[1:05] >> Thank you for standing up.

[1:07] Okay.

[1:08] So Spanish translation available.

[1:12] And town clerk, will you please take roll call?

[1:20] >> Thank you vice mayor.

[1:21] Yes.

[1:22] Council member salmon?

[1:26] Council member leap?

[1:29] Council member Wahl? (inaudible) mayor is currently absent.

[1:44] Do planning Commission roll call.

[1:49] [calling roll]

[2:01] >> Thank you.

[2:02] Next we will move to the Pledge of Allegiance.

[2:10] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States

[2:13] of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation

[2:17] under God indivisible with liberty --

[2:22] we are moving on to agenda item number five,

[2:27] conflict of interest declarations.

[2:30] Any conflict of interest to declare?

[2:33] She is excusing herself due to the --

[2:38] residence and anyone from the Planning Commission have

[2:41] a conflict of interest to declare?

[2:44] Okay.

[2:44] We are going to be holding public comment after we have

[2:51] our -- and only comments --

[2:55] I'll read that afterwards.

[2:56] We're going to handle public comment

[2:58] after we do the stationary and plan updates.

[3:01] We'll go to item 7.1 and I will ask --

[3:06] Ask Community Director to please introduce and give

[3:11] the presentation.

[3:19] >> Thank you Vice mayor. (inaudible)

[3:27] >> Thank you vice Mayor and members of the Council

[3:29] and members of the Planning Commission.

[3:31] Director and we are here today for a special joint meeting

[3:35] to have a workshop session on the area plan

[3:41] update for the town of Windsor.

[3:44] We already have a stationary plan and this is a grant funded

[3:48] initiative to bring -- it's a grant provided by MTC

[3:53] governments for the cities in the Bay area.

[3:58] It's kind of a regional planning agency.

[4:02] They have a new transit oriented communities and this grant

[4:08] funding -- our stationary plan, mind with those transit oriented

[4:13] communities.

[4:15] There's no action associated with this item.

[4:19] This is just informational session

[4:20] where we can describe the plan and the update

[4:23] and get feedback from our decision

[4:25] makers and the community.

[4:27] That said, there's not a specific parcel or project

[4:33] that is under consideration.

[4:35] This is the entirety of the station area.

[4:38] Not the stationary plan which I've heard several times

[4:41] mentioned.

[4:41] It's the station area which is essentially walking distance --

[4:46] the smart station so it's generally about a half mile

[4:51] radius around that transit hub.

[4:56] And so we've got to the maps.

[5:01] This is an example -- this is what the current boundaries are

[5:04] of the station area.

[5:05] One of the things we're considering as part of this

[5:08] update are these boundaries -- (inaudible) downtown

[5:14] for Windsor.

[5:15] We've got some good feedback so far

[5:18] and we encourage you to continue sharing your thoughts on what

[5:22] the station area actually looks like geographically.

[5:25] It's a visioning document and so these are our long range goals.

[5:29] Part of the project is to determine

[5:31] what's our existing conditions.

[5:34] What's in the original plan and what's working?

[5:37] What needs to be revised?

[5:38] One of the elements that I point to

[5:42] often is an over of office space and at the original time

[5:47] downtowns were a great place to have lots of office floor area.

[5:51] That's not the environment now so we need to bring this plan up

[5:54] to date and reflect what actually

[5:56] are the conditions and more importantly, what

[5:59] do we want Windsor to look like in the coming decades.

[6:03] It is a decades long plan we're working on here.

[6:06] Not to say it's set in stone.

[6:08] It could be amended over time as new information presents itself

[6:11] but we have a great opportunity to open it

[6:13] up and take a look at what's working and what we want to see.

[6:17] I think with that we'll go to our next slide, which

[6:22] talks about that original plan itself.

[6:26] I will take this opportunity to introduce Kate.

[6:30] Juice with Perkins Eastman, a planning consultant firm working

[6:35] with the town that's working with this project.

[6:41] >> (inaudible)

[6:54] >> Hi everyone.

[6:54] Nice to see you again.

[6:55] My name is Kate and I'm a planner and urban designer.

[6:58] I have been working in the transit land

[7:02] use integration space my entire career,

[7:05] which is now about 20 years.

[7:07] So today I'm going to walk you through the scope

[7:11] of the stationary plan, why we are doing it now.

[7:16] I'll put some questions out there

[7:18] for you all to think about and also

[7:20] just do a little bit of onboarding and making

[7:23] sure everyone understands what the TOD concepts are about.

[7:29] That's the slide here.

[7:30] I like this because it really helps us think about how,

[7:34] and station areas or transit and land use type

[7:38] places where you have access to rapid transit,

[7:41] you can make some different choices

[7:43] than you would in other places.

[7:45] That's pretty common sense.

[7:46] But actually there's lots of statistics that prove that out.

[7:50] This here is this idea of thinking about feet first,

[7:54] as we do our land use and circulation

[7:56] plans and the stationary plan.

[7:58] You're already starting from a great baseline.

[8:00] This slide -- it gets you in the mindset of how we make choices

[8:05] depending on where we live and what that place is like.

[8:11] Starting around the 1:00, it's thinking about diversity of land

[8:16] uses.

[8:16] You already have that in your stationary plan.

[8:18] You have a lot of mixed use land use zoning.

[8:21] What does that mean?

[8:23] You choose to stay in your neighborhood.

[8:25] The next one around the 3:00 is I enjoy small blocks,

[8:30] safe crossings common things to see, shade and benches.

[8:33] That's design quality.

[8:35] Moving around clockwise, this notion of density --

[8:38] why do we care about density in these places?

[8:42] We have a lot of different people in our community

[8:44] we're trying to support.

[8:45] That's the diversity of housing.

[8:47] You might have smaller apartments

[8:49] and you might have students or seniors

[8:51] come of people who want to live in a studio without a car.

[8:55] We know about a third of the U.S.

[8:57] Population doesn't have access to a vehicle,

[8:59] which is something that and moving around,

[9:06] demand management --

[9:07] and idea of making driving or thinking about how driving

[9:09] is actually a less convenient mobility choice than walking.

[9:13] We have distance to transit and that's

[9:15] a quick walk or ride to a station and lastly, destination

[9:19] accessibility.

[9:20] That's this notion of hey comments right here.

[9:23] I don't have to drive.

[9:24] These are conditions we think about when we

[9:27] are doing stationary planning.

[9:28] The next slide, as we already mentioned,

[9:32] you have a 2013 stationary plan and this is the zoning from it.

[9:37] If you're not familiar, the purple area

[9:40] is your most mixed use town center.

[9:44] There's various overlays that emphasize different uses

[9:48] throughout the stationary plan.

[9:51] There was a focus when this was done

[9:55] on more compact and walkable types of development which

[9:59] is great.

[10:00] We also know, and you all hear --

[10:03] some of these bigger sites com the key sites still

[10:06] haven't developed 15 years on.

[10:08] We want to question why.

[10:10] The next slide is the circulation side.

[10:14] We'll talk about both of these --

[10:16] the land use and design and circulation.

[10:18] We'll think about those more as a pair.

[10:21] This is your circulation plan.

[10:24] It's been a while.

[10:25] This listed out a whole bunch of different projects

[10:27] that were top of mind at the time.

[10:30] Remember, this is before the train station opened.

[10:34] It's way back.

[10:36] I think 2011 is when you did most of the work

[10:39] and it was adopted in 2013 and adopted in 2012

[10:42] and amended in 2013.

[10:44] So we now know more and now we're

[10:48] thinking about the next extension.

[10:50] The Healdsburg extension of the smart train.

[10:54] Some projects listed in the old plan are already done

[10:57] or you've already funded them or they are underway.

[10:59] One of the things that it did -- for you all to think about this

[11:04] next round is it really identified the old Redwood

[11:08] Highway and Pedestrianization and that went through a whole

[11:12] planning process and instigated some of the other plans that

[11:15] you've done in the interim period.

[11:16] That's one of the things stationary plans are good at.

[11:20] They can identify the overall emphasis or priority

[11:23] that the town wants to see and there's

[11:26] a series of implementation actions or plans

[11:28] that emerge from this plan, if that makes sense.

[11:32] So I did a review of the guiding principles

[11:37] and these are in the document.

[11:40] This is a reminder.

[11:42] You have them in your packet.

[11:44] I called out in blue some of those elements that

[11:47] really spoke to me about what the plan is trying to do.

[11:50] A lot of them are really relevant.

[11:53] We're starting at a good baseline but on the side there,

[11:57] for you all to think about in our discussion as we move

[12:00] forward, it is a sense of --

[12:03] is a downtown doing what we want it to do?

[12:05] What are the outcomes?

[12:07] What are the tools we have available to us?

[12:10] At the public sector, we can't do everything

[12:13] but we can put in place at least visions, regulation,

[12:18] process to really help us achieve our aims.

[12:21] We can think through programs, about public realm investments.

[12:25] We can think about parking and we

[12:28] can think about multimodal and transit priority

[12:30] in the downtown.

[12:34] So Patrick already went through some of this.

[12:39] I assume some of you are familiar with what's

[12:42] on this slide.

[12:43] I'll walk through it on a high level.

[12:45] One of the reasons it's happening now

[12:49] is Windsor got a grant and they got a grant from MTC.

[12:53] MTC has been working on consistency and areas

[12:57] where we are as a population, as a region making

[13:00] a lot of investment in our transit infrastructure.

[13:02] So Windsor has a station.

