TABLE 5.3 LAND USE DESIGNATION SUMMARY WITH ALLOWED HEIGHT AND INTENSITY

Land Use Designation

Purpose

MAXIMUM F.A.R. PERMITTED DENSITY RANGE

Downtown Mixed Use (DMU)

• Maintain the existing economic base of the downtown while enhancing vibrancy of the downtown district by encouraging diversity of businesses and longer hours of activity.

3.5

• Create opportunity for higher intensity development along El Camino Real corridor on parcels of varying sizes.

• 25 to 50 Du/Ac on parcels fronting Broadway Ave.

• 70 to 110 Du/Ac on parcels fronting ECR

Corridor Mixed Use (CMU)

• Take advantage of proximity to the inter-modal stations and multi-modal complete street that El Camino Real is envisioned to be by allowing a mix of uses along the corridor.

3.5 70 to 130 Du/Ac

Residential Focused Mixed Use (RFMU)

• Focuses on medium to high-density multi-family residential use to allow of a variety of multi-family residential typology such as apartments, stacked flats, senior housing, live-work units, co-living, etc. with high quality shared amenities

• Allows commercial uses on the ground floor to create opportunity for neighborhood scale and local businesses, and to provide space for community serving uses.

Neighborhood Commercial Mixed Use (NCMU)

Residential

• Allows small offices for service-oriented businesses, along with retail, to strengthen its neighborhood serving function, within the Neighborhood Anchor district with residential use on upper floors.

• Unchanged. Defined in General Plan 2040

2.5 60 to 80 Du/Ac

2.5 80 Du/Ac

Refer to General Plan and Zoning Code

Refer to General Plan and Zoning Code

FIG 5.2: BUILDING HEIGHTS

Maximum building height is 65’ up to minimum of 60’ from property line on parcels adjacent to the railroad and single family neighborhood to the east.

(Note: All heights must be compatible with the SFO ALUCP)

Maximum building height is 55’ up to minimum of 30’ from property line on parcels adjacent to single family homes.

*Note: Heights governed by MSASP. Included here for reference.

Optimal Ratio of Street Width to Building Height

A ratio of street width to building height, where the street width (or distance between building facades across the street) is twice as wide as the heights of buildings on either side of the street (2:1) is considered as optimal for the following reasons:

• The buildings provide a sense of comfortable enclosure without blocking view of the sky from the street or from all floors of the building;

• Allows penetration of daylight to the ground plane and to the interior spaces of the buildings.

In urban settings, the optimal ratio is not always achievable due to other factors that determine building heights. In such instances, providing setbacks from the front property line and stepping back upper floors of the building is required to achieve the ratio. Streetscape elements such as trees, street lighting, vertical signage, etc. help to provide more definition to the streets.

Fig 5.3 illustrates two conditions along Broadway Avenue. The first crosssection is a condition where there is an existing building 40’ tall on one side of the street and a proposed building across the street at the maximum allowed height of 55’. In both conditions, buildings over 40’ tall challenge the ratio of 2:1. Therefore, an objective standard is established in this Plan requiring that floors above 40’ height are stepped at least six feet from the building wall directly below.

Fig 5.4 illustrates cross-sections along El Camino Real at two segments. On the southern segment of ECR with frontage streets on the west side, the distance between property lines is 155’. In this segment, the ratio is achieved with buildings at the maximum allowed height of 85’ on either side of the street when built to property line. But in the northern segment of ECR without frontage street the distance between property line across the street is 120’. In this condition, the optimal ratio cannot be achieved if 85’ tall buildings on either side are built to property line. It is therefore, an established objective standard that in this segment the buildings on one side of the street are set back from the property line, and floors above 65’ height are stepped at least six feet from the building wall directly below.

Since this segment of ECR is expected to have predominantly multi-family residential, the setback from the property line also creates space for stoops and landscaping for privacy, as well as the required on-site stormwater treatment and/or retention facilities.

FIG 5.3: BROADWAY CORRIDOR CROSS-SECTIONS

Broadway - with existing building on one side and proposed maximum height on the other side.

Broadway - with buildings at proposed maximum heights on both sides.