Mixed Up about Mixed Use Zoning?
Many residents are unfamiliar with the implications of Mixed Use zoning, its history, intent and effect on the nature of development. The project formerly known as “The Cloisters” (now known as the First Street East Project) is located on two parcels of land in the Northern portion of 1st Street East. Both parcels are zoned “Mixed Use” and how development proceeds is in large part guided by the provisions of that zoning.
The lot at Broadway and MacArthur Streets is also zoned Mixed Use.
City of Sonoma zoning designations determine the ways in which development can proceed on any given parcel of land, and every parcel of land in the City is covered by the provisions of its Zoning Ordinance within the Development Code.
There are a variety of zoning designations, including among others Residential, Commercial, Agricultural and Mixed Use. Additional designations such as Historic Overlay Zone or Housing Opportunity Site can combine with zoning designations to impart further potential regulatory limits on development. The Mixed Use zone was created as a zoning designation during the 1990s.
The intent of the Mixed Use zone was associated with the realization that creating a walkable, vital downtown neighborhood is in large part dependent upon a mix of uses, specifically a combination of residential and commercial. Just as the Sonoma Plaza contains buildings with retail uses at ground level and residential uses on upper floors, so the Mixed Use zone was envisioned as way to extend that pattern, particularly along the Broadway corridor. The alternative of segregating commercial from residential in downtown settings was rejected as incompatible with the goal of creating an active, pedestrian-friendly approach to development.
Moreover, when applied properly Mixed Use development tends to create a greater degree of creative residential variability, producing for example, apartments rather than single family homes. Recognizing Sonoma’s shortage of rental apartments, the Mixed Use zone created the potential to provide more of this desirable form of housing, which often is more affordable to a wider spectrum of residents.
Some parcels within the city limits were developed with a combination of commercial and residential uses well before the Mixed Use zone was created. This is in part a reflection of the urban limits in place many years ago; what is today considered “in town” was then considered “on the outskirts.” The “Cloisters” project is proposed on this type of parcel, one which once defined Sonoma’s northern boundary with a light industrial use, and only later adjoined residential developments. In general, Mixed Use zoning is found along the major traffic corridor, Highway 12. A scattering of Mixed Use zoned parcels remain in other locations, and how exactly those parcels should be developed is clearly a matter requiring deliberation, as some of their adjoining parcels are now fully developed. Neighborhood compatibility is always a consideration, and on legacy Mixed Use zoned parcels particularly sensitive.
This is neither the first nor the last time a Mixed Use zoned parcel will come up for consideration, and the decisions made at this point may well provide guidance to the City and its residents as to how to proceed in such matters in the future.
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Your story about mixed use zoning left me thinking that the Broadway Motors/MacArthur decision made recently by The Sonoma Planning Commission is a big one in that they held that 3-stories is inconsistent with existing Codes along Broadway and not compatible with desired aesthetics and intentions for the development of the southern Gateway to Sonoma. This seems to be a major precedent for the coming projects slated for development along State Highway 12 and other key locations within the City of Sonoma.