[13:06] It's documented as a tier four emerging urban district which

[13:11] means there are certain policy measures they would

[13:15] like to see towns and cities meet,

[13:18] be consistent with those ideas.

[13:21] Windsor is already doing really well.

[13:24] You have already met many of those policies.

[13:27] There's a few areas that you could address and refine

[13:31] and what that does is it maximizes

[13:33] your chance for discretionary funding between 1 and $2 million

[13:38] to do other things the town would like to see in the future.

[13:42] The other policy that's come through that MTC is working on

[13:46] is something called the transit Priority Policy for roadways

[13:50] and that's new.

[13:51] It was adopted in February of this year and all that does

[13:56] is it encourages jurisdictions, yourselves

[13:58] to be partners with your local transit agencies.

[14:02] So that is signal transit and smart.

[14:05] And the reason to do that now is because you actually

[14:09] have transit agencies rethinking their operations now

[14:11] that you have the smart train completed.

[14:14] You have the Windsor extension funded

[14:16] and they are thinking about how best to service these existing

[14:19] spots.

[14:20] They're going to already be thinking

[14:21] through some operational changes and they also

[14:24] have different ways that they want to encourage you and fund

[14:28] better access to that station.

[14:30] We can have a conversation at this point

[14:33] to help recommend what the town would like to see

[14:36] and how to better collaborate with the transit agency

[14:40] partners.

[14:40] On the other side, this is just documenting

[14:44] all the things that have changed in California since 2012.

[14:49] I'm sure you're aware we have a housing

[14:51] crisis in the state of California

[14:53] has been active passing legislation

[14:55] to encourage new housing.

[14:58] This allows us to do some refinements

[15:01] and update the stationary plan to your existing design

[15:05] standards that are already adopted.

[15:07] They haven't been tested or used in the downtown.

[15:10] You haven't had any multifamily development actually be built

[15:14] since the odds were written and the ODS and stationary plan

[15:20] design standards aren't --

[15:21] it was never really a full reconciliation.

[15:24] This allows us to do that.

[15:28] And lastly, AB2097, another state law

[15:34] that removes parking minimums within a half mile of transit

[15:37] stations.

[15:37] This is an opportunity to relook at parking,

[15:41] think about how to implement that state law

[15:44] and introduce new management tools

[15:46] so we can see active turnover in parking spaces downtown.

[15:51] So what this also does is it helps you think

[15:54] about the categories of change.

[15:56] We have the density and land use.

[16:00] We have the circulation associated

[16:03] with transit agencies.

[16:04] And we have parking.

[16:07] It's these three streams that will all work together.

[16:11] So this slide -- you can have a look at it.

[16:17] This is a report card as it were and this is how

[16:21] MTC will look at consistency.

[16:22] They're not using the term compliance anymore.

[16:27] Consistency is more of a gentle term

[16:29] as it were, because what they're trying to do

[16:32] is encourage through incentive program jurisdictions

[16:35] to pay attention to those three buckets,

[16:38] to think about how do we get more people,

[16:41] more access to transit.

[16:43] So we did an early scan of Windsor's ability

[16:48] to be consistent and again, you guys

[16:52] are doing well with the existing stationary plan

[16:55] and we see without a huge overhaul of the stationary plan,

[16:59] you would be consistent in each of these different categories

[17:02] and we are seeking 88 points.

[17:06] To win consistency you need a minimum of 85 points.

[17:09] This is good.

[17:10] I actually just did a project in Fairfield

[17:14] to give you an example of.

[17:16] They did not comply.

[17:17] It was very difficult to get there

[17:20] but ultimately it wasn't going to work

[17:23] for a variety of different reasons.

[17:24] Windsor is in a different situation,

[17:27] so just so you know, this is going to be a different exercise

[17:30] and it is going to be a different exercise

[17:32] for every jurisdiction.

[17:34] I think Petaluma is working on this right now.

[17:36] There's a variety of different grants going out

[17:39] across the nine county region.

[17:41] You're looking at a host of different jurisdictions,

[17:43] trying to address these challenges

[17:46] in their own unique ways.

[17:48] Again, whoops -- here is the TOC area the MTC is using.

[18:00] I already went through some of this.

[18:01] This is about coordinating with smart and the STC,

[18:06] thinking through how best to make use of that.

[18:09] Here's a little map showing you and some of our information

[18:13] gathering -- we're starting to learn more about your Emily Rose

[18:16] parking lot and the existing smart parking lot

[18:19] in the roundabout and some of the changes going on.

[18:24] We've had some interview sessions with the partners

[18:28] already and we are hearing a lot of interesting collaborating --

[18:33] we're hearing a lot from folks that they just want to make --

[18:36] to optimize the lot to make it clear about how to get

[18:39] to downtown, thinking through bike access and multimodal

[18:43] access.

[18:44] There's a lot we can do to be thinking through how to optimize

[18:49] this location right here.

[18:51] And the next slide is looking at the parking consistency.

[18:57] As you remember on the report card

[18:59] there was the parking area or the parking work stream

[19:03] as it were.

[19:04] So here we are working through how do we return and make

[19:09] use of some of the work that Windsor has already done.

[19:12] I don't know if this group is aware

[19:15] but you have a parking recommendation study

[19:17] done in 2020 and that was done by some consultants and also

[19:22] Nygaard, who came in before the station opened and gave you

[19:26] a host of different choices and policy recommendations of how

[19:29] to manage parking downtown once the station opened.

[19:32] Some of those recommendations have been implemented and some

[19:36] haven't.

[19:36] This is an opportunity to revisit that

[19:39] and our work scope does include more data collections,

[19:43] specifically at the Emily Rose lot, where

[19:45] we can get better information on who is using the lot, how often,

[19:50] looking at ridership and projections and the smart train

[19:53] as well as using some of the best practices that

[19:56] are coming through both MTC and Sonoma County

[20:01] climate and Transit Authority on how to better manage parking.

[20:06] On this slide there's a list of the different potential

[20:10] strategies that might be included during the process

[20:14] and these are things will prefer express with your team and staff

[20:19] and we'll be able to give you more information.

[20:21] Probably of the four different categories with MTC,

[20:25] parking has some of the most -- we can make more changes there

[20:34] because of AB2097 and because we could update your ordinance

[20:38] as well as introduce some minor shifts to how you calculate

[20:42] shared parking and transportation demand

[20:44] management.

[20:47] And lastly, towns are not static.

[20:51] You've done a lot of work since 2012.

[20:54] This gives an opportunity to update and coordinate

[20:57] the stationary plan with a lot of these plans that have already

[21:00] happened.

[21:00] The general plan for example got updated in the interim.

[21:04] You've got the Complete Streets policy

[21:06] that's currently being updated, the Vision Zero Action Plan.

[21:10] This is best practices happening now.

[21:12] You have the active transportation plan

[21:14] that was just updated this past year.

[21:18] Connecting central Windsor plan --

[21:20] which is over of 101 and the upgrades to Windsor River road

[21:25] -- the old highway implementation where we are now,

[21:27] wherever you want to go with that.

[21:30] And the economic Development Strategic plan --

[21:34] updated resilient water and -- that are now coming to bear

[21:38] and again, the design standards.

[21:41] With that I'm going to pause and see if anyone has questions.

[21:47] Go ahead. >>With AB2097 is talking about parking

[21:55] and transit locations, is transit location defined

[21:58] in terms of one bus stop --

[22:01] >> Can you use the microphone please?

[22:05] So the audience -- >> The question was about clarification

[22:09] on AB2097 the definition of a transit location because I

[22:14] imagine the systems or train systems that are small

[22:17] don't have the same requirements and Windsor is still --

[22:23] between smart and SAT, it doesn't seem to make sense that

[22:28] we would have the same parking standards as the bigger

[22:31] municipalities or other more developed transit --

[22:36] similar to MTC, it's a tiered approach and only applicable

[22:41] to the half mile around your existing station.

[22:44] Bus stations are not included.

[22:48] >> The train station just being present,

[22:49] regardless of ridership, is considered a transit location,

[22:54] the same as a Bart station?

[22:57] It's a tiered approach. (inaudible)

[23:59] >> No minimum parking requirements.

[24:00] Yeah, you can still have maximums

[24:02] or you can have market based standards.

[24:05] There are exceptions.

[24:08] >> No minimum?

[24:09] Does that mean you don't have to have a parking space for each --

[24:12] >> Correct.

[24:16] >> That's the same for tier 4.

[24:21] And the location we're working with, yes.

[24:23] One of the things to think through

[24:27] is no developer wants to build a unit that's not marketable.

[24:31] This tries to move more towards a market based standards

[24:34] and like I said, there's -- the rule in 2097.

[24:40] It's not something that is across the board for every

[24:43] single -- you've already implemented 2097.

[24:49] In the town of Windsor.

[24:52] What we're going to do is refine that

[24:53] and make sure the codes are up to date with the best practice.

[25:11] >> So the way consultants work, is first things we try to do is

[25:13] understand what problem we are trying to solve.

[25:15] We try to learn as much as we can about your town

[25:19] and about your challenges and also about your opportunities.

[25:23] We got started this spring, I think in April, March.

[25:30] And we really started to do what we call information gathering.

[25:34] When we do that we talk one on one.

[25:37] We do small group workshops and talk to your group

[25:40] and go on tours.

[25:42] We do our micro scan and look at your buyer ship.

[25:46] We collect all the information and that's

[25:48] what we are doing right now.

