Mountain View staff proposes sweeping R‑3 zoning rewrite; commissioners press on parking, lot‑consolidation incentive and retail limits

Mountain View planning staff presented a comprehensive update to the city’s R‑3 multi‑family zoning at an Environmental Planning Commission meeting on Jan. 7, 2026, proposing new subdistricts, higher floor‑area ratios and clearer form‑based standards intended to make allowed densities buildable while protecting neighborhood transitions.

Planning Manager Eric Anderson summarized the package as the result of a multi‑year project that began in 2020. Staff proposed four R‑3 subdistricts (R‑3A, B, C and D) with different density bands and a design handbook to clarify building form, setbacks, habitable ground‑floor depth, parking placement and massing controls. Anderson said the changes are meant to “ensure that development is able to physically accommodate the number of units that they are allowed.” He told commissioners the update also includes a revised nonconforming‑use approach, incentives for lot consolidation in R‑3D areas and a proposed allowance for live‑work units across R‑3 with dedicated commercial limited to R‑3D.

The package responds in part to state housing laws, Anderson said, noting that newer statutes (discussed in the meeting as SB‑684, SB‑1123, SB‑9 and the recently enacted SB‑79) can supersede local standards in some cases and that staff is preparing a separate code section to implement projects that would rely on those state paths.

Public commenters generally supported the update while urging refinements. James Kuzmall said he supports more density and displacement protections but urged wider…