Arcata1.com on your desktop for a bigger view. Learn more about our city.

No menu items!


HomeImportant TopicsForm-Based Code and Ministerial ReviewRedwood City Downtown Precise Plan - Form-Based Code

Redwood City Downtown Precise Plan – Form-Based Code

This article was written and put up on Arcata1.com on May 3, 2022, over one year ago.
I have made some small edits and am “bumping” it up so that it’s more prominent.
The Redwood City Downtown Precise Plan is considered as an excellent example of a Form-Based Code.


 

 Where and what is Redwood City ?

Redwood City is a dense urban metropolitan area of about 90,000 residents, located on Highway 101 about 25 miles south of San Francisco and 27 miles north of San Jose.  It is the home of such companies as Oracle, Electronic Arts, Shutterfly, and Avast, as well as being the capital city of San Mateo County.  Each day about 55,000 workers commute into Redwood City, and 31,000 workers commute out.

What is the Redwood City Precise Plan ?

The Redwood City Downtown Precise Plan (DTPP) describes the vision for the future of downtown Redwood City, regulates private development, and recommends potential future City projects.  It was adopted in 2011, and has been amended three times, in 2012, 2013, and 2016.

“Urbanism” vs “High Density Suburbia”

The plan makes the distinction between “Urbanism” – a cohesive, walkable downtown – and “High Density Suburbia,” where the car transportation is still the dominant factor. “Active” building frontages determine whether a street is lively or dull.


Form-Based Code

Their Precise Plan includes a comprehensive Form-Based Code, which could serve as a model for another city’s form-based codes.
Included in Redwood City’s plan are:

  • Zones ranging from 3 Stories to 12 Stories. [In Arcata, this might correspond to 2 to 6 stories.]
  • Along the major commercial/pedestrian streets and along much of the perimeter of the area, there is a Stepped-Height requirements of 3 Story maximum height.
  • On the building’s site, the portion of the building along the street is 3 stories, and then set back from the street the building can be 5-8 story maximum. The tallest buildings in the plan are 12 Stories, but the maximum along the commercial streets is 5-8 story.
    [This might correspond to a 2 Story height along the street, and a 4 Story maximum height along commercial streets.]
  • Stepped-height requirements in relation to adjacent Single-Family homes.
  • 15% of the units reserved as affordable housing.
  • Parking requirements of 0.75 (for a Studio) to 3 parking spaces per unit.
The Redwood City Downtown Precise Plan does not include such aspects as:
  • Specific requirements for bike lanes, traffic calming, pedestrian conditions, public open space designations.

Does the Redwood City Precise Plan include single-person Zoning Administrator review or Public/Planning Commission review?

The Redwood City Downtown Precise Plan is based on Planning Commission review (with public input) of all projects above a certain size or height.

Public Open Space and Bicycle Lanes

Public open space and bike lanes are part of other requirements in Redwood City, and are written about in “The Vision” of the plan in Book I (see link below).  The city has relatively wide streets, which lend themselves to designated bike lanes.  [Arcata has narrow streets, which make fitting two lanes of traffic, parking, sidewalks, and bike lanes to be a problematic issue.]  Also noted:

  • There are 23 public open space areas in the plan. 96% of all parcels in the plan are within a 3 minute walk of an open space.
  • Of the 23 public open space, 10 are designated as “Shadow Sensitive.” Maximum permitted building heights are reduced near these spaces. See Section 2.7, link below.

What is Redwood City’s Form-Based Code Document?

The Redwood City Precise Plan is a 194-page PDF document.  It is very dense in layout, and may be considered to be the equivalent of a 300 or 400 page book.  There’s a huge amount of information there, yet it is well-organized and easy to read. The content can be skimmed, with the extensive built-in graphics making it easy to find items of interest.  It is extremely specific in terms of what Redwood City wants developers to follow in their designs.  In some cases, the document provides planning guidelines on a block-by-block basis, so that new construction will fit in with the general aesthetics of that block.

 

How can I read the full Redwood City Downtown Precise Plan document ?

Right here, below. It is an outstanding example of what a plan can be.
Please take some time to view this document — there’s a lot there.
A summary with ~15 pages from the document is here on on Arcata1.com.

Instructions and Suggestions for viewing

  • To view the document full-size on your screen:  In the group of icons at the upper-right side of the viewer, the icon on the left of the group is the “Presentation Mode” icon. This will expand the viewer to full screen. Press Escape to return to normal view.
  • The Table of Contents is on Page 5.
  • You can go directly to a Page by typing that number in the page number box and pressing Enter.
  • The ↑ ↓ arrows will go up/down one page at a time. (Arrows may not be on cell-phone screens.) The – + buttons on the viewer will reduce/enlarge what you see. You can increase this to enlarge a diagram, for instance.  Sorry, pinch doesn’t work.
  • Thumbnails: Press or click the thumbnail icon (at the upper left) to turn thumbnails on or off. You’ll need to decrease the size (the percent) to view the entire width properly if you view the thumbnails.
  • You can copy-and-paste from this PDF viewer.
  • Search:  Want to search for something?  Use the Search button. Or Control-F or Cmd-F on your browser.
    As examples, a search for “bike lane” yields 10 entries; for “urbanism” yields 14; for “shadow” yields 20.
  • Print a single page or range of pages.  Or Download the document using the icon on the upper-right corner of the viewer, the middle icon.

 

 



How long did it take to create ?

Redwood City’s Form-Based Code is the result of much concentrated effort through community workshops and by 5 city upper-level staff members and 19 city staff employees, plus other city committees and numerous consultants.

In total, the process took approximately 3 years to develop the Plan, plus another year or more for the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) — a total of 3 or 4 years to develop a form-based code and an EIR.

 

Can Arcata benefit from Redwood City’s Precise Plan?

Their plan shows a huge amount of public input, thoughtful consideration, and hard work.  Redwood City is of course far wealthier than Arcata, with a greater amount of money devoted to public services.
 
Possibly the Redwood City Form-Based Code could be used as an outline for Arcata — essentially, could be copied in its entirety, with numbers and dimensions changed to fit our situation.  That is, where they talk about building heights of 3 to 12 stories, for Arcata that might correspond to building heights of 2 to 5 or 6 stories.
 
With countless citizen input, 24 staff people, and outside consultants, it still took 3 or 4 years to develop their plan and EIR.
 
 
The Redwood City downtown map, showing building heights.

Redwood City downtown map, showing building heights of 5 to 12 stories.  In Arcata, this might correspond to 2-6 stories.
Note the Yellow zones along the major commercial roads and along much of the perimeter.
This designates where buildings will have a 3-story height along the street, and then a 5 to 8 story height behind that.  In Arcata, this might correspond to a 2 Story height along the street, and a 4 Story maximum height along commercial streets.


3D Modeling of downtown Redwood City

A 3D modelling image of the downtown. Again, note the 3 story zone along Main Street, Broadway, parts of Maple Street, El Camino, and other locations.

 

 


Be sure to view other posts on this website about Ministerial Review, Form-Based Code, and how the Redwood City Downtown Precise Plan incorporates Planning Commission / Public Input Review into their process.