Planning commission certifies Santerra Way EIR, recommends updated specific plan to City Council

The Cotati Planning Commission voted on Jan. 13, 2025, to certify the draft environmental impact report (EIR) for the Santerra Way specific plan update and to adopt the updated specific plan for recommendation to the City Council. The commission’s approval clears the plan for a City Council hearing scheduled for Feb. 11, 2025, when the council will take final action.

Luke Lindenbusch, senior planner with consultant firm 4Leaf, described the project as "the culmination of close to a year and a half of effort" and walked commissioners and the public through the draft specific plan and the EIR analysis. The update focuses on roughly 25 acres centered on the Cotati SMART station depot and adjacent parcels, most of which remain vacant, and aims to modernize the 2001 plan with flexible mixed-use zoning and implementation measures.

Staff said the update was timed to align with regional Transit-Oriented Communities (TOC) requirements and recent state rules. The EIR covers additional parcels within a half-mile radius of the station so the city can evaluate potential TOC-driven rezoning without needing a separate environmental review in the near future. Staff and consultants told the commission that the TOC framework requires allowing higher residential densities near transit; the draft plan proposes minimum residential densities in the TOC zone of 25 dwelling units per acre and a maximum of 35 dwelling units per acre on parcels subject to the TOC analysis, and a commercial floor-area-ratio (FAR) range of roughly 1.0 to 3.0 for mixed-use areas.

The EIR and plan also address changes to parking policy required under state guidance: new development within the TOC area may not be subject to local parking minimums; the plan implements a parking maximum of 1.5 spaces per residential unit and a commercial maximum consistent with the city standard of approximately four spaces per 1,000 square feet for new commercial development. Staff emphasized that the parking rules apply to new projects and that developers may still propose parking but would be capped by the maximums. "You can imagine if you had a 10-unit apartment building, you would require 15 parking spaces under the maximum," a staff member explained in the hearing.

Public commenters raised evacuation and safety concerns for the Santerra Way cul-de-sac, which is largely one-way in and out. Laurie (resident) asked how an estimated additional population would evacuate, saying, "How could 1800 more people supposed to evacuate down that 1, a cul de sac?" Commissioners and staff responded that emergency-vehicle-access (EVA) requirements and circulation improvements had been analyzed. Staff noted that state law requires an emergency evacuation route for developments of 50 or more units, that the plan requires a required EVA connection at an existing stub street (Breen Way) and that the city owns a gravel lot at the cul-de-sac where an easement has been recorded to preserve a potential additional evacuation route.

Commissioners also discussed parking-management tools ranging from new street cross-sections with angled parking to resident permit programs and parking-management plans required of new developments. Consultant and city staff said the plan includes flexible design standards to support denser development, and implementation programs that identify funding strategies such as grants and potential financing districts for future infrastructure work.

During the hearing, the commission considered community outreach summarized in the staff report: three community advisory committee meetings, technical advisory consultations with regional agencies including SMART and Sonoma County Transit, on-site ‘‘pop-up’’ office sessions at the station depot, public workshops and surveys, and targeted outreach to Sonoma State University students.

The commission certified the EIR and voted to adopt the updated Santerra Way specific plan and forward it to the City Council with a recommendation for adoption. Roll-call votes recorded affirmative votes by the commissioners present. With the commission’s action the plan is scheduled for the City Council’s Feb. 11, 2025, meeting for final consideration.

What happens next: the City Council will hold a public hearing and make the final decision on the specific plan and any implementing rezoning ordinances. If the council approves the rezoning and other implementing actions, subsequent development proposals will be subject to the updated land-use designations, the TOC-aligned density ranges, the parking maximums and required evacuation and infrastructure conditions established in the plan and EIR.