[25:50] One of the things we did when we started out

[25:53] was this walk audit where we had about 25 residents and some

[25:58] of you here today come up we developed a route

[26:01] and we did really a human scale look at what it's

[26:05] like to walk to and from the station on a variety of routes.

[26:09] And that's really about experiencing life

[26:12] at a walking pace.

[26:14] And thinking about small scale interventions,

[26:17] like benches and shade and accessibility,

[26:20] where crosswalks are and where they aren't.

[26:23] What's been included in the act transportation plan

[26:26] and what hasn't been.

[26:27] A lot of what we talked about there,

[26:30] and there were a lot of themes that emerged,

[26:32] was about signage and wayfinding, accessibility

[26:36] and trying to show the world how it is that they can access

[26:41] the best parts of Windsor from the station,

[26:43] and thinking about engagement and activation

[26:46] of the public realm.

[26:48] You can see here we've done a little bit of analysis

[26:51] on the findings and all the comments

[26:53] and you can see that generally it's very positive.

[26:57] That's the green.

[26:59] And where there's some marginal negative,

[27:01] that is on the location of amenities.

[27:05] So really, this notion you'll hear a fair amount from me

[27:08] tonight is this idea of activation.

[27:10] Like I said, we are in the process

[27:15] of information gathering.

[27:16] One of the things we're trying to do a better job at

[27:20] is broaden the number of people we talk

[27:23] to during planning exercises.

[27:25] You all are here.

[27:27] You're invited and your decision makers.

[27:30] We also want to be engaging with the broader population

[27:33] and as you know that can be difficult.

[27:35] One of the things we are trying out, and staff has been great,

[27:40] is something we are calling intercept surveys.

[27:43] Maybe you've seen some of these around.

[27:45] They are short questionnaires that

[27:47] ask simple questions to try to get people engaged,

[27:50] to give us their first take on downtown.

[27:54] That can help us broaden our reach.

[27:56] It can also educate people that the SAP is happening

[28:04] and what it is and give it a temperature check of how people

[28:06] are feeling about downtown.

[28:08] We have about 160 responses so far

[28:11] and this intercept survey will be out through September

[28:16] and we'll be able to add to that every time we

[28:19] get a new batch of information.

[28:21] Staff has been great in taking those out.

[28:25] Maybe some of you here want to help us

[28:26] with The intercept survey over the next month,

[28:29] because it's a great time.

[28:30] We have lots of events in Windsor

[28:33] to start to see how people are feeling about it.

[28:36] Some of the basic questions we have --

[28:40] we've been asking basic demographics, age of residents,

[28:43] how they got to where they are.

[28:46] You can see in the pie charts for the first 160

[28:50] and how welcoming and engaging does downtown

[28:53] feel to you right now.

[28:55] Good news, generally people are pretty positive.

[28:58] On a scale of 1 to 5 it is average, 4.56.

[29:04] We also made a fun word cloud that I

[29:08] think is representative of a lot of comments

[29:11] and maybe some of the thoughts you have

[29:14] while you're looking at it.

[29:16] You can see ice cream a lot and restaurants and social summer,

[29:22] green Baskin-Robbins -- so I think this can help us --

[29:28] we'll see how this changes over time as we get more.

[29:33] And right now there's senior activities

[29:35] and some other social events where they

[29:37] were asking these questions.

[29:38] This is a good way to do a temperature check

[29:41] and we have the full comments as well made available.

[29:46] >> I believe we have some intercept surveys here tonight

[29:48] too if you want to fill that out.

[29:51] >> Go fill them out.

[29:54] >> We are trying to categorize them based on --

[29:57] we ask one question of like what would be the one thing you would

[30:00] want to see to improve downtown, and this slide shows you those

[30:05] early answers.

[30:06] The top here is new and extended uses.

[30:12] So longer hours, more variety of activities,

[30:15] and we have a public realm upgrades.

[30:20] And not everybody is responding.

[30:23] You can see that one.

[30:25] No response.

[30:26] We have some others that are Uncategorizable

[30:29] and some mobility improvements.

[30:32] This will change over time.

[30:35] It's pretty interesting place to start.

[30:37] The other thing we did was we did hold an informal discussion

[30:44] on July 20th, 2.5 hours.

[30:46] Most people stayed for all 2.5 hours.

[30:49] I think people had a good time.

[30:51] The purpose of that meeting was to review

[30:54] what is a SAP, what are we doing, asking

[31:00] key questions about downtown, those themes we talked about,

[31:03] that activation density and land use theme and then

[31:06] the circulation parking and transportation theme.

[31:09] So we got people thinking about both of those

[31:13] and collected those comments.

[31:14] We had about 40 or 50 attendees.

[31:17] And at the end we tried to ask a question about people's top

[31:23] priority, top project for Windsor and again,

[31:26] here you can see focusing on a kind of --

[31:31] oops -- activation with live music and entertainment winning

[31:39] out over the bookstore/bar.

[31:45] So this was a fun exercise.

[31:50] Obviously not everybody was able to participate

[31:53] but lots of commonalities.

[31:55] One of the things we like to do as we get started with a project

[32:01] is look at other places and try to get some inspiration

[32:05] and see how you guys respond to those things.

[32:08] The next set of slides goes through lessons

[32:11] from other places that we think are

[32:13] exciting or interesting common things that

[32:15] might be relevant to think about as we move forward with the SAP.

[32:21] Another piece that I want to do some baseline with the group

[32:24] here is thinking about this slide, which

[32:28] I shared at the community workshop as a way

[32:31] to kind of think about the purpose of a downtown.

[32:35] I think this slide helps -- it's kind of a time scale that starts

[32:44] way long ago on the left and we moved into modernity

[32:46] on the right.

[32:47] And if we think about what downtowns

[32:51] were for when we originally built our cities,

[32:54] they were necessary.

[32:55] They were for trade, for meeting and for a living

[32:59] and where you essentially went for your economic activity.

[33:07] And now post COVID with cars and mobility, with COVID and work

[33:15] from home, the purpose of a downtown

[33:17] has essentially shifted.

[33:19] And we are seeing that in trends in this country and many

[33:25] as we have to rethink how to engage

[33:26] and what is the purpose of a downtown.

[33:29] One of the things for shorthand we can call about --

[33:34] we can call it is it went from a necessary activity

[33:39] to an optional activity.

[33:41] And that's where we want to think about downtown

[33:45] as being a place where people will

[33:49] go when the quality is high.

[33:52] We want to think of how we attract people to that downtown

[33:56] because we're actually competing with a lot of other destinations

[34:01] and with retail environments we are competing with --.

[34:07] This slide is from a professor in public realm in Copenhagen

[34:12] and he uses this when he's trying to think through

[34:15] how do we reorient downtown places away from car use,

[34:21] more into public space and environments.

[34:26] So I took this and then I started thinking about okay,

[34:30] well, hearing these notions about activation and downtown,

[34:34] can we think about downtown as being

[34:36] a haven, a hangout or a hub or a place for hobbies?

[34:41] And these are some images, some places that fit --

[34:48] immersive experience and environments to where people go

[34:52] and bring their kids.

[34:53] An example of that is -- in Vegas.

[34:55] There's another one in Southern California in Palm Springs.

[35:02] There's bubble Planet, and Washington is not a large city

[35:06] but it does have these kids environment

[35:09] of people going and spending time and having

[35:12] an immersive experience and there's all the things

[35:15] that happen around that place.

[35:17] These are private or nonprofit led

[35:21] programs and repurposed spaces.

[35:23] On the bottom that's more of an investment

[35:25] in the quality of your public environment

[35:27] and Windsor already has a beautiful town green

[35:29] but there's more that could be done

[35:31] to activate those locations.

[35:34] Those are public led programs and spaces, so thinking

[35:37] about your streets and park environment,

[35:39] how they operate and function, improving things

[35:42] like movable seating or shade and also art experiences.

[35:45] We heard a lot about art at our workshop,

[35:49] and thinking through how do we engage with the community

[35:51] to bring people out and let them know what Windsor is about

[35:54] and provide creative outlets even for the residents who

[35:57] live here?

[35:58] So some examples of other locations that kind of fit

[36:03] the bill, and I can run through these pretty quickly --

[36:08] I'll show you the image of the development and then we'll do

[36:11] a scale comparison that essentially shows the place --

[36:15] there's an outline of it -- when it's dropped just on top

[36:19] of Windsor.

[36:19] So you can see what does that really mean in our environment?

[36:23] This first one is Paso Robles.

[36:29] This is called Market Walk and it's about 16,000ft² of mixed

[36:32] use.

[36:33] It was done by a private developers and there's 12 small

[36:36] format local businesses, two anchor restaurants and a wine

[36:40] and blending --

[36:42] bike rentals and six suites.

[36:45] Not a lot of lodging but popular as well as

[36:48] seasonal events and live music.

[36:51] Here's another image of that.

[36:53] You can see the scale and how it relates to the street.

[36:57] There's some adaptive for use involved.

[37:00] And one of the things that's interesting about

[37:03] that one is it's actually been occupied and stable since 2020.

[37:07] So bringing in tax revenue and has been quite popular.

[37:13] This next one that's pretty interesting

[37:15] is reading Public Market.

[37:17] I'm not sure if you all are familiar.

[37:20] This one just opened in 2025 and it was a big project

[37:25] that the city of Reading used as a catalyst for their downtown

[37:32] reinvention.

[37:32] They are in a different situation

[37:34] obviously than Windsor.

[37:35] This is a downtown that was anchored by a disused wall.

