverse vending machines, subject to
established by Chapter 18.88 of this code;
regulations
(9) Neighborhood business services.
Uses lawfully existing on January 16, 2001 may be continued as non-
conforming uses but may only be replaced with uses permitted or
conditionally permitted under this Section 18.41.035.
(b) Conditionally Permitted Uses. The following uses may
be conditionally allowed, subject to issuance of a conditional use
permit in accord with Chapter 18.90:
(!) ~mabulance services;
(2) Automobile service stations, subject to site
design review in accord with the provisions of Chapter 18.82;
(3)Churches and religious institutions;
and
(4)Convalescent facilities;
(5)Financial services;
(6)Mortuaries;
(7)Neighborhood-serving offices over 2,500 square feet
in total floor area. No such conditional use permit shall be
granted unless the City makes the additional findings in Section
!8.4!.035(f);
(8)Private clubs, lodges, or fraternal organizations;
(9)Private educational facilities;
(!0) Utility facilities essential to provision of utility
services to the neig.hborhood, but excluding construction or storage
yards, maintenance facilities, or corporation yards;
(i!) Liquor stores;
(12) Temporary parking facilities, provided
facilities shal! remain no more than five years;
that such
(13) Farmer’s markets;
030327 syn 0091199
(14) Commercial recreation;
(15) Outdoor recreation service;
(16) Recycling centers.
(c)Prohibited Uses.
(i)Residential uses of any nature;
(2)Administrative office uses and genera! business office
uses (except neighborhood-serving travel agencies and insurance
agencies) other than those legally in existence at Charleston
Center on January 16, 2001.
(d) Certification of New Office Uses. Any office use
first occupying space at the Center on or after January 16, 2001,
shall obtain a written determination from the Director of Planning
and Community Environment that it qualifies as a neighborhood-
serving use, as defined in Section 18.41.035(g), before occupying
its premises. The applicant shal! submit such information as the
Director shal! reasonably require in order to make the
determination, and the Director shal! issue the determination
within 30 days of receiving a complete application. Failure to
submit the required information shall be grounds for determining
that a business is not neighborhood-serving.
(e) Center-wide Limit on Office Space. No more than 7,850
square feet of total floor area at the Center shal! be occupied by
office space at any time.
(f) Additional Conditional Use Permit Findings for Offices
over 2,500 Square Feet° Before approving a conditional use permit
for neighborhood-serving offices larger than 2,500 square feet in
total floor area, the City shall find that the proposed use will be
neighborhood serving, that it wil! be conducted in a manner that
wil! enhance and strengthen the Center as a neighborhood resource,
and that it will not diminish the retail strength of the Center.
(g) Definition of Neighborhood-Serving Use.A
neighborhood-serving use primarily serves individual consumers and
households, not businesses, is generally pedestrian oriented in
design, and does not generate noise, fumes or truck traffic greater
than that typically expected for uses with a loca! customer base. A
neighborhood-serving use is also one to which a significant number
of customers and clients trave!, rather than the provider of the
goods or services travelling off-site.
SECTION 3. CEQA Exemption. The Counci! finds that this
project is exempt from the provisions of the California
030327 s>an 0091199
Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") because it can be seen with
certainty that there is no possibility that this project will have
a significant effect on the environment.
SECTION 4. Expiration of Interim Ordinances. As provided
therein, interim Ordinance No. ~, which extends interim
Ordinance No. 4781, shall be of no force and effect upon the
effective date of this ordinance, provided, if the effective date
of Ordinance No .... titled ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF PALO ALTO .AMENDING TITLE 18 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE TO ~D SECTION
18.41.037 PRESERVING AND SUPPORTING GROUND-FLOOR NEIGHBORHOOD-
SERVING USES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD CO_M}4ERCIAL (CN) DISTRICT AT
MIDTOZ~ SHOPPING DISTRICT (PORTIONS OF THE 2600, 2700 AND 2800
BLOCKS OF MIDDLEF!ELD ROAD, 700 BLOCKS OF COLORADO AVENUE, MOREN0
AVENUE, AND SAN CARLOS COURT), is later than the effective date of
this ordinance, then interim Ordinance No. shall expire on
that effective date.
SECTION 5. Effective Date. This ordinance shall be
effective on the thirty-first day after the date of its adoption.
