The Healdsburg City Council will tackle two broad topics at its next meeting, to be held on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. at Healdsburg City Hall on Grove Street (moved from the usual Monday meeting due to the President’s day holiday).
In addition to buying a utility terrain vehicle for the public works department, approving road closures for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade and other routine items, the council will discuss citywide design guidelines and possible limits on hotels.
The design guidelines have been developed over the past two years by a consulting firm, which hosted community workshops and focus groups and met often with the city’s planning staff. The guidelines, which have not been updated for decades, are seen as a way to promote building that fits the existing character of the community. To learn more about the guidelines, visit www.ci.healdsburg.ca.us/787/Design-Guidelines-Update-Project.
The council will also consider whether to limit hotels in the downtown area. This could take the form of requiring a potential hotel to apply for a conditional use permit, which triggers a higher level of scrutiny than the existing permit process.
Other suggestions have included a moratorium on new hotels in the downtown zone, restricting the number of rooms of new hotels, or requiring new hotel projects to contribute to workforce housing construction.
The council will not make a final decision Tuesday night, but is expected to give the city planning staff clear direction on what it wants to do on the topic.