[37:39] They had to get them all, then break it up

[37:44] to introduce streets.

[37:45] The way they did that was through this public investment

[37:49] of a market and affordable housing

[37:52] which you can see on the left.

[37:54] And they were able to attract a whole bunch of external funding

[37:59] for this project, more than 30 million

[38:01] in grants to help get this done.

[38:04] It just opened this past year.

[38:07] So that's worth taking a look.

[38:09] Here's a scale comparison showing those two projects.

[38:13] You can see -- whoops -- so you can see that here.

[38:20] The Paso Robles market block, the reading public market,

[38:23] and all the way on the right is just sort of

[38:26] dropped on the McClellan hotel site.

[38:32] The next project I wanted to show

[38:35] is this one that is pretty interesting.

[38:37] It's River Street San Juan Capistrano.

[38:40] This is again a private market --

[38:43] this one kind of activates using the agricultural template,

[38:48] so thinking about this as a rule and agricultural community,

[38:52] so it focuses on a food hall, at sit down restaurants,

[38:59] similar specialty retail but it brings in more of a parallel

[39:04] lifestyle, boutique fitness and wellness and some seasonal

[39:08] events and music events.

[39:11] And it has a sequence of adaptable, low cost buildings

[39:16] that are arrayed around a public space.

[39:20] Here's another view into that project.

[39:26] And here is a little scale of comparison.

[39:31] One more project more local that would be easy to visit --

[39:37] not sure if folks are familiar with the barn and Sacramento.

[39:40] This is an interesting project that was really done as kind

[39:45] of a catalyst for West Sacramento and similar --

[39:50] this was done pre-pandemic and it had some challenges during

[39:55] the pandemic but it survived.

[39:57] It really focuses more on the iconic architecture

[40:00] that's quite small.

[40:02] You can see that it's a fully sustainable and mass timbered --

[40:08] it is essentially like a kiosk but it's iconic and then it has

[40:14] a series of fire pits and different event space around it.

[40:20] And it's an events venue here.

[40:24] It's been quite popular.

[40:26] And Drake's is actually a brewery

[40:28] based in my town in Oakland.

[40:30] One of the things that happened here is as an anchor for a mixed

[40:36] use project that was entitled, similar to what you see here

[40:40] in Windsor, six years ago -- it's only moving forward now

[40:45] with townhouses and an apartment building.

[40:48] Windsor is in good company with some

[40:51] of the projects that get delayed as the market shifts

[40:55] and you start to see the changes happen.

[40:59] Here's the scale comparison.

[41:01] You can see the barn here on the river

[41:06] and it's a pretty small actual site

[41:08] that is just dropped on top of where we are right now.

[41:12] One more that may be familiar to some of you

[41:18] is another wine city in Paso Robles again.

[41:21] That is just the Tin City.

[41:25] This is a series of small purveyors,

[41:27] small affordable buildings that are spread

[41:30] around a centralized idea, very walkable and accessible

[41:33] to the community.

[41:35] It's been very organic and its growth over time and again,

[41:39] it's about four blocks -- so you can see that there.

[41:44] And I think one of the things just to remember,

[41:47] those who haven't been reading the plan recently,

[41:49] is that you do have a series of active policies in the plan

[41:54] around mix of uses, around hospitality, engagement --

[41:59] there's an entertainment district overlay,

[42:01] a whole host of different things directing us to think about how

[42:05] do we activate and engage?

[42:07] This is one of the policies I just pulled from the plan

[42:11] and that gives me a question of hospitality, what type

[42:14] and how much?

[42:16] And one more example for you in terms

[42:21] of the market scan and thinking about trends here in Sonoma

[42:24] is this idea of outdoor active.

[42:27] I wanted to just talk about a building

[42:30] that I am friends with the person who developed it, which

[42:34] was for Brooks running shoes.

[42:37] What's interesting about this project

[42:39] is that Brooks had been located outside of the city of Seattle

[42:44] and they made a clear decision that they wanted

[42:47] to be closer to people who really run

[42:50] and recreational runners.

[42:51] So they were the anchor tenants for this building on Stoneway

[42:56] that is near the running and biking trail in Seattle.

[42:59] They've created a whole community around running.

[43:03] It's been an interesting thing to watch.

[43:06] It's similar to bike oriented development

[43:08] and it's this move in wellness and trail oriented development

[43:12] and I think there's a lot of attributes of Windsor

[43:15] that might make something like this make sense here.

[43:20] And so I'll pause and just a minutes.

[43:25] What are we doing now?

[43:27] As I mentioned, we've been collecting all this information

[43:30] and we're looking at parking, development

[43:34] pipeline, your codes, we're doing a market scan.

[43:38] And so the next steps are really about aligning

[43:41] with those consistency measures but also really taking

[43:45] the time to start to creatively solve

[43:48] for some of these challenges.

[43:51] So that means we kind of end our information gathering phase

[43:56] and we enter into our options phase

[43:58] where we start to develop ideas and recommendations

[44:00] and then we bring those back out to you all probably in the end

[44:05] of the year, early next year.

[44:08] So what we'll be looking at is thinking about activation,

[44:12] thinking about specialized or experiential retail,

[44:15] thinking about different ways that we

[44:18] can make sure that the code isn't unnecessarily

[44:22] tamping down the kind of activation

[44:24] that the community wants.

[44:27] We'll be thinking about the interaction

[44:29] between your overlays, between your parking requirements,

[44:33] administrative and discretionary controls,

[44:36] so that's that one theme.

[44:41] -- often done in parallel in a partnership with your transit

[44:46] agencies.

[44:46] Both Smart and Sonoma Transit.

[44:52] And then this side -- (inaudible).

[45:30] Essentially through -- concept.

[45:35] And they will be as design ideas --

[45:39] and what we'll extract from that is we'll kind of create some

[45:43] recommendations on how we can improve things to better meet

[45:48] the town's desired outcomes.

[45:50] This is not intended to be a massive overhaul of your code.

[45:55] And it's not intended to rezone the station area.

[45:59] What really focuses on fixes and gaps.

[46:02] So essentially making sure -- the SAP are working together

[46:10] and are well coordinated.

[46:11] A lot of the shoulds and discretionary language --

[46:15] it's no longer going to pass the state housing law.

[46:19] We want to prioritize some of the --

[46:23] maybe widening the idea or refine the idea of what is

[46:25] active use.

[46:27] And we want to think about how to recalibrate

[46:30] to provide some flexibility, to activate and help through how

[46:34] to streamline the process.

[46:36] We will do that through testing some of these key sites,

[46:41] typical sites.

[46:42] By that I mean basic lots in your town center

[46:46] and compact residential zones to see what's working

[46:48] and what's not working.

[46:50] We have the opportunity to work closely with real estate

[46:52] economists so we'll be able to look at programs

[46:55] and see what's happening and give you

[46:57] some information on what's happening

[46:58] and what's working and not working.

[47:01] With that, my part of the presentation is concluded

[47:05] and we can move to questions.

[47:07] I've got some questions here.

[47:09] Or feel free to give us your comment.

[47:13] >> Thank you so much for that presentation.

[47:15] That was a lot to think about in one go.

[47:21] Having the presentation, I'm going to bring it back

[47:25] to the Council and planning Commission for any questions

[47:28] you might have.

[47:30] Does anyone want to start?

[47:43] >> I'm assuming that --

[47:44] I am assuming that those '05 or so projects that you looked

[47:50] at, they were generally a little bit of housing,

[47:53] mostly retail activities, restaurants -- in those,

[47:58] how was parking accomplished or accommodated?

[48:03] Do you happen to remember where parking was supplied in order

[48:08] to make those function?

[48:11] >> It's different on each site but each site does accommodate

[48:14] its own parking.

[48:14] I can give some information about that later.

[48:17] I don't know off the top of my head.

[48:20] >> In general, was it part of the site?

[48:24] >> Correct.

[48:26] >> Thank you.

[48:27] And on the previous slide, the next steps -- it appears --

[48:34] that one.

[48:35] The diagonal striping includes (inaudible) the town hall that

[48:43] we're sitting in -- the gym.

[48:46] What does it mean potential test site as it relates to that area?

[48:53] >> All it means is doing some test fits,

[48:56] so thinking about what fits and what doesn't fit under

[48:59] your zoning code.

[49:03] >> We kind of went through -- >> Yep. (inaudible)

[49:13] >> The other question, you have given us 6 or 7 examples

[49:15] of development and other towns.

[49:18] But the ones that we can see, the Barlow and Sebastopol,

[49:23] Hillsborough, the development there --

[49:27] those are ones that we could get a sense for and experience

[49:31] and actually understand some of the problems that they have.

[49:38] I'm having trouble -- y?

[49:42] >> That's a great idea.

[49:43] Happy to bring forward some more local examples,

[49:46] if you have specific examples you want us to look at.

[49:51] >> If we look at Hillsborough, they have more than what

[49:56] you've shown in this.

[49:59] >> More activity.

[50:01] They have a plaza, hotels, a new covered area for events --

[50:08] the Foley Center.

[50:10] Yeah.

[50:10] They just have it all.

[50:13] It appears that that would be a better

[50:16] example for us to look at because we can actually see it.

[50:21] >> I did make a clear choice to stay away from Hillsborough

[50:24] actually because I wanted to expand beyond what is right next

[50:29] door.

[50:30] And I know a lot of what is happening

[50:33] in some of the other work we're doing

[50:35] is comparing Windsor's fundamentals to Hillsborough.

