City Poised to Set Boundaries for "Downtown Rohnert Park"

OK, so the city's calling it Central Rohnert Park, but the process of building "" Rohnert Park has officially begun.

The City Council Tuesday will start the two-step process designating a 282-chunk of land in the middle of the city as a "priority development area," similar to a redevelopment zone, that would give the city access to monies for compact, infill and transit-oriented developent in a core geogrphaphic area.

According to a staff report, the area — bordered by Highway 101 to the west, by Santa Alicia Drive and Avram Avenue to the south and the railroad tracks to the east — would "allow the city to access funding administered through regional planning agencies, which are expected to direct more transportation and other funding to 'focused growth' areas as a way to meet greenhouse gas reduction goals of the Sustainable Communities Planning Act" or Senate Bill 375.

The law, passed in 2008, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars, and would work in concert with the Global Warming Solutions Act, or Assembly Bill 32.

Passed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006, AB 32 requires California to develop regulations that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

When Rohnert Park establishes the Priority Development Area, the city would be eligible for regional funds at least partly provided through the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments (as all cities included in the nine-county Bay Area would be), to develop areas in the city using environmentally-friendly practices, such as building up and not out and creating a city where residents and visitors aren't relegated solely to personal vehicles for transportation.

That includes building new housing and bringing in new businesses in what the city calls "high-density, mixed-use, transit-served areas with infill opportunities and housing" in Central Rohnert Park. Here's what officials outlined as potential opportunities:

• Includes the City Center, which the General Plan specifically calls out to encourage mixed-use development.
• Inludes several types of high-density housing, including multi-family, live-work and senior housing.
• Includes both proposed SMART station sites.
• Includes bike paths and lanes to provide non-motorized access as well as Golden Gate and Sonoma County Transit.
• Includes neighborhood-serving amenities and services as well as regional-commercial retail.
• Includes job-generating zones.
• State Farm Insurance is . The city seeks to redevelop the former campus and integrate the new use with retail, municipal and residential uses.

Initially the city only adopted Sonoma Mountain Village as a possible Priority Development Area, but recently said that Central Rohnert Park "can't be overlooked."

Propelling the issue of constructing a downtown, officials have that the future Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit station will be relocated to Rohnert Park Expressway and the railroad tracks, instead of the .

The city has concurred with a vision for a "complete community" outlined by the regional planning and transportation authorities. It states:

• Complete communities are those which provide the opportunity for people to live a complete day, including their work, school, services and recreation within the boundaries of their own neighborhoods.

• Complete communities offer these amenities in a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere where public transit is at least as convenient as the automobile.

• These neighborhoods or districts are self-sufficient by connecting transit and shopping, and are surrounded by different housing types, services and amenities.

• Complete communities are created through an integrated approach to transportation planning, land use planning and urban design with an inter-related set of policies that naturally reinforce one another.

Editor's note: the City Council will give direction to staff Tuesday, Sept. 13 and the final draft will come back before council on Sept. 27 for adoption.