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ATTACHMENT 5 THE CITY OF —`` \_ till �„ HI Iii MI ii I 111 LE AS4NTONC ITEM 3: REDLINED PLAN, PART 2 At the March 27, 2018, meeting, the Task Force began review of redline chapters of the Downtown Specific Plan, including the Planning Area Context and Historic Preservation chapters. For this meeting, two additional chapters with proposed changes are provided to the Task Force for discussion: 1) Land Use; and 2) Design and Beautification (now referred to as Downtown Design). Land Use Chapter The Land Use chapter provides an overview of existing conditions downtown, and provides policies and programs to guide the uses of land within the plan area. Provided below are specific topics where staff would benefit from the Task Force's input. They include: building height, ground floor residential uses, uses in the Mixed Use — Transitional district, and active ground floor uses. Building Height Height Limitations based on Building Stories The Downtown Specific Plan currently prescribes height limitations based on both number of stories and building height within the commercial districts and residential districts. The municipal code prescribes height maximums, but does not specify number of stories. The specific plan limits buildings (both commercial and residential) to two stories in the Downtown Commercial area, and establishes criteria for three-story structures to be considered on a case-by-case basis. The criteria for approval of three-story structures require the building to be pedestrian in scale as determined by Design Review, and require design features to ensure adequate architectural articulation and reduce the appearance of the third story. The specific plan also indicates that the height limits of the municipal code must be met. In the C-C District (the zoning district that implements the Downtown Commercial specific plan land use designation), the maximum height limit is 40 feet. While the 40-foot height allowance is a maximum, it implies a three-story building is permitted since three stories can be accommodated within the height limit — the apparent contradictions between these two standards has been challenging for staff and decision-makers to reconcile, and led to uncertainty for applicants in trying to determine what building heights may be allowed. Due to these ambiguities, staff suggests it would be beneficial to eliminate this discrepancy between the specific plan and the municipal code. With regard to use of number of stories as a development standard, staff recommends the language limiting number of stories be removed from the specific plan, and instead Prepared for the April 24, 2018 Downtown Specific Plan Update Task Force Meeting Page 1 of 13