[50:39] I'm happy to bring in Hillsborough

[50:41] and want to focus on specific projects rather

[50:44] than overall area.

[50:46] So like a hotel -- sure.

[50:52] Commissioner?

[50:53] I just want to share because I have been to the Redding --

[50:58] >> We won't do questions right now or just questions.

[51:01] >> I will share with what the parking looks like

[51:03] in my experience, what else was in the surrounding area.

[51:10] >> Go ahead.

[51:11] >> He mentioned that -- this wasn't a time to look

[51:15] at overhauling the zoning but one of the things we've seen

[51:19] in 10 or 15 years since the plan is done --

[51:23] when it comes to density and housing,

[51:26] it's gone totally one direction and our current zoning exposes

[51:30] us a little bit to overbuilding in these areas from what we are

[51:34] planning.

[51:34] Which may not have been the case ten years ago.

[51:39] I get that limiting question through rezoning

[51:41] would probably make us ineligible for some

[51:43] of the funding you mentioned.

[51:45] But this would be the time to look

[51:46] at that if we wanted to put some speed

[51:50] bumps in place for development.

[51:53] >> It can be difficult to down zone but it certainly can be

[51:57] discussed.

[52:07] >> Any other questions?

[52:08] I have a quick question about --

[52:09] I don't remember what the wording is,

[52:13] of the previous slide you had up --

[52:17] can you explain what a potential test site means and what all

[52:20] the elements of that would look like so we can understand what

[52:25] that exercise is?

[52:27] >> The exercise is a design exercise.

[52:29] We have architects and urban designers

[52:31] and when we come around to the alternative phase,

[52:34] we'll have another public meeting.

[52:37] Some of our designs can either be

[52:39] located geographically or not.

[52:42] They can just be ideas that are focused on activation

[52:45] and thinking through how to really transform and make

[52:49] the downtown be what you all want it to be.

[52:53] I like to use real life sites because you

[52:56] get better information.

[52:58] But we're not trying to design any of these sites

[53:01] and none of these sites are a master plan.

[53:04] It's a test and exploration that we

[53:06] do as architects and designers and also, we

[53:09] have the opportunity to work with an economist

[53:12] to get a better sense of the fundamentals

[53:14] of the type of product you might want to see.

[53:17] And when I say product, I mean a market, a hotel, or a daycare.

[53:26] An amphitheater.

[53:28] Things like that.

[53:30] Where if you want to see some of these types of programs

[53:33] in your downtown, you need to understand the market

[53:36] fundamentals to achieve it.

[53:38] It's not intended necessarily to be designed

[53:42] for any one of these sites.

[53:44] I think we may not show it as such

[53:47] but we will use the sites as essentially test cases

[53:50] in order to test out design ideas.

[53:52] You can think about another example

[53:56] of that might be there's an interest in achieving

[54:00] infrastructure improvements that's paid

[54:03] for by private development.

[54:05] You want to know what your threshold is

[54:08] so you can access money to improve infrastructure.

[54:12] You want to know whether it's changing the fundamentals

[54:16] of that program or products.

[54:18] Does that make sense?

[54:20] >> If I could chime in, it's also a big question that comes

[54:23] up when we talk about different types of land uses or programing

[54:26] is the feasibility.

[54:27] This gives it opportunity to take

[54:30] actual underdeveloped properties of the downtown

[54:32] or developed in a way that still has potential and look

[54:36] at feasibility for these programs.

[54:38] As K was saying, not necessarily a specific site

[54:42] plan or design for anything.

[54:44] It's using the actual real world examples of the space

[54:49] so that we can see the feasibility of the plan.

[54:54] >> Okay.

[54:57] >> Yes please.

[54:58] >> Maybe you've just answered my question but I feel I'm still

[55:02] missing something.

[55:05] Why would we as a town be doing this as opposed to --

[55:12] we are not going to be building a market or building those

[55:15] projects you just showed as examples.

[55:18] So would not the developers or the investors be the ones

[55:23] that should be doing this feasibility planning?

[55:26] I'm not sure I'm tracking what we're even doing here come

[55:29] on talking about these -- >> One of the ways I think about it is

[55:33] it is de-risking programs you want to see.

[55:35] If you want to see activation or a hotel or new forms of housing,

[55:42] let's say, housing --

[55:44] I don't know -- you want to understand how best to achieve

[55:50] that.

[55:50] You're essentially telling the market

[55:52] through your regulatory and process requirements

[55:55] that you are ready.

[55:56] This provides you all with information

[56:00] and a better plan that helps you achieve your goals.

[56:04] Does that make sense?

[56:07] >> Sure.

[56:08] Thank you.

[56:12] >> And any other questions from planning?

[56:16] Go ahead.

[56:19] >> If I could, on the prior slide, the yellow --

[56:26] those are parcels that have applications.

[56:29] They're on this map.

[56:33] How information gathering and circulation --

[56:36] what does that mean?

[56:38] What does this plan intend to do with the ones in yellow?

[56:43] That would be the Millsite, the Windsor Creek site

[56:46] and the all of our site north of the Oliver Shopping Center.

[56:51] >> I think one of the things I would like to think that the SAP

[56:54] can do is provide better notion of circulation for those sites

[56:59] in yellow.

[57:00] We wouldn't be rezoning them and certainly there's

[57:04] an active application as you know on two of them

[57:07] and interest in a school site.

[57:09] This is a way to fill gaps in your existing stationary plan

[57:14] and so I have also information gathering because we are already

[57:17] collecting a lot of information from folks about that,

[57:21] and with the Active Creek, we want

[57:24] to understand how do we implement

[57:26] the additional circulation.

[57:28] One of the things that Windsor struggles with

[57:31] is that you have an incomplete street network.

[57:34] When the town was incorporated, a lot

[57:38] of the places that had been built by the county

[57:41] don't include sidewalks, they don't necessarily go through.

[57:45] One of the things we want to do is

[57:47] be more effective in helping build out your street network

[57:51] so you have the grid you've been looking for.

[57:55] I think in Belle Village, the old SAP has additional streets

[58:03] but it's not currently enforceable.

[58:06] >> And speaking to that, will the stationary plan deal with

[58:12] design and specifically when you look at the property north of --

[58:21] sorry, I'm not using the right term --

[58:25] there is a plan for a single family housing there.

[58:29] How would the stationary plan deal with that?

[58:35] >> We cannot affect it I don't think if it's already entitled.

[58:39] Not entitled.

[58:40] We would be able to defer to Kim.

[58:46] We will have to see, she said.

[58:49] They are on separate tracks.

[58:52] >> It's just an application at this point.

[58:55] >> It's an incomplete application.

[59:04] >> It's one of the reasons -- >> I can barely hear you.

[59:06] >> The mics are not very effective.

[59:08] So I guess -- the stationary plan --

[59:14] it's not going to deal with the zoning of that property?

[59:20] >> We'll deal with the zoning and that we do need to update

[59:23] the design standards, design and development standards.

[59:30] >> You mean make those as objective as opposed to --

[59:35] as possible?

[59:37] >> It's possible.

[59:39] This application is already in process.

[59:42] Depending on its timing, we will see what happens.

[59:47] The plan -- I was going to show you really quickly because I

[59:51] think this might answer some questions about the timing --

[59:55] is here.

[59:56] Just so you can see it.

[59:58] It's actually -- one of the reasons why it's not going to be

[1:00:02] a big overhaul is it is a short time period between 12 and 14

[1:00:07] months which is very fast.

[1:00:10] It's super fast for a planning project.

[1:00:13] We are here in the blue in the information gathering.

[1:00:17] Will have a period of this option hearing

[1:00:19] we were talking about with the alternatives and some findings

[1:00:23] and proposals and recommendations

[1:00:24] for your objective design standards and for programs.

[1:00:28] We'll come forward with some recommendations about mobility

[1:00:31] and mobility hub, how to achieve consistency for example.

[1:00:36] That will come forward at the end of the green here

[1:00:40] and then we are moving towards documentation

[1:00:42] and the final plan needs to be issued next summer quite early.

[1:00:48] It's really coming back to you all in May of 2027.

[1:00:56] >> Will you be prioritizing -- the Creek system for example,

[1:01:02] through the mill and the Windsor Creek School,

[1:01:05] in terms of pedestrian and bicycle mobility?

[1:01:09] >> I saw that comment and I think it's a good one.

[1:01:11] It's also a good example of this kind of feasibility work

[1:01:15] we could do is really understand what it would take, for example,

[1:01:19] your civic Center plan has a daylighting of the creek

[1:01:22] and a host of new streets.

[1:01:24] We might want to think through how do we better implement

[1:01:27] on that desired outcome.

[1:01:29] What can we put forward in the plan from programs

[1:01:33] to priorities?

[1:01:34] This is a way to put your priorities out there

[1:01:37] and the implementation happens through a sequence

[1:01:41] of other projects that are happening after the plan.

[1:01:46] >> Great, and so those comments will be part of our discussion

[1:01:50] after we hear public comment on things that are priorities

[1:01:53] for this council and Planning Commission and what you want

[1:01:56] to see in the station area plan so we can get that information

[1:01:59] out and part of the record and it will help the team go forward

[1:02:03] and put together a plan with all of our information, included,

[1:02:08] and we'll come back and visit again in the future.

[1:02:11] At this time what I want to do is open up public comment.

[1:02:16] Again comment this is a special meeting

[1:02:18] and only comments or statements concerning

[1:02:20] the agenda items listed today are going to be allowed.

