RESPONSES TO COUNCIL QUESTIONS
RE: 7/1/2025 CITY COUNCIL AGENDA
1 Agenda Item 2
Proposed Project: Adopt the Village Center Master Plan and associated resolution, ordinance, and urgency ordinance.
Locations: Citywide
File #: 2021-7371
Zoning: C-1 (Neighborhood Business), C-2 (Highway Business) and O (Office) Applicant: City of Sunnyvale
Environmental Review: An addendum to the 2017 Land Use and Transportation Element (LUTE) Update Environmental Impact Report (EIR) has been prepared pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15164.
Project Planner: Jeffrey Cucinotta, (408) 730-7424, [email protected] C
ouncil Question: How many housing units are allowed on each VCMU site? St
aff Response: Please see Attachment 13 to the Report to Council. Maps of each of the 7 village centers includes the number of housing units in addition to the recommended zoning category.
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ouncil Question: Why not included gyms as an allowable use and why were bars not allowed in VCC? What about Child Care?
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aff Response: Please see Attachment 11 (staff recommended changes to the public review draft of the VCMP) to the Report to Council for changes to the land use tables. These uses (and others) are now listed as allowable through an MPP or SDP.
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ouncil Question: Can the Conceptual Design renderings include a north arrow? St
aff Response: The renderings in Attachment 11(staff recommended changes to the public review draft of the VCMP) now include north arrows.
Council Question: What is the current and proposed zoning of properties recommended to be removed as Village Center sites?
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aff Response:
Attachment 14
2 Council Question: Is the Valero gas station property ownership in Village Center 4 the same as the rest of the shopping center?
Staff Response: Confirming that the corner parcel (at Maude/Mathilda) where the Valero gas station is located, is a separate owner from the rest of the shopping center. Lucky has a lease on the 2 parcels which is reflected in the Assessor data, however the underlying fee title (owner) of the land is the same as the remainder of the shopping center (excluding gas station).
Council Question: Why is Bicycle Parking not permitted in the VCMP Furniture Zone yet allowed in Downtown?
Staff Response: As a reminder, here is brief review of the 3 VCMP areas from the street to the building:
Furniture Zone is the area closest to the street: 4.5 ft = 0.5 ft top of curb + 4 feet furniture area • The area is part of the public right of which and houses the street trees and street lights and other elements such as traffic signs, traffic signals, utility poles, portions of bus stops. It may support additional pedestrian circulation.
Through Zone is adjacent to the Furniture Zone: 6.5 ft = 6 feet (sidewalk) + 0.5 feet (buffer area) • This area is also part of the public right of way and is the public sidewalk Frontage Zone is adjacent to the Through Zone: 10 ft.
• This area is part of the private property and allows a number of amenities to the site (outdoor dining, outside display of merchandise/products, seating, signage (permanent and temporary) • Bicycle Parking is allowed in the Frontage Zone which is wider and is part of the private property. The bicycle facilities would be owned and maintained by the property owner.
Refer to Table 4-7: Pedestrian Realm Zone and Amenities for full detail breakdown of permitted and prohibited zone uses.
Bicycle Parking Downtown Sunnyvale
Bicycle parking provided by the developers (both Class I secured bicycle parking and Class II bicycle racks) shall be provided within the Downtown Parking Garages. These can be counted towards the required bicycle parking of a new development. Public bicycle racks can be is provided in the Furnishing Zone of Downtown Core Streets which include Taaffe St, Murphy Ave, McKinley Ave, Frances St, Aries Way, and Altair Way). These streets are narrower and traffic is slower, making some active uses out to the curb more acceptable. The 100 block of S. Murphy Avenue includes a few public Class II bicycle parking racks hoops, and also has widened areas to accommodate benches and outdoor dining. The character of the downtown streets is very different from the Village Centers, which are located on wider, faster streets.
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3 Council Question: Did we consider other configurations for the zoning boundaries? St
aff Response:
• The zoning boundaries were guided by: using existing parcel lines if possible, corners with gas stations were often kept as commercial, and that visibility of the commercial from a major street was important (e.g. the Mathilda/Maude site zoning lines reflect having a big enough parcel for a larger format store (grocery?) and also having visibility from Mathilda). • A developer could propose alternative zoning boundaries (which would require a rezone however no General Plan/Specific Plan amendment is needed) and staff would support if it was consistent with the vision and development minimums. • Also note that there are the limitations from the Housing Element sites inventory; we had to account for a certain number of residential units in each Village Center, which limited deviations from the total number of units.
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ouncil Question: Will parking requirements be affected by the Study Issue on Parking? St
aff Response: The pending parking study is for residential parking only. The study will cover city- wide residential parking standards (including area plans and the VCMP) and will incorporate changes into all the corresponding regulations (zoning code, specific plans, etc.).
Attachment 14