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Council reviews proposed commercial/industrial use tables and a new Commercial Innovation zone
Summary
The council reviewed draft use tables consolidating commercial districts, adding modern definitions, and creating a Commercial Innovation (CI) district with flexible development standards (roll‑up doors, 20% storefront glazing, and 16‑ft ground‑floor height). Members asked staff to clarify AUP vs. CUP uses and to refine fencing and glazing language.
At a workshop session on April 30, Atascadero staff presented a package of zoning‑code updates intended to align the zoning code with the general plan, consolidate overlapping commercial districts into four new districts (Commercial, Commercial Services, Commercial Innovation (CI), and Industrial), and clarify or add modern land‑use definitions.
Consultant Genevieve Charo (MIG) told the council the update aims to simplify the code while implementing policy goals. "The commercial place types districts are concentrated on El Camino Real..." she said, and highlighted new definitions including commissary/commercial kitchens, battery energy storage (as a defined use with a CUP in industrial), and separate treatment of small gyms versus large fitness facilities.
A major focus was the proposed CI district, intended to attract maker and light‑production uses with flexible setbacks, guidelines to push outdoor storage behind buildings, requirements that buildings be designed for future adaptable use (for example roll‑up doors), and modest street‑facing transparency (20% glazing). Staff proposed a 16‑foot minimum ground‑floor clear height to accommodate roll‑up doors and forklifts; council members debated the tradeoffs between 14 and 16 feet for cost and building‑height implications.
Council members also examined the processing level for specific uses. Several members recommended moving some uses from conditional use permits (CUPs) to administrative use permits (AUPs) to make approvals less costly and faster for applicants (for example caretakers' units, laundromats in some zones, temporary events that do not require extensive setup/cleanup). Staff agreed to clarify and to limit hearings for AUPs to cases where notified parties request them.
The council asked staff to: clarify overlapping definitions (studio vs. artisan manufacturing), allow decorative low fencing on street frontages while restricting solid screening at the sidewalk, and add design‑exception language. Staff said they would return with revised language that reflects the council’s guidance.
No final code amendments were adopted at the meeting; the discussion provided direction for staff drafting of the formal code changes and updates to permit processing procedures.