[1:02:24] Each public comment is normally restricted to three minutes

[1:02:28] and we do have our clocks up.

[1:02:30] Hopefully they will be working.

[1:02:33] Anyone who wants to give public comments, please

[1:02:37] line up at the podium and we will have them

[1:02:39] all from here at the microphone.

[1:02:45] Anybody who wants to give public comment?

[1:02:49] Come on up.

[1:02:50] It's your time.

[1:03:02] Hello.

[1:03:03] Good evening Council and planning Commission. name

[1:03:03] is Melanie.

[1:03:03] I'm here because of Windsor Creek Elementary School site is

[1:03:06] part of the area plan and I believe it's future use needs

[1:03:09] to be carefully considered as U --

[1:03:27] Opportunity to serve the broader community

[1:03:30] rather than being a plan for high density

[1:03:32] residential development.

[1:03:33] This isn't simply about whether Windsor needs more housing.

[1:03:37] We need to plan responsibly for housing and growth

[1:03:41] and Windsor has already done a great deal in this area.

[1:03:44] The town has already met its requirements for low income

[1:03:47] housing and there's -- already underway.

[1:03:50] At this point I believe we need to slow down and take

[1:03:55] a A thoughtful look -- we need to find opportunities to make

[1:03:59] meaningful public spaces and destinations that benefit

[1:04:03] everyone in Windsor, not for residential development.

[1:04:08] The question is whether this particular park or type

[1:04:11] of development -- believe it is not.

[1:04:14] The station area and vibrant area is Windsor.

[1:04:17] It's a place residents can walk, communities

[1:04:24] who choose to spend their time and money in Windsor.

[1:04:28] High density resident development

[1:04:32] would miss an important opportunity.

[1:04:35] It would use one of Windsor's most valuable pieces of land

[1:04:38] to, primarily for housing, when we

[1:04:40] could be creating something that benefits the entire community.

[1:04:44] Be considered for a park, public open space, development

[1:04:48] and supports the goals of the station area plan.

[1:04:52] Any of those we thought would be a great fit

[1:04:54] for the Windsor Creek site.

[1:05:00] I'm asking the council to preserve this public use

[1:05:04] designation and protect this opportunity

[1:05:05] for the future of Windsor.

[1:05:07] Please do not change the general plan

[1:05:10] to development in this site.

[1:05:13] Thank you.

[1:05:24] >> Neighbors with Melanie there.

[1:05:26] I second everything she said and when

[1:05:28] looking at the examples, which I love,

[1:05:31] and I get why we are not looking at the Barlow or Hillsborough,

[1:05:36] because a lot of those are people traveling

[1:05:38] in wine tours and stuff.

[1:05:41] And what might be really really good,

[1:05:44] what I've been envisioning from the workshop that we had,

[1:05:48] was more family opportunity.

[1:05:51] Like Melanie said, it is a nice piece of land right

[1:05:55] in the middle and from all the transit, it is walking --

[1:05:59] and we talked about putting up signs like here or here,

[1:06:02] here's how you get there --

[1:06:04] there's a good opportunity for people to go oh,

[1:06:07] I'll get off the train and hang out --

[1:06:10] but just across the way here's this other, in my mind,

[1:06:14] multicultural center which has theater, things for kids to do.

[1:06:19] Maybe there's a thing at the green that adult bands and stuff

[1:06:23] but maybe there's something really fun for the teens

[1:06:26] to do but they're close by.

[1:06:28] They can meet up.

[1:06:30] I agree 100%.

[1:06:31] If we were to take an aerial view and look at the paths

[1:06:35] around the creek and all the places we could walk,

[1:06:39] any of those open land spaces around

[1:06:41] are just opportunities for us to grow community activity.

[1:06:46] So I agree with that.

[1:06:49] One of the examples that was here for the bar in Sacramento

[1:06:53] --

[1:06:54] I think what I saw was it's a cool structure and the parking

[1:06:58] -- it had gone up and I saw some cars up high which I

[1:07:02] hadn't really considered before.

[1:07:04] That leaves the structure underneath for people

[1:07:06] to do stuff inside with the cars being up top.

[1:07:10] Neat idea.

[1:07:11] Also something we've never done in Windsor

[1:07:13] is underground parking.

[1:07:15] I don't know what the rules are but being able to create parking

[1:07:21] underground so that we can utilize the space up top for us

[1:07:28] --

[1:07:29] to play and have fun -- that kind of thing --

[1:07:33] so off the cuff comments.

[1:07:35] Hope you'll take it into consideration.

[1:07:37] Thanks.

[1:07:39] >> Thank you.

[1:07:47] >> I'm Kevin, resident of Windsor.

[1:07:48] One of the takeaways I'm getting from participating in the group

[1:07:49] project we had in July and tonight

[1:07:51] is we've got to develop a spine of our community

[1:07:55] and what is going to come off of that spine

[1:07:58] so we have a future vision.

[1:08:01] What's problematic in my experience of Windsor

[1:08:03] is patches of developers going forward.

[1:08:07] And it's like a puzzle.

[1:08:09] Streets are weird.

[1:08:10] Sections of the community are chopped up, a lot chopped up.

[1:08:15] If we could focus on like when Sam is talking about Mill Creek

[1:08:21] -- what is our theme of the creek coming through,

[1:08:24] maybe reaching towards the other side of town?

[1:08:26] Is there a foot or bike path?

[1:08:29] What if we complement that with a conceptual planning

[1:08:32] we've been talking about tonight of specialized stores?

[1:08:36] We have some stores that have struggled.

[1:08:39] How do we get them to support days activities,

[1:08:43] out the Riverside Park -- and local things so it is

[1:08:46] Windsor's identity maybe outdoor recreation --

[1:08:50] and then things that start coming out of that around

[1:08:55] the town green?

[1:08:57] And in the evening the rooftop restaurants

[1:09:00] that if you get some height in a restaurant,

[1:09:04] you can go down the one on one, they'll

[1:09:05] want to stop and say hey, I want to check that out.

[1:09:08] So we have a visual identity.

[1:09:10] That's what I think this whole conceptualization is

[1:09:13] really helpful for.

[1:09:14] It's hard to get a group of town people who have lived here

[1:09:17] to say oh, what should it be.

[1:09:20] You see it as today -- we can improve it a lot.

[1:09:26] When I went under that --

[1:09:29] I forget what it's called, the passage

[1:09:31] under the train from the high school to the Mill Creek,

[1:09:35] I didn't know it was there.

[1:09:37] I was frustrated because I couldn't get over from where

[1:09:40] this middle school is.

[1:09:42] And I'm like that should be joined because I would be hiking

[1:09:45] back and up with my dog --

[1:09:49] we need a theme going on so it doesn't keep getting chopped up

[1:09:54] and so we have bits and pieces.

[1:09:56] If we have that theme, then we can build out the concept.

[1:10:01] That's just my generalized comment.

[1:10:06] >> Thank you.

[1:10:14] >> We appreciate that.

[1:10:15] Anyone else?

[1:10:26] >> Lois Fisher.

[1:10:26] I guess my comments --

[1:10:26] I'm trying to talk about --

[1:10:27] I've given lots of information.

[1:10:29] One thing I can bring forward --

[1:10:33] I was part of the group that said let's do a town green.

[1:10:36] I watched the whole thing and the biggest concern

[1:10:41] I've had since day one is we buried our town green.

[1:10:46] You need a GPS to find it and no wonder

[1:10:49] we have problems getting people to come there.

[1:10:51] One of the things we did with the Civic Center visioning is we

[1:10:55] actually moved the library off to the side so that we could get

[1:11:00] views on one side --

[1:11:01] so I was just really hoping that would be included.

[1:11:06] The other thing --

[1:11:07] I don't have a better plan but this was the original town

[1:11:10] plan for Windsor.

[1:11:11] This is the one we actually built the town off of.

[1:11:14] One thing included in here comment much as you can see,

[1:11:18] they were the proposed roads.

[1:11:21] They were proposed roads for the Windsor site.

[1:11:24] The Windsor Creek site.

[1:11:26] And without these roads come the second people came in and took

[1:11:30] out the roads, all of a sudden our plan has showed a road along

[1:11:34] the creek -- it's shown the road wasn't there.

[1:11:38] It was just blank.

[1:11:39] Ever since then we have had a heck of a time trying to get

[1:11:43] those things -- so I would like to recommend that you look

[1:11:47] at this plan and see the good things.

[1:11:49] This is the one that built the town and the other

[1:11:52] came afterwards.

[1:11:54] Also, if we can get eyes of the town green so it connects up

[1:11:57] to a major street -- when you move to the library --

[1:12:03] are you incorporating the Civic Center visioning plan come with

[1:12:08] that material into your work?

[1:12:09] All right.

[1:12:10] There's more but that's it.

[1:12:13] >> Thank you.

[1:12:14] Anyone else?

[1:12:18] >> Okay.

[1:12:18] Seeing no one else wanting to get public comment comment

[1:12:22] I will close public comment and bring the discussion back

[1:12:24] to this body.

[1:12:26] I'd like to have a really robust conversation.

[1:12:29] This is something for the future come to downtown for Windsor

[1:12:34] and I want to hear everyone's ideas

[1:12:36] and see also some specific things that might be interesting

[1:12:40] so that we can get those ideas out

[1:12:42] and collected so we can go forward with this.

[1:12:45] Is there anyone who would like to start?

