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Santa Rosa Station Area Plan
Santa Rosa is planning for the future of its downtown. For
local residents, this means an opportunity to create vibrant downtown
neighborhoods, with walkable streets, good transit connections, housing
for all, and development with reduced pollution and waste.
With funding from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the City
created a vision for the next 25 years of development around the
anticipated downtown SMART train station. This plan has the potential
to create a vibrant downtown core for the city, with more residents,
a mix of uses, bike- and pedestrian-friendly streets, and stimulate more
ridership for the anticipated SMART train.
The zone being discussed for the Station Area Plan includes the areas
around both Courthouse and Railroad Squares, including the adjacent neighborhoods,
for about a half-mile radius from the train station. Click here for the map.
What's At Stake
Years of development with cars rather than people in mind has drained
much of the life out of Santa Rosa's downtown. Revitalizing the downtown
will require getting more people there by locating future homes in this
area, including a mix of shops and jobs and offices, and making it easier
to walk and use public transit.
The Station Area Plan is an opportunity to do just that. The plan will
govern allowable land uses (like retail, commercial, and residential),
as well as transit connections, street design, parks and public spaces,
bike routes, and building heights and densities. Additionally, the plan
has the potential to ensure that new housing is affordable to all income
levels, and that new development is environmentally responsible through
green building practices.
What You Can Do
- To get involved with our campaign to ensure a strong Station Area Plan, contact Daisy Pistey-Lyhne at (707) 575-3661 or by email.
- Sign up for campaign updates from the Accountable
Development Coalition and Greenbelt Alliance, or find out about meeting
dates, by contacting Jessica Diaz by phone at (707) 321-1577 or by
e-mailing her.
- Comment on the draft Station Area Plan, either
through written comment or public comment. Send written comments
to Ken MacNab by email, fax, or mail:
Ken MacNab
Department of Advance Planning and Public Policy
City of Santa Rosa
100 Santa Rosa Avenue, Post Office Box 1678
Santa Rosa, CA 95402
kmacnab@srcity.org
Fax (707) 543-3218
- Write a letter
to the editor of the Press
Democrat to call for walkable and bike-friendly streets,
homes we can all afford, and a vibrant downtown.
- Get on the official email list to receive updates from the City by emailing
City Planner Ken MacNab.
- Santa Rosa's Station Area is a Great Communities Collaborative site.
To find out more about this effort, go to their
website.
Campaign Update
June 2008
Despite the adoption of the Santa Rosa Downtown Station Area Specific Plan, property owners are already challenging the increases in heights and densities and changed uses. On July 10, the Planning Commission will hold an important meeting to discuss the future of the Station Area Plan zoning and design.
November/December 2007
On October 9, the Santa Rosa City Council adopted the final version
of the Santa Rosa Downtown Station Area Specific Plan. The final version
is available at the City of Santa Rosa website. The final plan includes
language calling for pedestrian design for streets, routes for safe bicycle
travel, pocket parks throughout the Plan area, improvement of bike parking
standards,
and the adoption of a citywide green building ordinance—and also
calls on the City to explore options for providing higher levels of affordability
in the new homes that will be built. All of these changes could not have
been possible without the overwhelming outpouring
of input
from local residents about the future of the city's downtown. However,
much of what will happen on the ground will be determined in the months
and
years to come. Currently, Greenbelt Alliance and allies are tracking
citywide processes dealing with four issue areas to ensure that
the Plan's language becomes reality as development begins. As part of
this, on December 18, the Santa Rosa City Council adopted a mandatory
green building ordinance, bringing Santa Rosa in line with surrounding
cities. Additionally, the citywide processes of the Housing Element
update, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, and the Recreation and
Parks Business and Strategic Action Plan will all determine the fate
of development inside the Station Area. It is important for local residents
to remain involved in these processes to ensure a better future for Santa
Rosa.
August 2007
On August 15, the Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of
the Station Area Plan to the City Council. As an initial victory, the
amended version includes provisions to create affordable homes, reduced
car parking requirements, improved bike parking standards, preservation
of the parks proposed in the plan, and designation and protection of
the Imwalle Gardens for Urban Agriculture. Thanks to efforts of Greenbelt
Alliance and our allies, it will also have a memo
attached
that recommends the adoption of mandatory green building standards
throughout the city. Hearings before the City Council will begin
in October, and we will need to have a strong presence there also to
ensure that these provisions stay in the Plan as it is adopted.
