HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Bill 1ALate1 02/08/2010RECEIVED o
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Connie Madden
215 Water Street, Petaluma CA 94952 CITY iVLANAGER
February 5, 2010
Dear Petaluma ' ember an City Manager:
/°
I am saddened to see the gruff way our local press treats our elected representatives. Are YOU
responsible for the global economic turndown? Unemployment levels? The rain?
You are simply our elected representatives attempting to guide decisions in our town in line with
the General Plan, economic, physical and legal restraints and the felt needs of residents. Each of
you is doing a good jab up there, hearing out a variety of opinions including some very extreme
I am also sorry to be out of the area as you revisit the East Washington Place FEIR Monday,
February 8"'. As you may know, I have spent years now along with many other people -looking
at the proposed Regency project from many angles, 'including sitting in many sessions with the
developers themselves. Still, in my view, there is not a good project before us.
Fiist, we have not deterrtii~ned that East Washington Place actually can provide Petaluma with a
"net positive" as the General Plan indicates. We can't guess how much loss there could or would
be from proposed tenant competition to existing businesses since Regency and Target did not
come forward with enough economic data to assess the. real economic impacts of their project to
our city. We don't know if we will end up paying for health care of low-wage workers.
Second, it is my understanding that Regency can simply put any tenant who comes forward in
place as soon as the FEIR is approved and the project moves forward. We could eventually end
up with a Wa1lVfart, for instance,
Third, both Regency and Target, although seemingly polite and cooperative during the early
stages of project review,. have indicated through their letters and a lawsuit that they have no
desire or plan to respond to Petaluma's land use policy preferences by providing a pedestrian
friendly, public transit friendly, dense project. This is a 1970's style auto-dependent mall.
At this point, I would welcome a smaller footprint project with enough economic data to give us
some indication of real economic and community impacts. With additional economic
information given, such as categories and square footage of goods in the Target store and the
other likely tenant, Friedman's Home Improvement, we would be following through with both
the intent of our General Plan and the Fiscal and Economic Impact Assessment goal.
Without cooperation from Regency and Target and a new EIR that includes data from
Friedman's, I frankly cannot see how this project could carry out the intent of our GP.
I have attached copies of the SmartCode brochure prepared at the end of the Central Petaluma
Specific Plan process to show how very far this project goes from our vision,
Thank you for your consideration? I hope a good project can somehow be created here as 1 do
know there is a crying need for good jobs and increased revenues in Petaluma.
- __ __ __
~I~SK~~ ~~ 11.~~~
U R B t1 N D E cS I G N
Central Petaluma
SmarfiCode
Ir took only 9 months for political
adversaries in the City of Petaluma,
California, with Fisher & Hall's
assistance, to agree on and adopt an
easy-to-understand SmartCode for
their downtown.
But .adoption of
the 400-acre
Central Fetatuma
SmartCode
materialized only
after hitting what
seemed like an
insurmountable
impasse.
The impasse was a
conventional
zoning code. The
citizen's com-
mittee working on the plan soundly
rejected the thick text of legalese,
incomprehensible Floor area ratios and
long charts of numbers.
"How can we be sure that we'!1 begetting
our vision, when we cati t
even understand the
document that turns it into
law?" one committee
member asked.
"ti'Vhat a great night
in this community. "
MAYOR DAVID GLASS OF PETALUMA
SAIp AFTER THE PLAN WAS APPROVED.
about most -the building heights,
the building fronts and the civic
spaces. The committee was finally
assured that new development
would resemble their vision.
'S WAREHOUSE QISTRICT BEFORE Ti-iE SMARTCODE
Then they tried the SmartCode, a
"form-based" zoning code of ordittary
language and simple graphics. It codes
precisely those aspects of the buifr
environment that the community cares
` Committee mem-
bers weren't the
only ones who
supported the
SmartCode. With
clear rules for
development,
strong community
buy-in, and
predictability of
process, devel-
opers, who
historically shy
away from new
regulations, have also embraced it. Since
its adoption, they have quickly begun
their application process for new projects.
The Central Petaluma 5marcCode is
clearly awin-win solution for Petaluma
and for other cities who want
to encourage reinvestment
and improve the quality of
their public realm.
Fisher ~- HaII ~ 707.544.191.0 ~ v~~Ww,fisherandhatl.com
A lgcal reporter told us that he couldn't tell if the
SmartCode was a radical, green, left-wing document
or adeveloper-friendly, market-based right-wing one.
When that happens, we know we're on the right track!"
LAURA HALL, PRINCIPAL, FlSHER S, HALL URBAN DESIGN
PETALUMA'S V151ON AFTER THE SMARTCODE
What is a SmartCode, anyhow?
The SmartCode is athree-dimensional
zoning code that everyone can understand.
It provides a system that ensures that the
design of the public realm and the design of
private buildings are rigorously
coordinated and are focused on the
pedestrian experience.
At its core, the SmartCode defines 'an
agreement between the community '(the
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publlC) and property Owners (tile prlVate). $MARTCODE ZONING MAP - USE5 AND DESIGN ARE SPECIFIED STREET-BY'STREET
The community commits itself to building ___ --------
and maintaining high-quality, pedestrian- ; buildings that face the public realm with "This is the right plan in the
oriented streets, public parking facilities, facades that are scaled to the pedestrian, right place at the right time."
and squares, plazas and other civic spaces. and to put on-site parking and service DAVID KELLER, CO-CHAIR,
The property and business owners commit functions to the backs of the buildings and CENTRAL PETALUMA
SPECIFIC PUN COMMITYEE
themselves to building high-quality the interiors of the blocks.
Everyone can understand the Tables.