[1:12:51] Commissioner, I cut you off earlier and so

[1:12:55] if you wanted to give your comment now about parking,

[1:12:57] please do so.

[1:12:59] >> I can give comments about that.

[1:13:00] I went back and read the existing stationary plan

[1:13:05] to highlight some of the things that I liked or took notes

[1:13:09] on things that we needed to work on.

[1:13:10] One of the things I felt held true

[1:13:13] was the first chapter, the guiding principles.

[1:13:17] I think that's where this group can focus our efforts

[1:13:21] and make sure that the guiding principles still fit for what

[1:13:26] we are trying to do today.

[1:13:27] And I think I found 1 or 2 things I thought maybe

[1:13:31] I would cross off.

[1:13:33] What felt like the core in the vision for the town

[1:13:36] is still there.

[1:13:38] I appreciated that, that over these many years --

[1:13:43] that we are really holding true to these guiding principles

[1:13:46] of what we want.

[1:13:47] I didn't call it the spine -- in my notes I called it the Heart

[1:13:51] of Windsor because that's what I believe it truly is.

[1:13:54] I'm hoping we refer back to some of those guiding principles

[1:13:58] and maybe refine and start there.

[1:14:00] That's kind of where I thought we should go here.

[1:14:05] The reading example --

[1:14:07] I had been there and I took a ton of pictures

[1:14:10] because I said wow, I would love this in Windsor.

[1:14:13] Some of the things you couldn't see on the particular site that

[1:14:17] was in the box across the street was a park

[1:14:20] and that particular day they were just rotating bands

[1:14:24] every hour and a half.

[1:14:25] They would pop on with their own equipment and start playing

[1:14:28] and then there was a lawn and people were listening.

[1:14:30] Next door was the Health and Human Services Department

[1:14:33] so there was a mix of public services on the same street.

[1:14:40] They all had really wide sidewalks, wide enough

[1:14:44] that people can walk.

[1:14:46] There was a game of cornhole going

[1:14:49] on in the middle of the sidewalk.

[1:14:51] It was just so active and engaged,

[1:14:54] with different things going on in the same space.

[1:14:57] It had both on street parking through a corridor in the back,

[1:15:02] was a little parking lot.

[1:15:03] I had done a walk around the block and there was an alleyway

[1:15:07] with parking and across the street --

[1:15:15] there were more little parking pockets based around what used

[1:15:17] to be there but it was pretty creative mix of street parking

[1:15:20] and lots here and there.

[1:15:22] But the way that the space was engaged for different activities

[1:15:25] all along the whole street I thought was impressive.

[1:15:29] And I did like that they had a very large,

[1:15:33] about the size of this room, covered dining room

[1:15:37] that serviced 4 or 5 different businesses that

[1:15:41] had misters and fire pits depending on your season

[1:15:44] with roll up doors.

[1:15:45] It was like the people I knew lived there, golfing buddies,

[1:15:50] sports moms -- everybody was -- it was such a community

[1:15:54] gathering space and really cool.

[1:15:58] >> Thank you for that and who would like to go next?

[1:16:03] Okay.

[1:16:04] Your ideas?

[1:16:05] Thank you.

[1:16:08] >> So I do want to bring it back a little bit but I mentioned

[1:16:12] earlier, we've seen really great projects come forward

[1:16:15] and we've approved them and tried to push them through.

[1:16:17] We had a hotel come the flat iron

[1:16:20] building, the airspace condominiums,

[1:16:23] all those projects were well designed and thought out.

[1:16:27] I think we would have been happy and proud to have those built.

[1:16:30] It wasn't the town that stopped those processes.

[1:16:33] There were construction costs and COVID and a lot of financing

[1:16:36] stuff that comes into play where well we can change our plans

[1:16:41] and regulations, at the end of the day

[1:16:43] it costs what it costs and we've had some great interest

[1:16:46] and we've pushed some great projects

[1:16:48] through that just didn't make it across the finish line

[1:16:51] and I don't think changing the plan maybe addresses that.

[1:16:54] But when we look at what is being built,

[1:16:56] that's where I'm concerned.

[1:16:58] We see a ton of housing being built

[1:17:01] where we lost local control over those projects

[1:17:03] and when we look at the few spaces left, the lot

[1:17:07] north of Oliver, we haven't seen a great project there ever.

[1:17:11] The projects that were built or that were planned

[1:17:15] were decent but were they anything

[1:17:18] like what we saw up here?

[1:17:20] No.

[1:17:20] They were specific to the land use that we designated and so I

[1:17:24] don't know how we attract a totally different kind

[1:17:27] of project than anything that's ever been proposed to those

[1:17:30] areas but I do have a concern about what may go into those

[1:17:35] spots if we don't have any control over it

[1:17:38] and that's whether it's the Windsor Creek lot or --

[1:17:41] and that's why I brought up -- and I think you called it down

[1:17:45] zoning as -- we may need to do because a developer can come

[1:17:49] in and ask us to rezone to give more density and we can make

[1:17:52] that choice.

[1:17:53] But if we don't have that choice in place, we lose that control.

[1:17:57] That's my biggest concern is that loss of local control

[1:18:00] in any of these projects that come forward because we're not

[1:18:03] seeing the ones we want necessarily

[1:18:04] being able to be funded and built.

[1:18:06] We're seeing stuff that we don't have any say in going forward.

[1:18:11] I would focus on that.

[1:18:13] Street connectivity and sidewalks are very important.

[1:18:15] I live close enough to walk here but I

[1:18:17] don't let my kids walk here because there's

[1:18:19] no sidewalk, simple stuff that we should look at down the road.

[1:18:23] Sorry.

[1:18:24] >> Thank you so much.

[1:18:34] >> Mam?

[1:18:34] >> I wanted to give other people -- thank you.

[1:18:34] Thank you for pointing out the smart underpass.

[1:18:37] I think a lot of us -- it's in an area that's kind of remote.

[1:18:44] You could provide a connection from the Windsor High School --

[1:18:51] and the park -- to the shell station at downtown.

[1:19:47] (inaudible) deal in the downtown is giving people feeling

[1:19:49] comfortable riding and walking.

[1:19:52] I feel comfortable enough.

[1:19:55] I do the underpass riding.

[1:19:58] And you get used to it.

[1:20:00] But people who are not used to it don't.

[1:20:05] So there's also this possibility to look at --

[1:20:09] we overbuilt the central.

[1:20:11] Santa Rosa's overpass come up from the junior college

[1:20:15] to the -- to the other side of the town --

[1:20:19] it's a really important overpass but I think it might be like $38

[1:20:24] million and this is the 18th year to provide that.

[1:20:29] We might want to really consider if that's really feasible.

[1:20:34] And if it's not, let's stop talking about it because --

[1:20:38] and for us that are somewhat making the rules,

[1:20:43] we have to say well, that's in the future.

[1:20:48] But -- anyway, I think that's really important and I also

[1:20:53] would like the MTC --

[1:20:54] I don't know who was on the slide.

[1:20:57] You said they would like in these zones that 25 units per

[1:21:00] acre --

[1:21:01] I don't know if that was on a slide

[1:21:03] but I think you mentioned it, so when

[1:21:06] they say they would recommend that, how do we deal with that?

[1:21:11] That's a question that needs to be asked because we talk

[1:21:15] about loss of local control and then

[1:21:18] we have MTC saying we recommend 25 units per acre.

[1:21:22] That is quite a bit more than our general plan and zoning

[1:21:29] really looks at.

[1:21:31] >> You're actually not that far away from that.

[1:21:35] Your town center zone and your compact residential.

[1:21:38] One of the ways MTC calculates it

[1:21:41] is you actually are looking at future development

[1:21:44] and not existing.

[1:21:45] So they've got a calculation where you're also

[1:21:50] pulling out certain sites.

[1:21:52] So you're very close.

[1:21:54] It doesn't require actually a lot of changes to your existing

[1:22:00] zoning.

[1:22:00] And there's a maximum of 35 -- >> I won't be able to tell that

[1:22:05] to the person on the street that we are really close to that.

[1:22:10] >> Can I interrupt and ask what are those little changes?

[1:22:13] You say we are close.

[1:22:15] What does we're close mean?

[1:22:17] What would that -- how significant is that in this?

[1:22:21] That's where you said like 1 to $2 million.

[1:22:24] So each of those different categories have 25 points.

[1:22:28] We're assuming you get 19 points under land use and density

[1:22:31] so we're not consistent 100% with the requirements.

[1:22:35] Then under parking you are 25 of 25 and under circulation access

[1:22:39] you are 25 of 25 or something like that.

[1:22:42] I'm not remembering off the top of my head but that's what I

[1:22:45] mean, where you have different ways you can be consistent

[1:22:48] depending on what's happening within your particular

[1:22:50] jurisdiction your town center zoning and compact residential

[1:22:54] and medium density residential, you can see compact is 24 per

[1:23:00] acre right there and town center has --

[1:23:05] I have it in my notes -- but slightly more than that in terms

[1:23:09] of per acre.

[1:23:20] >> (inaudible)

[1:23:20] >> Please don't ask me about the math.

[1:23:20] >> Are you including properties already built?

[1:23:22] You are including properties already built in the density

[1:23:25] calculations or just vacant -- >> You exclude them.

[1:23:29] >> Town center -- >> You have a lot of single family zoning.

[1:23:33] And it's only -- it's only sites that are residential by right.

[1:23:40] >> But we're only talking about like town center,

[1:23:42] everything is built there except the --

[1:23:44] >> That's not entirely true.

