The City Council on Sept. 15 introduced for first reading an ordinance to revise the zoning code for Zone D, clarifying permitted commercial uses and changing the conditional‑use permit (CUP) process so the planning commission is the primary approving body with appeals to city council.

Planner Gopika Nair explained the changes are intended to implement the sixth‑cycle housing element, remove subjective criteria from residential CUP review, streamline procedures and add clarity for applicants. Zone D parcels are primarily concentrated along Grand Avenue and at the corner of Vista and Highland avenues.

Under the proposal, certain neighborhood‑scale retail and service uses would be permitted in Zone D subject to performance standards. The draft list includes wine shops, bakeries, clothing and art stores, restaurants and cafés, florists, bookstores, bike and hardware stores, offices, fitness and dance studios, tutoring or photography studios, and hair‑salon and barber services. Performance standards in the draft limit hours of operation, regulate outdoor activity and address loading, signage and similar impacts.

The draft ordinance would eliminate the automatic CUP requirement for some building modifications that meet objective criteria and instead allow them by building permit. It also creates a defined minor‑amendment pathway for CUPs (for example, cumulative physical expansions up to 10%, intra‑property relocations of a use, or a 25% change in hours or employee counts) that would be reviewed by staff rather than requiring a full CUP process. The draft makes clear that an approved CUP runs with the land after change in ownership and exempts certain low‑dwell‑time uses such as bakeries and florists from parking requirements.

Nair said the revisions resulted from more than a year of public engagement — two community surveys, mailed notices to commercial property owners, multiple planning commission study sessions, a council study session and an August open house — and that the planning commission unanimously recommended the ordinance to council after a public hearing on Aug. 11.

Council members asked clarifying questions about appeal rights, which uses remain prohibited (the draft continues to bar hotels/motels, fast‑food drive‑throughs and mining/industrial uses), and whether the change will reduce the number of CUPs; staff said the amendments are expected to reduce minor CUPs before the commission by creating permit‑level pathways and clearer standards.

Councilor Mark Ramsey made a motion to introduce the first reading as presented and to note consistency with the city's environmental review; Vice Mayor McCarthy seconded and the council passed the motion unanimously. Staff said the second reading could be scheduled as soon as Oct. 6 and the code changes would take effect within 30 days after adoption of the ordinance's second reading.

Ending: The council approved introduction of the ordinance and will consider a second reading at a subsequent meeting; the amendments aim to clarify permitted neighborhood‑scale uses in Zone D and to streamline CUP procedures for less‑impactful modifications.