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Downtown Precise Plan Comprehensive Update
Summary of pre-project kick-off outreach meetings
Meeting Agenda: Seek initial feedback on key study topics for the Precise Plan update project.
1. Chamber of Commerce – September 26, 2023
In-person meeting at City Hall
2 Attendees
Key Topic Suggestions for Scope of work:
• Updated Land Use Mix: Need to update the land use categories for allowing more modern day land use types to make more businesses viable in Downtown; • Streamlined Process and Project Entitlement: Current entitlement timing are deterrent to businesses and result in vacancies. Ensure shorter review timelines; • Parking Regulations: Update parking regulations in wake of AB 2097; and • Parallel Project Interactions : Focus on i nteraction of various Downtown projects specifically – Castro Pedestrian Mall with the Precise Plan Update.
Additional comments:
1. Financial Resources: Explore creative ways to provide financial support to businesses while city is going through many concurrent downtown projects which will impacts their business.
2. Downtown Office Cap: Clarify if the office-cap will be a subset of the Precise Plan update process. Need for clarity in Council direction on this topic. Make it clear it is a temporary in nature for a limited time and the pipeline provision for projects currently under review.
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2. Old Mountain View Neighborhood Association (OMVNA) - October 2, 2023 Virtual Meeting (7 PM. – 9 PM.)
Total - 22 Attendees
Key Topics Suggestions for Scope of Work:
• Updated Land Use Mix:
o Study appropriate land use mix to avoid office use overwhelming Downtown; o Support small businesses;
o Update land use mix for allowing variety of business to ensure a thriving Downtown; and
o Need for more residential and retail development relative to office uses. • Parking Regulations:
o Address parking issues;
o Need for more parking;
o Explore creative parking solutions in wake of AB 2097; o Study parking pass distribution to office employees to ensure parking passes are available for small business employees and parking spaces are available for customers;
o Need for stricter review of downtown development parking proposals; o Explore paid parking as identified in downtown parking study. However, it may not be the best solution for Downtown;
o Encourage Transit Oriented Development (TOD);
o Develop transportation demand management strategies to reduce greenhouse gases;
o Develop aggressive parking information distribution to promote existing parking in and around Downtown;
o Study weekend and weekday parking demand; and
o Study strategies to address office employee parking spillover into neighborhood streets.
• Historic Preservation: Need for historic preservation. Explore ways to recognize group of buildings as historic or create a historic district to preserve historic buildings but allow developments on parcels which do not have historic buildings; • Public Gathering Places: Explore options to create public gathering spaces in Downtown. • Dead Zones: Study solutions to eliminate dead zones and make Downtown more walkable. • Streetscape: Study options for wider sidewalks.
• Landscaping and Tree Canopy: Need for policy to retain and increase tree canopy in Downtown. Study less messy landscape planting in Downtown. • Development Standards:
o Ensure clear standards;
o Assess appropriate building heights especially at the intersection of Castro Street and El Camino Real; and
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o Develop standards to encourage ground floor transparency. • Design Guidelines: Need for clear guidelines. Avoid using vague terms, for e.g., “exceptional architecture.”
• Property Owners Engagement: Engage vacant property owners to understand cause of vacancies and to what could make the Downtown more vibrant.
Additional comments:
• Consider all the ways people access Downtown and improve safety, comfort, and convenience.
• Ensure developers are held accountable to their promises and intent of requirements. • Be very clear on what you want when developing a precise plan.