Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Zoning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council continues public hearing on DMU North floor-area-ratio change to May 13
Summary
The council held the second of three public hearings on a requested general plan and zoning-text amendment to reduce the minimum sitewide floor area ratio (FAR) in the Downtown Mixed Use North (DMU North) from 1.25 to 0.5 and continued the matter to the May 13 meeting for final consideration.
The San Ramon City Council on April 22 continued a public hearing on a proposed general plan amendment and zoning-text change that would lower the minimum sitewide floor-area-ratio (FAR) for the Downtown Mixed Use North (DMU North) from 1.25 to 0.5. The item is the second of three required public hearings; the council set final consideration and the ordinance adoption for the May 13, 2025 meeting.
Staff and the applicant said the proposed change is administrative and would not itself approve any specific development. Rather, applicants seeking projects within DMU North would still submit site-specific proposals subject to the full planning and environmental review process. City staff and the applicant argued the current minimum FAR can create a governmental constraint that forces many projects to seek state density-bonus waivers in order to proceed; lowering the minimum FAR would better align the code with the zonedensity range (2020to 60 dwelling units per acre) and reduce the need for repeated state waivers.
During the hearing, staff reiterated the change does not grant automatic entitlements. Public commenters raised concerns about concentration of affordable units, proximity to existing neighborhoods and community outreach. Councilmembers asked clarifying questions about how the FAR and density ranges interact, whether approved high-rise projects in adjacent zones (for example related CityWalk approvals) are materially affected, and the interplay with state density-bonus law.
The council voted to keep the record open and continued the ordinance to the May 13 meeting to allow the required third hearing and to give members and the public time to review additional materials.
Council members said subsequent planning commission review of any individual project remains the venue for examining unit counts, affordable unit distribution, setbacks and other site-specific details.