July 2007
The Santa Rosa Planning Commission is in the middle of deliberations
on the Station Area Plan, and they need to hear from all concerned residents.
They are deciding whether future development in the downtown will include:
•
Buildings that are better for the environment and people
•
Homes affordable to the whole community
•
Lots of room devoted to parks, plazas, and open space, instead of excessive
parking
•
Ample parking for bicycles
Currently, the Commission is not supporting homes we can all afford,
nor creating green buildings. Write to the Commission
and City Council, and attend the Planning Commission’s final meeting
on Wednesday, August 15 at 7pm in City Council Chambers to see how
they vote.
June 2007
The Santa Rosa community has turned out in force to support stronger
policies for development in the Downtown Station Area. In May, approximately
100 people showed up to the Planning Commission hearing on the Plan.
Over 50 speakers spoke in support of the Accountable Development Coalition’s
platform for affordable housing, green building requirements, bike parking
and access, and urban parks and open space. Because of this strong showing,
the Planning Commission requested that Planning Staff investigate these
concerns and return to the Commission in July with proposed policies
to address them. The City Council is now scheduled to hear the Plan in
September, and we will be working until then to make sure that these
policies are adopted as part of the Station Area Plan.
April 2007
Over 200 letters have been submitted to the City of Santa Rosa, calling
for green building design, housing affordable to the whole community,
walkable, bikeable streets, and design for community spaces. The City
is determining how to respond. It is essential that residents express
their support for these issues so that the City takes them seriously.
Each letter sent in makes it harder for the Council to deny the importance
of these issues to their voters. Greenbelt Alliance and the Accountable
Development Coalition have attended meetings of numerous city boards
and commissions in order to get these issues on the table as the Plan
moves forward to the Planning Commission. The time is now for the whole
community to support these goals.
March 2007
The Downtown Station Area Planning process has been moving ahead in
2007. While the Plan lays out a vision of a walkable, bikable downtown
with
housing for all and a variety of transportation options for the community,
it falls short of taking the steps needed to realize this vision
for future residents. Greenbelt Alliance is working with the Accountable
Development Coalition and the Conservation Action Fund for Education
to ensure that the Plan will provide housing for the whole community,
that development will enhance the natural environment, and that walking
and riding transit and bikes will be safe, easy, and efficient. Public
comment is needed on the Plan to ensure that the City Council gets
this message loud and clear, and we are asking local residents to
write
to the Council and Planning Commission to request a Plan that creates
a better downtown for the future. Support for affordable housing
and green building is growing, and over 200 letters have been submitted
to the City on these issues.
3/17/07 Letter to the editor: Emerald City? Santa Rosa Press Democrat
January 2007
Early January brought the release of the draft Downtown Station Area
Plan (SAP). The Plan is available for download from the City of Santa
Rosa’s website, www.stationareaplan.net, under Project Documents.
Written comments on the Plan will be accepted for 45 days. A public comment
hearing will be held on Wednesday, January 31 at 6:30pm at the Hyatt
Vineyard Creek Hotel in Railroad Square. A workshop on transit-oriented
development was held for decision makers from cities along the SMART
rail line on January 18. Greenbelt Alliance and allies are organizing
grassroots advocacy and lobbying elected officials to ensure that affordable
housing and form-based code are incorporated into the SAP as it moves
forward through the process.
November 2006
The release of the draft Downtown Santa Rosa Station Area Plan has been delayed until December. After the city releases the draft plan, public hearings will occur during a 45-day period for review. After this period, early next year, the Planning Commission and then the City Council will deliberate on the plan. Greenbelt Alliance, together with the Accountable Development Coalition and Sonoma County Conservation Action, is working to organize community support for mixed-use, transit-oriented development that includes strong affordable housing provisions.
October 2006
Greenbelt Alliance held a successful urban outing, Railroad Square in Focus, in downtown Santa Rosa on September 30. The event included a presentation about smart growth and transit-oriented development, and included a walking tour of the Railroad Square area. Quite a few members of the local community turned out with interest in the issue of future downtown development. The Draft Station Area Plan is now due out from the City of Santa Rosa in mid-December, when the public will have the opportunity to comment on the plan.
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