INTRODUCED
PASSED:
AYES:
NOES:
.ABSTENTIONS:
ABSENT:
ATTEST:APPROVED:
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Mayor
City Manager
Senior Asst. City Attorney Director of Planning and
Community Environment
030327 syn 0091199
5
EXHIBIT A
|CN District
Charleston Shopping Center
(1993 building footprints)
D :\G loria d\G IS \~ E \C nDis trictC ha des tonC e nte r, ai or. pdf
Attachment
ORDINANCE NO
ORDINANCE OF THE cOtrNCiL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO
AMENDING TITLE 18 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE TO ADD
SECTION 18.4!.037 PRESERVING AND SUPPORTING
GROUND-FLOOR NEIGHBORHOOD-SERVING USES IN THE
NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL (CN) DISTRICT AT MIDTOWN
SHOPPING DISTRICT (PORTIONS OF THE 2600,2700 AND
2800 BLOCKS OF MIDDLEFIELD ROAD,700 BLOCKS OF
COLORADO AVE~E,MORENO AVENUE,AND
SAN CARLOS COURT)
The City Council of the City of Palo Alto does ordain as
follows:
SECTION !. Findings. The Counci! finds and declares that:
A. In January 16, 2001, February 20, 2001, and April 23,
2001, and April 23, 2001, the City Council adopted Ordinances 4676,
4685, and 4690, respectively, to conserve and promote retail and
neighborhood serving uses in the Midtown Shopping District. The
last of these ordinances expired on March 2, 2003. When these
ordinances were adopted, it was anticipated that they would be
replaced by new, comprehensive, neighborhood commercial standards
as part of the zoning ordinance update. This has not happened.
B. Over the 24 months they were in effect, the interim
ordinances provided valuable protection to neighborhood-serving
uses. At the request of City staff, the Planning and
Transportation Commission initiated consideration of adopting these
measures on a more permanent basis. The Planning and Transportation
Commission held a noticed public hearing on February 12, 2003 to
hear and consider public comment. The Council held a noticed
public hearing on , 2003.
C. The City of Palo Alto reaffirmed in its Comprehensive
Plan a goa! of fostering "an enhanced sense of Com~.unity with
development designed to foster public life and meet City wide
needs." (Goa! L-2, adopted July 1998). To implement that policy,
the City adopted Policy L-10, "maintain a cit~ide structure of
Residentia! Neighborhoods, Centers, and Employment Districts ..."
and Policy L-f1, "promote increased com.matibility, interdependence,
and support between commercial and mixed use centers and the
surrounding residentia! neighborhoods."
D. Basic to the City’s land use pattern is the
availability of shopping and services within walking distance of
030327 syn 0091200
residential neighborhoods. (Goals L-3 and L-4.)
Plan identifies four Neighborhood Centers:
The Comprehensive
small retai! centers with a primary trade area limited to
the immediately surrounding area; often anchored by a
grocery or drug store and may include a variety of
smaller retail shops and offices oriented toward the
everyday needs of surrounding residents
(Comprehensive Plan, p. L-!8.)
E. The Neighborhood Centers are smal!, and conversion of
some of their ground f!oor commercial space to non-neighborhood
serving uses not only removes valuable neighborhood serving uses
but also can adversely affect those that remain. Unless the CN
standards protectingneighborhood-serving uses are maintained in
Midtown, they may be displaced by non-neighborhood serving uses.
F. The City has zoned a significant portion of its land
for non-neig_~borhood serving uses. It has substantially more jobs
than housing, and use of CN district properties for non-
neighborhood serving uses worsens this jobs/housing imbalance at
the same time that it leads to !oss of quality of life in the
neighborhoods and increases in driving.
SECTION 2. Section 18.41.037 of Chapter 18.41 of the Pa!o
Alto Municipal Code is hereby added to read as fol!ows:
18.41.037 Midtown Shopping District Ground Floor
Regulations°
The regulations in this Section 18.41.037 apply to the
ground floor of that part of the Midtown Shopping District as shown
on Exhibit A attached. "Ground f!oor" shall mean the first f!oor
that is above grade.
(a) Permitted Uses° Notwithstanding the provisions of
Sections 18.41.030, 18.41.050, and 18.94.030(b), only the fol!owing
uses shall be permitted without a conditional use permit:
(i) Accessory facilities and uses customarily incidental
to permitted uses;
(2)Anima! care, but excluding boarding and kennels;
(3)Day care centers;
(4) Eating and drinking services, except drive-in and
take-out services;
030327 syn 0091200
(5) Personal services;
2
(6) Retail services, excluding liquor stores;
(7) Reverse vending machines, subject to regulations
established by Chapter 18.88 of this code;
(8) Neighborhood business services.
Uses lawfully existing on January 16, 2001 may be continued as non-
conforming uses but may only be replaced with uses permitted or
conditionally permitted under this Section 18.41.037.
