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Council conducts first reading of Grand Gateway zoning ordinance to streamline redevelopment
Summary
The West Sacramento City Council on Jan. 15 conducted the first reading of Ordinance 25-1 to create the Grand Gateway Zoning District, a step staff says will simplify review and increase capacity for future mixed‑use development; the action passed on a 5-0 roll call.
The West Sacramento City Council on Wednesday conducted the first reading of Ordinance 25‑1, establishing a new Grand Gateway Zoning District intended to streamline future redevelopment of roughly 8.5 acres within the Grand Gateway area.
City staff said the new zoning district will consolidate multiple planning standards that currently apply to parcels in the area and update development controls to encourage transit‑oriented, higher‑density mixed use projects. "This item builds on the success of the Grand Gateway master plan," Mark Paljemas, Community Investment Manager, told the council during the presentation.
Senior planner Daniel Berman described specific changes staff is proposing: raising the minimum density from 20 to 30 units per acre, increasing the minimum floor area ratio from 0.3 to 0.75 and allowing a higher maximum building height proposed up to 90 feet. "The project is exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 15183 of the CEQA Guidelines," Berman said, referencing the streamlined environmental review that applies when projects are consistent with existing plans and prior environmental analyses.
Staff told the council the Grand Gateway area has been the subject of three decades of planning, property acquisition and site remediation. The city is operating under an exclusive negotiating agreement with a development team that envisions a project with more than 400 residential units (25% of which the ENA describes as affordable), plus retail, hotel space, a parking structure and a public plaza. Staff said the city will next work on a tentative subdivision map and final map to further prepare the site for development, and that a disposition and development agreement with the selected developer would follow once terms are specified.
Councilmember questions focused on notification and next steps. Staff told the council they mailed notices within a 500‑foot radius and published a legal advertisement, and that the zoning action is one of several steps (subdivision mapping and a DDA) toward making the site "shovel ready." Mayor Pro Tem Dante Early moved the staff recommendation and councilmember Orozco seconded. The motion passed on a 5‑0 roll call.
The first‑reading ordinance (Ordinance 25‑1) will return to the council for a subsequent reading and final adoption consistent with the municipal code and the city’s ordinance process.
