Pleasanton Planning Commission on July 23 recommended that the City Council adopt zoning-text changes to create a new “innovation based business” (IBB) land-use category and find the text amendments exempt from CEQA under CEQA Guidelines §15061(b)(3).
The proposed changes add IBBs to a range of industrial, office and planned-unit-development districts, prohibit IBBs within the downtown specific plan area, and retain review tools — minor conditional use permits (MCUP), conditional use permits (CUP) and design review — for projects that could affect neighbors. The commission voted unanimously to forward the package as revised by staff.
Why it matters: The city’s five-year economic development strategy prioritized zoning and permitting changes to attract high-value technology, life-science and advanced-manufacturing employers. The IBB category is intended to reduce regulatory barriers for those industries while preserving site-design, noise, setback and height controls intended to protect established neighborhoods and sensitive receptors.
Planning staff presenter Eric explained the intent: IBBs "generally include… biotechnology, robotics, advanced manufacturing, food tech, and other similar industries," and staff revised the earlier proposal to add map-based height boundaries, keep hotels and personal services tied to existing rules, and prohibit IBBs within the downtown specific plan area. Staff recommended keeping higher building heights (up to 85 feet) in areas such as Stoneridge Mall and Johnson Drive economic-development zones but limiting heights in other districts to 55 feet. The Hacienda PUD will continue to follow its PUD approvals for height.
Commissioners asked how staff would protect adjacent residential areas. A typical staff response explained that municipal-code setbacks, parking and landscape requirements, plus design-review findings and the MCUP/CUP processes, provide multiple checkpoints. "We do... require sun studies or shade shadow and shade studies, especially if we know that there are particular issues or with adjacency," the planner said. Staff further said that projects that require design review or MCUP/CUP will trigger 1,000-foot notice to neighbors.
The commission discussed whether to add a hard 40-foot height limit next to residential parcels but ultimately accepted staff’s recommendation to rely on project-level design review, MCUP/CUP and zoning-administrator discretion rather than a pre-set numerical buffer. Commissioner Pace said he preferred to "give it a chance" and monitor results rather than impose broad upfront restrictions that could deter investment. Commissioner Diego emphasized that the zoning administrator and appeal processes provide practical protections.
CEQA and next steps: Staff recommended a "common-sense" CEQA exemption for the text amendments because the action is a policy change without a specific development project tied to it; project-level CEQA review will occur for individual developments and may still be required. Planning staff Kim said, "This exemption is for the text amendments. The actual projects will have to go through their own CEQA review, which they may be exempt from CEQA or they may require additional CEQA review." The commission voted to forward the package to the City Council with a recommendation for approval.
What was decided: Motion to recommend approval of the IBB zoning-text amendments and to find the amendments exempt from CEQA under CEQA Guidelines §15061(b)(3) passed unanimously (Commissioner Jagel: yes; Commissioner Jane: aye; Commissioner Pace: aye; Commissioner Wedge: aye; Chair Morgan: aye). Staff will present the ordinance package to the City Council for final action.
Implementation notes: Staff said that permitted uses that are truly "as-of-right" will not trigger noticing but that projects requiring MCUP, CUP or design review will be noticed to property owners and tenants within 1,000 feet. Design-review and MCUP/CUP processes provide the primary tools to assess building massing, shadowing, noise and other neighborhood impacts for proposed IBB projects.