Cotati planning commission backs TOC zoning changes, limits unbundled parking to station area

The Cotati Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended that the City Council adopt an ordinance implementing Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) rules and Santero Way-specific zoning updates, but amended staff’s draft to limit a controversial parking change — ‘unbundled’ parking — to the parcels inside the half-mile TOC radius.

Director Noah Hausch, Cotati’s community development director, told the commission the ordinance is largely a compliance step with ABAG/MTC TOC policies and would not itself propose any immediate new development. "There’s no projects proposed with this," he said, describing the ordinance as “resetting the rules” for properties near the SMART station and across town.

The amendment approved by the commission narrows a requirement from staff’s draft that would have allowed unbundling (charging separately for parking rather than including it with rent) citywide for multifamily housing. Commissioners instead asked that unbundling apply only inside the TOC area and directed staff to return to council with (1) how many TOC compliance points are tied to…