River District Specific Plan

For the 748-acre River District Area, the City proposes adopting policy documents to support a transit-oriented mixed-use urban environment that would include up to 8,144 dwelling units, 3.9 million square-feet of office, 854,000 square-feet of retail, 1.4 million square feet light industrial, and 3,044 hotel units.

The proposed River District special planning district consists of properties generally bounded by the Sacramento River on the west, the American River on the north, the Railyards on the south, and 18th Street on the east. The SPD is intended to implement the development standards and design guidelines in the River District area plan.

The goals of the River District SPD are as follows:

• Establish a greater mix of land uses and intensities to attract private investment;

• Provide the opportunity for reuse and rehabilitation of heavy commercial and industrial uses to take advantage of the light rail facilities in the area to reduce the number of obsolete and underutilized buildings and sites;

• Allow for the retention and continued operation of industrial and service oriented uses;

• Provide for improved circulation, infrastructure, and community facilities that will serve existing and future needs within the area;

• Provide for the future creation of a significant residential population as industrial uses are replaced or relocated within the River District area to achieve housing objectives of the central city and provide a jobs/housing balance for future office growth;

• Provide for the intensification of commercial and office uses within close proximity to the planned and existing light rail stations and Interstate 5;

• Discourage uses that contribute to visual or economic blight;

• Ensure that properties with hazardous material contamination within the River District area are remediated to the extent necessary to protect the health and safety of all possible site users and users of adjacent properties, consistent with applicable laws and regulations;

• To encourage the preservation of historic structures;

• Promote aesthetic improvements to the area by implementing development standards and design guidelines.

This Thursday the 12th, the Planning Commission will review and comment on proposed height limits within the River District, treatment of nonconforming uses, zoning code change entitlements (height, setback, and stepback), parking regulations, rezoning of industrial land to more mixed uses, feasibility of requiring ground floor commercial within specified areas of the district, and other issues regarding the draft River District plan.