Commissioners briefed on draft zoning districts and upcoming development standards

Miriam Keller, City planning executive, and Renee Bieberstein of Code Studio presented the first phase of the city’s zoning code rewrite to the Planning Commission.

Bieberstein said the March release of draft districts and a draft zoning map prompted substantial public comment. She summarized recurring themes: concerns about the absence of a single‑family‑exclusive district, questions about neighborhood mixed‑use mapping, parking and density impacts, and requests for clearer use definitions and standards. “We had a lot of comments asking for more clarity about what some of these uses meant,” Bieberstein said.

The consultants outlined the next module of work — development standards — to be released next week. That module will propose standards for pedestrian and bicycle access, bicycle parking, clear pedestrian zones, vehicle access and curb cuts, parking lot dimensions and landscaping, transition and screening standards where intensive districts abut lower‑rise neighborhoods, tree‑planting and canopy requirements for larger projects, sign regulation updates, and lighting standards.

Staff told the commission they will expand outreach to neighborhoods that had limited participation in the initial comment period (examples cited on the map included Mark Twain and Kings Oak). Commissioners encouraged connecting the zoning update to ongoing neighborhood planning efforts to reduce duplicate outreach and to use neighborhood plan participants as a starting point for engagement.

No formal action was required; staff said a fuller draft (including an administration module covering variances and decision processes) will follow in the fall and will come back to the commission for review.