Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: PUBLIC HEARINGS (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: PUBLIC HEARING AND FIRST READING OF AN
ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 17 (LAND USE) OF THE
COTATI MUNICIPAL CODE TO COMBINE THE
COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRIAL AND GENERAL INDUSTRIAL
ZONING DISTRICTS INTO A SINGLE ZONING DISTRICT
Date: June 10, 2025
Written by: Autumn Buss, Associate Planner
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council hold a public hearing and introduce an Ordinance amending Title 17 (Land Use) of the Cotati Municipal Code to combine the Commercial/Industrial and General Industrial Zoning Districts into a single zoning district, in accordance with the City’s General Plan.
Background
The City’s General Plan identifies a single land use designation—Commercial/Industrial—for industrially-zoned land in Cotati. In turn, the City’s Land Use Code identifies and sets forth standards for two zoning districts to implement the General Plan’s Commercial Industrial designation: the Commercial/Industrial and the General Industrial zoning districts.
However, the General Plan also includes an action item--Action LU1b (Land Use)--which calls for either 1) combining the two zoning districts into a single district that accommodates the range of industrial and commercial uses allowed in the Commercial Industrial land use designation, or 2) amending the two zoning districts to accommodate the range of uses allowed in the Commercial Industrial land use designation.
Analysis/Discussion
General Plan and Land Use Code Designations
The Commercial Industrial (CI) land use designation in the General Plan (GP), shown in the map below, applies to areas appropriate for industrial parks, research/development, food processing/preparation, manufacturing, laboratories, and compatible commercial uses, including business parks, retail sales for on-site manufacturing, and professional offices, in the same district. Site coverage of up to 80 percent is allowed in the CI designation; residential uses are not allowed.
Detail of General Plan Land Use Map
Commercial/Industrial Land Use Designation shown in gray (bounded by Helman lane on the south, the city boundary on the north and west, and Redwood Drive to the east) The CI land use designation is currently implemented by two zoning districts identified in the City’s Land Use Code: Commercial/Industrial (CI) and General Industrial (IG), shown in the map below in light gray (south of Laguna de Santa Rosa) and dark gray (north of Laguna de Santa Rosa), respectively.
The CI and IG zoning districts are described as follows in the Land Use Code:
• The CI zoning district is applied to areas appropriate for a mixture of retail, service, largescale office, light industry uses, warehousing and live/work units. The allowable intensity of development is determined by Section 17.24.030 (Zoning district site planning and building standards). The CI zoning district is consistent with and implements the commercial/industrial land use designation of the general plan. • The IG zoning district is applied to areas appropriate for a wider variety of land uses that are more land-intensive than allowed in the CI district. These include manufacturing, warehousing, assembly, and live/work units. The allowable intensity of development is determined by Section 17.24.030 (Zoning district site planning and building standards) of this title. The IG zoning district is consistent with and implements the general industrial land use designation of the general plan. (Staff note: The reference to the “general industrial land use designation” is incorrect as there is no such designation in the GP, and is corrected in the proposed ordinance.)
Please see Attachment A, a redline version of the proposed ordinance’s amendments to Code Section 17.22.020, Table 2-3, for the list of allowable land uses and level of review required in each of the two zoning districts.
Combining the Zoning Districts
The GP directive regarding industrial zoning is to either:
1. Combine the two existing zoning districts into a single district that accommodates the range of industrial and commercial uses allowed in the CI land use designation; or
2. Amend the zoning districts to accommodate the range of uses allowed in the CI land use designation.
Staff have determined that the appropriate path to implement GP Action LU1b is to combine the existing CI and IG zoning districts into a single district which will retain the title Commercial/Industrial (CI) to correspond with the GP’s CI land use designation, and have drafted the attached ordinance to this end. There are several reasons to pursue this approach:
• Currently, the CI and IG zoning districts share a list of potential land uses which reflects the full range of uses allowed by the CI land use designation. There is no need to add or remove land uses to increase compliance with the General Plan. The key difference between the two districts is whether a given use is allowable or not, and if so, the type of permit required and the corresponding review authority. • Reducing the number of zoning districts provides an opportunity to streamline the Land Use Code and simplify its interpretation by the public and implementation by the City. • Cotati has a relatively small amount of industrial-zoned land, and demand for traditional heavier industrial or manufacturing land is limited and unlikely to increase in the future.
On the other hand, light industrial and commercial uses that thrive in a quasi-industrial setting and/or a freeway-adjacent setting are more likely to seek space here. Therefore, offering a single industrial zoning district—which is flexible and can accommodate commercial uses as well—can encourage businesses such as indoor sports facilities, breweries, wineries with tasting rooms, and artist studios, as well as business incubators, to locate in Cotati.
• In keeping with the objectives of flexibility and business attraction mentioned in the above bullet point, the proposed ordinance would not only combine the existing zoning districts, but also adjust the permit requirement for several land uses for the new CI zoning district. These adjustments are aimed at reducing administrative hurdles and permit fees in order to facilitate business development. Uses that are more likely to cause impacts on surrounding land uses, such as heavy manufacturing and processing, construction contractors, laundry/dry cleaning plants, and medium-scale recycling collection facilities, would still require a use permit process before the Planning Commission, with conditions of approval to reduce potential impacts.
The Land Use Code update would require a number of minor code language updates to correspond to the proposed combination of the CI and IG zoning districts. Please see Attachment B for the full redline text of code amendments proposed by the ordinance.
Impact on Existing Businesses
The amendment of the Land Use Code to combine the CI and IG zoning districts into a single district will not affect businesses that are currently located in these districts. The updated Code will be applied to businesses that are newly locating in the new CI zoning district or changing the use of a property in the district.
Planning Commission Recommendation
The Planning Commission held a public hearing on May 19, 2025 on the proposed ordinance, and adopted a resolution recommending that the City Council adopt the ordinance.
Financial Considerations
With the exception of the staff time to prepare this report, there will be no financial impact to the City from the adoption of this ordinance.
Environmental Issues
The proposed ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act as it is consistent with the program Final Environmental Impact Report (SCH# 2013082037) for the Cotati General Plan Update that was certified on March 24, 2015 (Resolution Number 2015-11).
In addition, the proposed ordinance is consistent with and implements the City’s adopted General Plan, and no new environmental impacts peculiar to the project site(s) have been realized or identified. Therefore no additional environmental analysis is required under CEQA Section 15183, and pursuant to Section 15168 of the CEQA Guidelines, no further environmental review is required.