(b). Conditionally Permitted Uses° The following uses may
be conditionally allowed subject to issuance of a conditional use
permit in accordance with Chapter 18.90 and paragraph (e of this
Section 18.4!.037:
(I) Ambulance services;
(2) Automobile service stations, subject to site and
design review in accord with the provisions of Chapter 18.82;
(3)Churches and religious institutions;
(4)Convalescent facilities;
5)Financial services;
6)Mortuaries;
7)Medical offices, professional offices, travel
agencies and insurance agencies, none of which may exceed 2,500
square feet in tota! f!oor area. No conditiona! use permit shall be
granted unless the City makes the additional findings in Section
18.41.037(e), (including the finding that the office is
neighborhood-serving);
(8)Private clubs, lodges, or fraternal organizations;
(9)Private educational facilities;
(!0) Utility facilities essential to provision of utility
services to the neighborhood, but excluding construction or storage
yards, maintenance facilities, or corporation yards;
(ii) Liquor stores;
(12) Temporary parking facilities, provided
facilities shall remain no more than five years;
that such
030327 syn 0091200
(13) Farmer’s markets;
(14) Commercial recreation;
(15) Outdoor recreation service;
(16) Recycling centers.
(c)Prohibited Uses.
(i)Residentia! uses of any nature on the ground floor;
(2)Administrative office uses ~nd genera! business office
uses (other than neighborhood-serving travel agencies and insurance
agencies), other than those lawfully in existence on January 16,
2001.
(d) Exception for Continuation of Practice or Business
~ existing ground floor office may be replaced with another office
if (i) the new tenant or owner wil! continue the existing business
or practice; or (ii) a conditional use permit is issued for the new
office use.
(e) Additional Conditional Use Finding for New Offices° No
conditional use permit shal! be issued for any new office use on
the ground f!oor unless, in addition to the findings required by
Chapter 18.90, the City finds that the proposed use will be
neighborhood serving, that it wil! be conducted in a manner that
will enhance and strengthen the Hidtown Shopping District as a
neighborhood resource, and that it wil! not diminish the retail
strength of the District.
(f) Definition of Neighborhood-Serving Use. A
neighborhood-serving use is one that primarily serves individual
consumers and households rather than businesses, is generally
pedestrian oriented in design, and does not generate noise, fumes
or truck traffic greater than that typically expected for uses with
a !ocal customer base. A neighborhood-serving use is also one to
which a significant number of customers and clients travel,
including neighborhood residents, rather than the provider of the
goods or services travelling off-site.
(g) Pedestrian Design Features Required° On any site or
portion of a site adjoining a designated pedestrian sidewalk or
pedestrian way, new construction and alterations to existing
structures shall provide, as dete_~mined by the architectural review
board, the following features intended to create pedestrian or
shopper interest, to provide weather protection for pedestrians,
and to preclude inappropriate or inharmonious building design and
siting:
030327 syn 0091200
(!) Display windows, or retail display areas;
(2) Pedestrian arcades, recessed entryways, or covered
recessed areas designed for pedestrian use with an area no less
than the length of the adjoining frontage times 1.5 feet;
(3) Landscaping or architectura! design features intended
to preclude blank wails or building faces.
The specific nature and re.quirements of pedestrian design features
shal! be determined by the architectural review board under the
standards of Chapter 16.48. The designated pedestrian sidewalks
and pedestrian ways are shown on Exhibit B attached.
(h) Exclusion of Certain Office Buildings. 711, 719 and
721 Colorado Avenue, and 689 Co!orado Avenue, buildings not
fronting on Middlefie!d Avenue, designed and used for office
purposes, and not well suited to other uses are exempt from the
provisions of this Section 18.41.037.
SECTION 3. The Counci! finds that this project is exempt
from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act
("CEQA") because it can be seen with certainty that there is no
possibility that this project will have a significant effect on the
environment.
SECTION 4. Expiration of Interim Ordinances. As provided
therein, Ordinance No. __, which extends interim Ordinance No.
4781, shall be of no force and e_~ecu upon the effective date of
this ordinance, provided, if the effective date of Ordinance No.
__, titled ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO
AMENDING TITLE 18 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE TO ADD SECTION 18.41.035
PRESERVING AND SUPPORTING NEIGHBORHOOD-SERVING USES IN THE
NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL (CN) DISTRICT AT CHARLESTON CENTER
(PORTIONS OF THE 3900 BLOCK OF MIDDLEFIELD ROAD), is later than the
effective date of this ordinance, then interim Ordinance No.
shall expire on that effective date.
//
/ /
//
//
030327 syn 0091200
SECTION 5. Effective Date. This ordinance shall be
effective on the thirty-first day after the date of its adoption.
