The Director of Planning is requesting to rezone the subject 0.91 gross-acre site from CG Commercial General and LI Light Industrial to the CP Commercial Pedestrian Zoning District to allow pedestrian-oriented commercial uses. The site is currently occupied by a commercial building and surface parking.
The
subject site is irregularly shaped with approximately 172.5 linear feet of
frontage on The Alameda. The level site is surrounded by single-family residential
uses to the north and commercial uses to the south, east and west.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The environmental impacts of this project were addressed by a Final EIR entitled, “San José 2020 General Plan EIR,” which was certified on August 16, 1994, by the City of San José City Council Resolution Number: 65459
GENERAL PLAN CONFORMANCE
The site is designated on the San Jose 2020 General Plan Land Use/Transportation Diagram as Mixed Use with No Underlying Designation with a Neighborhood Business District Overlay.
Mixed Use Overlay
with No Underlying Designation
This General Plan designation was applied to an area totaling 7 acres, which includes the subject parcels. The designation allows a combination of residential and commercial uses, allowing parcels to develop entirely with either a residential or commercial use, or with mixed residential and commercial uses. The proposed zoning of Commercial Pedestrian, which would allow a range of commercial uses and/or a mixed use project, is consistent with this General Plan designation.
The Alameda
Neighborhood Business District
The Neighborhood Business District (NBD) overlay is applied to areas which are predominantly of a “Main Street” design, where buildings are connected to each other, form a continuous street façade, and have no setback from the sidewalk. The Alameda is an example of the “Main Street” design, where buildings are located adjacent to the street with parking areas in the back of the lot. This configuration is a key component to creating a pedestrian-oriented environment. The CP Commercial Pedestrian Zoning District is intended to support pedestrian-oriented retail activity at a scale compatible with surrounding residential neighborhoods. Therefore, staff concludes that the proposed CP Pedestrian Commercial Zoning District is consistent with this designation.
The current CG Commercial General zoning of the site was approved in February 2001, as part of the Zoning Code update. The Update changed the zoning district of all C-3 Commercial properties in the City to the CG Commercial General Zoning District. The CG Commercial General District allows substantially the same uses as the prior C-3 Commercial District, but the required building setbacks are not consistent with the neighborhood business district development pattern of the surrounding properties along The Alameda.
The existing CG General Commercial district requires a front building setback of 25 feet, consistent with the “Parking Lot Strip” type development which is typified by buildings set back from the street, with parking lots located between the building and the street. This type of development is inconsistent with commercial development in a “Main Street” Neighborhood Business District such as The Alameda NBD. The proposed CP Commercial Pedestrian Zoning District requires a building setback of no greater than 10 feet from the street and does not allow parking within this setback. This zoning district is consistent with “Sidewalk Strip” development that is pedestrian-oriented in nature and characterized by buildings located at or near the sidewalk with parking provided at the rear of the property.
Based on this analysis, staff concludes that the proposed rezoning to CP Commercial Pedestrian will bring the zoning of this site into conformance with the General Plan and facilitate implementation of uses on the site that are consistent with the Mixed Use Overlay and Neighborhood Business District designations and compatible with surrounding commercial and office uses.
A notice of the public hearing was distributed to the owners and tenants of all properties located within 500 feet of the project site. Staff has been available to discuss the proposal with members of the public.
RECOMMENDATION
Planning staff recommends approval of the proposed zoning for the following reasons:
1.The proposed rezoning is in conformance with the General Plan Land Use/Transportation Diagram designation of Mixed Use with No Underlying Designation with a Neighborhood Business District Overlay.
2.The proposed rezoning will facilitate development of this site that is compatible with the surrounding uses.