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Ontario council adopts downtown planned-unit-development rules after debate over height and parking
Summary
After a lengthy debate over heights, tandem parking and urban character, the council voted 4–1 to introduce an ordinance establishing planning and design standards for a 21.58-acre downtown mixed-use area; the mayor pro tem had sought concessions limiting some heights and tandem parking.
The Ontario City Council voted 4–1 to introduce an ordinance establishing planning and design principles and development regulations for a 21.58-acre downtown mixed-use area, after heated council debate about building heights, parking configurations and the city’s long-term development direction.
The ordinance (file PUD23-004) sets standards for future development in the Euclid Avenue entertainment and surrounding blocks, including allowed building heights, setbacks and parking performance standards. The mayor pro tem proposed concessions that would have limited downtown building heights to four stories in some areas, increased allowable tandem parking from 20% to 30%, and adjusted a street setback range; proponents of the staff approach said the existing policy direction supports the taller, denser configuration and that changing rules now would undermine developer certainty.
"If all of a sudden we change direction ... people are investing hundreds of millions of dollars based on the policy direction that we have stated," one council member said in opposition to changing the recommendation. Supporters of the mayor pro tem’s compromise argued that downtown context and neighborhood character justify more modest heights and fewer tandem spaces.
Council discussion touched on the need for parking, preservation of historic downtown footprints and the economics of building viable developments. Staff explained that certain downtown frontages (for example, along Holt Boulevard) contain specific height and setback strategies designed to balance parking, preservation and mixed uses.
The council voted to adopt the ordinance as presented by staff by an electronic vote recorded as 4–1. The mayor pro tem’s proposed amendments did not receive a majority. The record does not show a subsequent direction to recirculate the ordinance language; staff will proceed with the ordinance introduction and the next steps in the legislative process.