INTRODUCED:
PASSED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTENTIONS:
ABSENT:
ATTEST:APPROVED:
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Senior Asst. City Attorney
Mayor
City Manager
Director of Planning and
Community Environment
030327 s3~’n 0091200
CN Combining District Overlay
at Midtown Shopping Center
(1993 building footprints)
CN Combining District Overlay
at Midtown Shopping Center
(1993 .building footprints)
Attachment C
PLANNING DIVISION
STAFF REPORT
TO:PL.~NN~N-G & TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
FROM:Jon Abendschein,DEP.4aRTMEN~:Planning
Management Specialist
AGENDA DATE: February 12. _00~
SUBJECT:CN district regulations preserving neighborhood-ser~fing uses in
the Midtown and Charleston shopping centers.
RECOMI~IENrDATION
Staff recommends that the Planning and Transportation Commission (PTC) recommend
to the Cit3; Council adoption of the attached ordinances chanNng the Neighborhood
Commercia! (CN) zoning disUdct regulations to make permanent the existing interim
ordinances limiting new non-neighborhood-serving businesses in the Midtown and
Charleston shopping centers.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
On January 16, 2001, in response to the replacement of neighborhood-serving businesses
with office uses in Niidtown and in the Charleston shopping center, the City Council
adopted two urgency interim ordinances limiting new non-neighborhood-serving uses in
those areas. The ordinances established development standards specific to the two
neighborhood centers. The interim ordinances were extended and amended on February"
20, 2001 and again on April 23, 2001. The ordinances will expire on March 2, 2003, and
may not be extended a third time on an urgency basis.
City of Palo Alto Page 1
SUI~I1VL4_RY OF SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Prior to adoption of the interim ordinances, Charleston shopping center and Midto-~n
were subject to the development standards of the Neighborhood Commercial (CN)
district. The interim ordinances added supplemental development standards meant to
encourage neighborhood-serving uses in the two neighborhood centers. It was anticipated
that completion of the Zoning Ordinance Update (ZOU) would result in new, permanent
standards appropriate to these two. areas; however, work on the ZOU is still in proBess.
Therefore, the normal CN district regulations, which were considered inadequate in
protecting the neighborhood-serving character of Charleston and Midtown, will apply
after March 2, 2003, unless the ordinances are re-adopted on a non-emergency basis after
public hearings by the Planning and Transportation Corrm~ssion and Cit3~ Council.
Staff believes that the development standards established by the interim ordinance fulfill
the Comprehensive Plan goals of maintaining the neighborhood-ser¥ing character of the
two neighborhood centers, and should be kept in place, at least until work on the ZOU is
completed. The regulations allow a wide range of neighborhood-serving uses, but
prohibit offices on the Bound floor of the centers unless those offices are determined by
the Director to be neighborhood serving, as defined in the code. Neighborhood-ser~,ing
offices are medical or professional offices, travel agencies, insurance agencies, or other
offices considered to have a local customer base, and all such offices require a
Conditional Use Permit if they are Beater than 2,500 square feet. Residential uses are
also prohibited on the Bound floor, though mixed use with residential above is permitted.
RESOURCE LMPACT
This change in regulations would have no sig-nificant impact on staff or other resources;
these regulations have been in place since January 2001, so all resources necessary to
administer the regulations are already- in place. Howe~er, Staff does recommend
maintaining the existing regulations rather than attempting an interim revision before the
ZOU is complete.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Adoption of these ordinances would fulfill Comprehensive Plan Pro~am L-36, "Evaluate
current zoning to determine if ft supports the types of uses and scale of buildings
considered appropriate in Neighborhood Centers." In the definition on page L- 18 of the
Comprehensive Plan. a "neighborhood center" is described as "small retai! centers with a
primary trade area limited to the hnmediately surrounding area,’ and including "a varie~:
of sma!ler retail shops and offices oriented toward the everyday needs of surrounding
residents." The development standards in these ordinances support the types of uses
considered appropriate in Neighborhood Centers.
City of Palo Alto Page 2
ENVIRONMENTAJ~ REVIEW
This project is exempt from the provisions of the California Envirormaental Quality Act
(CEQA), per section 15061 of CEQA Guidelines, because it can be seen with certaint3;
that there is no possibility that the project will have a significant effect on the
environment.
NEXT STEPS
If the Planning and Transportation Commission recommends approval, a Cit-y Council
hearing will be scheduled.
ATTACI-~([ENTS~XHIBITS:
A.Ordinance Adopting Regulations for Charleston Center
B.Ordinance Adopting Regulations for lXlidtown
COURTESY COPIES:
Imerested Parties
Prepared by: Jon Abendschein, Management SpeciaIist
Reviewed by: Lisa Grote, Chief Planning Official
Department/Division Head Approval: !~N~--~~_ ~9--
Lisa ~rote, Chief Planning Official
City of Pato Alto Page 3