At a special meeting this week, Cloverdale’s planning commission will be reviewing a presentation about the city’s downtown zoning, conducting a study session on opportunities related to updating downtown zoning and reviewing possible sites for further downtown development. The conversation is one of the first steps toward potentially updating zoning in the downtown area. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 20 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. The full meeting agenda, including the presentation that the commission will be viewing, is available here.
The lone item on Tuesday’s planning commission agenda is the state’s SB2 Planning Grant Program and how it relates to the city’s downtown zoning update. City staff, with consultant Placeworks, has put together proposed zoning code updates for the city’s downtown that would “support additional housing opportunities in the city’s walkable downtown, attract jobs and economic activity and enhance neighborhood services,” according to the commission’s agenda. “The project will also capitalize on existing and future transit access (including the SMART train) while ensuring compatibility with the city’s small-town character.”
The agenda item isn’t action item, meaning the planning commission is being asked to view the presentation, provide feedback on the update and ask any questions they may have on the update — this is one of the beginning steps when it comes to evaluating downtown zoning.
The update largely focuses on the current zoning and permitted uses in Cloverdale’s downtown, as well as the associated parking requirements and development standards. Assessing downtown zoning right now will help the city address any changes it may want to make that would need to be reflected in its housing element, as well as ones that may allow for more housing development in the downtown area, which would help with the zoning requirements put forth by the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA).
The city has also received up to $160,000 in SB2 grant funds, which are specifically used to support local governments when it comes to accelerating housing, streamlining approval of housing development, facilitating housing affordability and promoting development that’s consistent with state planning priorities.
In addition to tackling zoning and zoning-related housing mandates from the state, Tuesday’s presentation also pulls out analyses of specific parcels in downtown districts that are still developable — parcels mentioned include the building and parking lot on the corner of West 2nd Street and North Cloverdale Boulevard, next to the Cloverdale Performing Arts Center, the cement lot attached to the Plaza that also houses two storefronts, the corner lot at Citrus Fair Drive and South Cloverdale Boulevard that also houses the Quonset hut, among others. Of the five total sites being presented, the presentation in the agenda states that one will be selected by the project team for further analysis.
According to the agenda for updating downtown zoning, development analysis of Cloverdale’s downtown will occur between April and June, a public outreach workshop will take place in June and draft ordinance amendments are slated for July through August.
