Petaluma planning commission begins study session on comprehensive zoning code update

Petaluma Planning Commission held a study session on Jan. 27 to solicit nonbinding feedback on a comprehensive update to the city's implementing zoning ordinance (IZO), staff said.

Heather Hines, the city's Special Projects Manager, told the commission the IZO "implements the general plan" and has remained largely unchanged since 2008, leaving gaps and ambiguities that the update aims to correct. "So we are here tonight to talk about the zoning code update," Hines said, summarizing the staff's goals to modernize definitions, improve usability and ensure consistency with state law.

Planning Manager Andrew Bridal summarized national zoning trends that have shifted away from strict Euclidean separation of uses toward form- and performance-based approaches and said Petaluma's update should support housing, climate action and economic vitality while improving predictability for applicants. "As Heather mentioned, we're long overdue for a comprehensive update," Bridal said.

Why it matters: staff framed the update as the regulatory step that translates the recently completed policy work into enforceable rules. The update is intended to implement the city's general plan visioning (adoption hearings tentatively expected in 2026), the certified 2023 housing element and the Blueprint for Climate Action, and to respond to state laws staff said have changed since 2008.

Key questions raised: commissioners focused on how to phase and scope the work. Several asked how to handle the city's roughly 150 planned unit developments (PUDs) and planned community developments (PCDs), many of which staff said were written decades ago and now impede consistent administration. Council member Barnacle asked whether PUDs and PCDs should be handled one-off or via a more uniform approach; staff proposed grouping them into buckets (expire-and-rezone to standard districts; targeted reinterpretation; or tailored updates where value remains).

Commissioners also emphasized batching updates to produce early, tangible benefits. Multiple members recommended starting with items that reduce project uncertainty and staff burden'for example, ministerial approvals and small-lot strategies'and elevating nonhousing items that help small businesses open more quickly. Commissioners urged staff to consider consolidating PUD/PCD coverage on the zoning map early so the code applies to as much of the city as practical.

Technology and implementation: Commissioner Atkinson asked whether emerging technology and AI could be used to improve usability, such as tools to help applicants determine what they can do with a property. "How do we address the kind of paradigm change that I think emerging technology and AI does to specifically zoning codes?" Atkinson asked. Staff said some agencies are experimenting with AI tools but funding and technical capacity are constraints; they recommended further research and outreach to lenders and smaller developers about barriers to finance and project feasibility.

Community engagement and timeline: staff emphasized the need to align engagement and phasing with budget constraints and suggested a consistent communications package for most batches while reserving deeper outreach for controversial topics (parking reform was singled out). Staff said the general plan's implementation matrix will help identify which items require code updates and suggested adoption hearings could occur after the general plan process advances.

No formal votes or actions were taken during the study session. Staff said they will return with proposals on phasing, a communications strategy and more detailed recommendations on PUD/PCD consolidation. The commission closed the study session and later heard brief staff updates on advisory-board recruitment and the Petaluma North Station specific plan; the meeting adjourned at 8:24 p.m.

Sources: meeting staff report and in-meeting statements by Heather Hines and Andrew Bridal, Petaluma Planning Commission study session, Jan. 27.