Cotati holds workshop on Santero Way rezoning, staff proposes TOC zoning and parking limits

Thank you, Mayor Ford, members of the council. I'm Noah House, community development director for the city. And we are going to be discussing Cotati's transit oriented community and Santero Way rezoning, in a workshop format; no decisions are being made tonight, Noah House said at the start of a lengthy presentation.

The presentation laid out proposed changes intended to bring Cotati into compliance with ABAG/MTC’s draft Transit-Oriented Communities guidance and to implement the Santero Way specific plan update. Staff recommended creating two new zoning districts (a primarily residential Santero Way district and a mixed-use TOC district along East Cotati Avenue), adopting density and floor-area-ratio ranges, and setting parking maximums. The changes are intended to increase the city’s competitiveness for regional grant funds tied to TOC compliance and to guide redevelopment near the SMART station.

The recommendations matter because they would change development rules for parcels within a half-mile of the SMART station and make targeted code changes citywide. Staff told the council the proposed residential densities would generally range from 25 to 35 units per acre, commercial floor-area ratios (FAR) would be 1.0 to 3.0, and residential…