San Ramon considers lowering minimum FAR in Downtown Mixed Use North to 0.5

San Ramon city staff and the applicant described a proposal Feb. 11 to amend the general plan and the zoning ordinance to lower the minimum sitewide floor area ratio (FAR) in the Downtown Mixed Use North (DMU North) from 1.25 to 0.5.

Cindy Yee, senior planner with the City of San Ramon Planning Division, told the joint City Council and Planning Commission public hearing that the item involves two ordinance changes: a general plan amendment (GPA 2024-0001) and a zoning text amendment (TA 2024-0003). "The request in front of you this evening is for 2 amendments, 1 amendment to the general plan and 1 amendment to the zoning ordinance," Yee said, and she emphasized that "No formal action is going to be, taken this evening, so we are just here really to provide an overview."

The DMU North area is roughly 205 acres in the city core, bounded roughly by Executive Parkway, Bollinger Canyon/CityWalk to the south, Alamo/Alcosta Boulevard to the east, I‑680 to the west and parcels along Norris Canyon Road to the north. Yee said Sunset Development Company, an owner of parcels in DMU North, requested the reduction. Sunset currently owns about 12 parcels that total roughly 96 acres of the 205-acre DMU North area.

Floor area ratio measures buildable floor area…