The SmartCode defines what is essentially a ~ Frontage Types -What the fronts of Each of these elements' is clearly described
buildings will look like (see graphic below). and illustrated and then combined ontc
"kit of parts," with instructions, for
Building Placement -Where the one eas to-understand a e called the
building a place that is based directly on the ~ ~ Y- p g
buildings are located on the lots.
prefetences of the community. It is ~ Urban Standards (see graphicbeloiu).
Building Function -Allowed uses.
intended to ensure that the new buildings Civic Spaces -Types of open spaces.
are harmonious with each other and within Thoroughfare Types -Street types for
the character of the place. This kit of parts each black.
includes:
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ChapAw It . &iort Coo. '.i~~ , ! ~1`j~: . F'
Wepme v
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FRONTAGE TYPES -WHAT THE FRONTS OF BUILDINGS WILL LOOK LIKE
URBAN STANDARDS TABLE
The rules are clear to everyone who has al
interest in them -developers, plannin;
staff, elected officials and the averag
citizen.
~Vhy is a SmarfiCode so important?
oning codes already. exist. But
Inventional zoning codes don't necessarily
salt in walkable towns that everybody
ves. You can replace these outdated
Ming codes with community-supported
'nartCodes. These precrrely codify the
sign of buildings and streets to make
gem vital, walkable places.
martCodes create
whole places.
mike converitional zoning codes that
~cus on the separation of uses and
~sciplines, the SmartCode is an integrated
ade. It allows the various professions that
feet urbanism to act with unity of
arpose. Without integrated codes, each
iscipline tends to design. in a vacuum. The
vil engineer designs the streets. The
~chitects design the buildings. The
tidscape architect designs the plazas.
But all these places tend to remain
unassembled. The SmartCode puts them
all together.
Investment is
stimulated.
A strong community vision attracts
investors. Shopping centers and office
parks use predictable rules chat attract
investment away from older dries
and towns. SmartCodes embed the
same principles of predictability
back into them, giving investors a
Sable lnvestmeAt enVlronment.
The SmartCode organizes development
using what ecologists call a transect. A
natural transect (ree graphic) is a slice
through the landscape of plant and animal
life. Each plant community is whole, but it
is also part of a larger ecological
community.
The urban-rural transect of the SmartCode
extends this principle to the human
' k
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SL'.l:__~-. J!_!L4!__1~1:SRPL___L13il.lf{`ih8.1... F11 .}':)~: I~IWUt inn.. ...Xi:iruu~R':{~
NATURAL 1}2ANSECT ~q
... ,.. ....... . ...... . ......... ......I
The SmartCode r~-~~`-'
r7 ~~.
is ecologically `
~ r ~y y,:
based. (.
{~T1;.M"
Cities by nature tend towards
socioeconomic monocultures.
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6eww1 ~o..r. vows ia. ~ w. eet..waleoao+><o: ww~ .
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tXAMPLE OF A STREET CROSSTSEGTION
ud e~:
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~ ,'r€I~ j o
Tim,. -,.•IT3 '<" 1T, ""'"'TS `°""'~,,i6;...'°"{~D0.1.'v'
habitat, with diversity of uses increasing
cowards the center. It progresses from wild
nature, agriculture, and houses on large
lots all the way to dense, mixed-use town
centers. As in the natural transect, in the
urban-rural transect each neighborhood is
whole, but is also part of the larger city.
"We would do more work in those towns
that,have SmartCodes."
VIN SMITH, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE PETALUMA"BASED DEVELOPER,
BASIN ST19EET PROPERTIES
NO ONE WANTS TO WALK HERE -
TYPICAL ZONING CODE RESULT.
PEOPLE LOVE'TO WALK MERE -
A SMARTCODE VISION.
Rebuild your city. Do a SmartCode.
Fisher ~ Hull ~ 707.544.1910 ~ ww~w.fisherandhall.com
Healthy towns, like healthy
ecosystems, thrive on .
diversity. SmartCodes have
diversity embedded in them,
using principles found in
ecology to ensure a strong
and sustainable mix of ':
people, incomes and
interests.
Conventional zoning
codes of the last 50 years .}.
have given us placeless, Gel
auto-oriented sprawl, _
threatening the vitality
of our communities and the health of our
environment. The SmartCode is
different. When communities adopt a
5marcCode, they get aform-based plan
that codes the place where all citizens
meet -the public realm. SmartCodes use
sound ecological practices, walkable
urban design principles ,and full
community participation to ensure a plan
that will produce sustainable
communities that people care about.
~ _,
Adopt
a SmartCode . heights. 13y using the
SmartCode, cities save
e B e s t C o m m u r1 i ty. time and money, and
_____. establish a new common
zoning language that all
SmartCodes streamline :citizens, builders and investors can
tale COdlrlg PrOCeSS. ~ understand,
Unlike other form-based codes, which
require starting the coding process from
scratch each time, the .SmartCode is a
template used as a fully realized starting
point. The SmartCode is nistomized for
each municipality's locally-based cultural
preferences such as block size,
architecture, street width, and building
:The clarity, simplicity and strong vision
of the SmartCode improves the quality of
design proposals chat cities receive. It
also speeds the design review process.
With an adopted ~ SmartCode, cities
enhance the value of the reinvestment in
the public realm, and everyone benefits.
Fisher ~- Hall Urban Design
707.544.1910
' Www.fisherandhalt.CO,m
~I~SK~I~ ~~ ~~.~I~
U R A [1 N D E eS I G N
Traditional Tormn Planning ° Smar!'God~s
618 Fourth Street, Suite 243
Santa Rosa, California 95404
~~