"The City With a Heart"
Rico E. Medina, Mayor
Sandy Alvarez, Vice Mayor
Tom Hamilton, Councilmember, District 2
Michael Salazar, Councilmember, District 3
Marty Medina, Councilmember, District 4
AGENDA
SAN BRUNO CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
September 22, 2026
6:30 PM
IN PERSON* MEETING LOCATION
San Bruno Recreation and Aquatic Center, Community Room 251 City Park Way
San Bruno, CA 94066
*Please turn off all electronic devices before the start of the meeting to prevent disruptions*
TELECONFERENCE MEETING CONNECTION
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ACCESSIBILITY: In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, individuals requiring special accommodations or modifications to participate in this meeting should contact the City Clerk’s Office 48 hours prior to the meeting at (650) 6167061 or [email protected]
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PUBLIC RECORDS: Any public writings related to an open session item on a special meeting agenda and distributed by the City to at least a majority of the City Council less than 24 hours prior to this meeting are available for public inspection at the City Clerk's Office at City Hall located at 567 El Camino Real, San Bruno, California during normal business hours. In addition, the City may also post such documents on the City’s Website at sanbruno.ca.gov/AgendaCenter .
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL
3. STUDY SESSION
Public comment will be requested after each item in this section a. Conduct a City Council Study Session to Discuss Downtown Zoning Adjustments to Improve Activity and Aesthetics
4. ADJOURNMENT – The next Regular City Council Meeting will be held on September 22, 2026 at 7:00 pm.
POSTING: I declare a copy of this agenda was posted at City Hall, 567 El Camino Real, San Bruno, among other locations in the city limits of San Bruno, on September 17, 2026, by 8:00 pm. 1 of 4
City Council Agenda Item
Staff Report
CITY OF SAN BRUNO
DATE: September 22, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor, Members of the City Council
FROM: Alex D. McIntyre, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Peter Gilli, Community Development Director SUBJECT: Conduct a City Council Study Session to Discuss Downtown Zoning Adjustments to Improve Activity and Aesthetics
BACKGROUND
During the FY27 goal setting process, several Councilmembers identified areas where the City should proactively leverage its zoning authority to improve the downtown environment. The intent is to improve aesthetics and activity levels downtown by reconsidering what business types are allowed, exploring methods to increase investment in exterior improvements, improving property maintenance, and providing targeted enforcement of regulations. This eventually led City Council to include downtown zoning adjustments as one component of the Downtown Improvement Initiative for FY27.
Table 1 shows a summary of feedback from the City Council and Planning Commission at a joint session on May 19, a Planning Commission study session on July 21, and a City Council study session on September 8. City Council feedback is requested for the topical area of Adjusting Allowed Uses.
Table 1: Summary of Potential Zoning Adjustments
Topical Areas Potential Changes 5/19 Joint
Session
7/21 PC
SS
9/8 CC
SS
9/22
Question
Expand requirements for
exterior improvements N
Annual Code Compliance for
exterior maintenance/repairs Y
Enforce storefront visibility
regulation Y
Exterior
Improvements
and Other
Agencies
Create lighting regulations
(brightness) Y Y
Adjust ground and upper
floor allowances Y ?
Separate Grocers, Liquor
Stores, Smoke Shops from
Retail
Y ?Adjusting
Allowed Uses
Adjust Personal Service
allowances Y ?
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Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
September 22, 2026
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Require LNC businesses to
be phased out N
Require prohibited Smoke
Shops to be phased out? YAmortization
Require existing “bright light”
improvements be phased
out?
Y Y
Incentives
Maintain less-than-cost-
recovery fees for planning
applications
Y
DISCUSSION
The following text is from the September 8, 2026 study session report for reference:
Adjusting Allowed Uses
The downtown area is in the Central Business District (CBD), one of a handful of Mixed-Use Zoning Districts created following the adoption of the Transit Corridor Plan. The CBD, like most other zoning districts in the City, has a list of permitted, conditional, and prohibited uses. Permitted (P). Fundamentally, a permitted use is allowed anywhere and everywhere in the district. These should be limited to a type of use that, theoretically, the City Council would accept each and every tenant space being that type of business. Prohibited (-). A prohibited use is a type of use that is allowed nowhere because the City does not want that use in any situation or circumstance, no matter how well the use is operated.
Conditional (C). A conditional use is a type of use that lies in between permitted and prohibited. The community may accept this type of use in that district, but each proposal is considered on a case-by-case basis, depending on many factors such as the specific operations of that business, the specific location, and what is specifically in the surrounding area. A Use Permit can include conditions of approval that define performance standards for the use. The City’s ability to perform regulatory enforcement of conditional uses is much greater than for a permitted use, which allows the City to better protect the surrounding area from the actions of a single business.
The recommended changes to allowed uses in downtown fall into three categories:
1.Adjusting how a use type is allowed depending on whether the use is proposed on the ground floor or upper floors. The intent of the changes is to allow more options for a business to locate on different floors, subject to City review to ensure ground level uses have the desired storefront appearance, and upper level uses can manage its logistical needs such as solid waste management and deliveries.
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September 22, 2026
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2.Separating certain uses from the general Retail Sales and Services category.
These proposals are based on City Council feedback about the suitability or overconcentration of Grocers, Liquor Stores and Smoke Shops.
3.Adjusting Personal Service uses. These proposals are based on City Council feedback about the suitability or overconcentration of personal services uses such as barber shops and salons.
Attachment 1 provides a comprehensive table, titled CBD Use Table and Definitions, which provides each land use type in the City’s Mixed Use Zoning Districts, the definition of each land use from the Municipal Code, and whether that use type is Permitted (P), Prohibited (-) or Conditional (C) in CBD. The other Mixed Use districts are included for reference. Proposed changes in Attachment 1 are also highlighted in yellow to aid the reader. The table below provides a snapshot of only the uses that are proposed to be changed, which the Planning Commission supported.
Table 2: Adjusting Allowed Uses (changes are highlighted) Land Use Existing CBD Proposed CBD
Business Services P (upper only) C (ground), P (upper)
Office P (upper only) C (ground), P (upper)
Research and Development * P (upper only) C (ground), P (upper) Restaurants P (ground only) P (ground), C (upper)
Retail Sales and Services P (ground only)
P (ground), C (upper)
Separate Grocery Stores, Liquor
Stores, and Smoke Shops
Grocers P C
Liquor Stores P C
Smoke Shops P -
Personal Services, Downtown Focus P C (ground), P (upper) Personal Services, Instructional Focus C C (ground), P (upper) Personal Services, General - C (ground or upper)
* Note: R&D uses with higher biosafety/haz mat levels would automatically be a C
NEXT STEPS
After receiving City Council feedback on the topic of Adjusting Allowed Uses, staff will develop the actual downtown zoning adjustment code amendments. Those will be combined with a package of already prepared minor code amendments, including those required by law, and those that are clean-up/clarifications. The tentative date for the Planning Commission public hearing date would be in December 2026, with the tentative City Council public hearing in January 2027. The potential effective date could be the end of February 2027.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact from this agenda item. Depending on the potential zoning ordinance adjustments, staff expects minimal fiscal impact (positive or negative) in the short term, with minor positive fiscal impact in future years as the aesthetics and activity in downtown improves.
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