[1:23:46] You have Mill Creek, Belle village,

[1:23:49] the area around the town center, various sites

[1:23:52] and opportunity sites that have been located

[1:23:54] throughout this area plan.

[1:23:57] You do already have relatively desirable compact residential

[1:24:04] already in your stationary plan through your compact residential

[1:24:08] and town center zoning.

[1:24:12] >> Okay.

[1:24:13] >> One of the things we can do is --

[1:24:16] one of the things that most of Northern California cities are

[1:24:21] addressing is that it is cost infeasible to build multifamily.

[1:24:25] One of the things the market is looking at

[1:24:28] is townhouses and that's why you are seeing

[1:24:32] so many projects come back switching

[1:24:34] from multifamily to townhouses.

[1:24:38] This is one of the reasons we like

[1:24:39] to play around with feasibility with our economist.

[1:24:42] We start to test out different housing types.

[1:24:45] One of the things we heard for example,

[1:24:47] and some of our workshops, in Windsor as being sort

[1:24:50] of a creative city, thinking about different specialized

[1:24:54] types of residential --

[1:24:55] I know there's challenges with Belle Village

[1:24:59] but there's ways to be thinking about lived work for example

[1:25:03] which is included in this.

[1:25:05] You've never seen that kind of project come through

[1:25:08] and you've never seen other kinds of shared housing

[1:25:10] or cottage housing or different types that are grant oriented

[1:25:14] that are desirable, slightly lower cost.

[1:25:16] So I think you do have some opportunities to explore

[1:25:20] different types of compact housing

[1:25:22] that makes sense in this type of environment.

[1:25:25] It could get you more types of diversity of product

[1:25:29] that you are seeing now.

[1:25:30] Go ahead.

[1:25:31] I would add anecdotally that in our downtown area,

[1:25:35] the projects that we have seen have all

[1:25:38] been towards the bottom of the density range or even below.

[1:25:41] So for that downtown environment,

[1:25:43] the super high density product type

[1:25:46] hasn't been proposed by developers so far.

[1:25:49] As we are looking at -- it's definitely a valid concern.

[1:25:53] We are losing local control.

[1:25:55] Density is one piece of the puzzle

[1:25:57] we need to be looking at but also design and circulation

[1:26:00] and connectivity and the visioning for the downtown

[1:26:03] are also big parts of this moving forward.

[1:26:07] So staff definitely hears those concerns

[1:26:09] and that's going to be worked into the analysis

[1:26:13] that we're preparing.

[1:26:16] >> Have we had any development in the core downtown?

[1:26:22] You've indicated that the development is lower density.

[1:26:26] How long ago was the last development in downtown?

[1:26:33] The orange design -- that Oren couldn't build because he went

[1:26:37] bankrupt and -- because of the 2008 catastrophe?

[1:26:42] I'm trying to --

[1:26:44] I'm trying to vision has there been any development

[1:26:47] in the core downtown?

[1:26:49] I don't think so.

[1:26:52] >> You haven't had any multifamily development

[1:26:54] in the past decade.

[1:26:56] Certainly.

[1:26:56] We haven't had any single family either.

[1:27:00] >> That's an issue I think -- one of the issues that needs

[1:27:05] to be unpacked.

[1:27:07] I think this is an opportunity to do that.

[1:27:10] That's where we are entering into the phase

[1:27:13] where we are identifying these challenges

[1:27:15] and we've looked at your pipeline

[1:27:17] and seeing what's happened to the various projects that

[1:27:19] have gotten almost there but then haven't made it.

[1:27:23] So we're questioning exploring what that means and how we could

[1:27:27] help solve for that challenge..

[1:27:29] Core Creek -- I'm sorry.

[1:27:32] That is one development that is in the downtown and currently --

[1:27:39] that's the only one I can think of.

[1:27:41] >> Mike do you want to give comment before you leave?

[1:27:43] Thank you.

[1:27:46] >> I also wanted to echo one of Sam's sentiments with

[1:27:49] the Undercrossing and I don't know if we've been coordinating,

[1:27:52] but something that struck me is the opportunity with the Star

[1:27:57] Creek development, the Star Creek Trail on the northern end.

[1:28:02] Where the smart trail is going.

[1:28:05] And connecting some of the other neighborhoods

[1:28:07] through the community.

[1:28:08] I think we have some opportunities there

[1:28:12] in this plan to really build out some of those bike

[1:28:16] and pedestrian opportunities for connectivity.

[1:28:18] Where is that located?

[1:28:20] Being taught by the green picnic table, that blue squiggle line.

[1:28:27] >> It from where we're sitting diagonal.

[1:28:31] >> What you call the smart trail.

[1:28:33] It goes and comes out at Oak Park.

[1:28:36] >> Yes.

[1:28:37] Let me block that trail.

[1:28:41] >> There is an area in the downtown that --

[1:28:44] how many of you have experienced the parcel of land behind

[1:28:48] the shell station?

[1:28:50] Does it look like a park now that it's

[1:28:53] been mowed and taken care of?

[1:28:55] And it has nice trees and is green?

[1:28:58] But who would want to recreate in something like that next

[1:29:03] to the freeway and the shell station?

[1:29:06] Well, if you walk down into the creek,

[1:29:10] you can walk under old highway and come up on the other side

[1:29:16] and we looked at the undercrossing

[1:29:19] of 101 years ago going through the culvert.

[1:29:24] That culvert was much too small.

[1:29:27] But the bridge is not.

[1:29:31] And it is an opportunity to connect downtown

[1:29:34] with actually connected to the east side.

[1:29:42] Because -- old highway going underneath is really difficult

[1:29:48] for pedestrians and bicyclists and cars.

[1:29:51] It's most difficult for cars.

[1:29:56] It's difficult for -- but -- yeah,

[1:30:01] and it is something to think about.

[1:30:03] We can think about well, that's where the homeless all live

[1:30:06] and on and on.

[1:30:07] But there is the ability because the creek there --

[1:30:13] it has a pretty good slope to get down to it to.

[1:30:17] So I did want to bring that up because that is this Paseo

[1:30:21] design.

[1:30:22] That little park behind the shell station

[1:30:24] is actually really nice and it's got a creek.

[1:30:28] >> An actual park?

[1:30:30] >> Luckily it got cleaned up.

[1:30:33] It's pretty nice.

[1:30:35] >> Vice Chair?

[1:30:36] Thank you.

[1:30:37] >> Is this microphone on?

[1:30:40] No?

[1:30:41] It's green..

[1:30:42] Can you hear me now?

[1:30:44] Okay.

[1:30:45] So thank you everybody.

[1:30:48] It's been good and I enjoyed the presentation

[1:30:50] and enjoyed being here.

[1:30:52] I'm going to call it my junior year report card because it

[1:30:55] involves three D's.

[1:30:58] I think what I like that we're doing

[1:31:01] is we're looking at building three things.

[1:31:03] We're looking at building something diverse.

[1:31:06] We want to build a stationary that's diverse.

[1:31:09] You still can't hear me?

[1:31:11] It wasn't a good joke.

[1:31:15] >> It's on now.

[1:31:17] >> Better now?

[1:31:19] >> So the vice mayor gets a better microphone?

[1:31:22] Well done.

[1:31:24] So again, the three D's of the thoughts of the stationary plan.

[1:31:28] The first one is diverse.

[1:31:29] We should allow a place where we can have entrepreneurs coming in

[1:31:33] to try new things and they can fail and they can be risk takers

[1:31:37] and they can try stuff.

[1:31:39] Part of having a downtown engineer train station

[1:31:42] is popping off and going what's here?

[1:31:46] What is different than Rohnert Park?

[1:31:49] What is different than Healdsburg

[1:31:51] and what is different than Petaluma?

[1:31:53] We've got to be diverse.

[1:31:55] The next one is dynamic.

[1:31:57] Cities cannot sit still and be there.

[1:32:00] They have to change and be interesting.

[1:32:02] Give people a reason to come back.

[1:32:05] We've got to make it simple for things to be dynamic

[1:32:07] and the third D is dense.

[1:32:09] I know this is kind of like what are you talking about for dense?

[1:32:12] It has to be walkable.

[1:32:14] We know it has to be financially sustainable for our town.

[1:32:17] If we don't have the density if we're taxable land comment

[1:32:21] we will not be able to afford it.

[1:32:22] We have to think about that in the station area plan.

[1:32:25] I love the idea of hearing about some travel

[1:32:28] stuff for market halls and underground pathways and stuff.

[1:32:32] I think it gets us thinking about what could be.

[1:32:35] Oftentimes I think Windsor gets trapped in what was

[1:32:38] and we might be shorting ourselves the future

[1:32:42] that people came before us come on some of our who in this room

[1:32:45] come that created the actual downtown.

[1:32:47] So now's our chance to think about

[1:32:49] what will the next Windsor be when God help us

[1:32:52] 2075 and the next group of people

[1:32:54] are sitting on this table?

[1:32:55] In the same town hall?

[1:32:57] Those are my comments and I'm looking forward

[1:32:59] to hearing from other people.

[1:33:01] Thank you.

[1:33:11] >> Uno Mas?

[1:33:15] >> Also these guys from

[1:33:16] >> Can you get closer to the microphone?

[1:33:16] We're having a microphone issue tonight.

[1:33:16] >> These principles are from 2013 and it's time

[1:33:18] for an upgrade and these are the documents used to communicate

[1:33:21] also with the developers and the business people in the world

[1:33:25] to say here's what we want.

[1:33:27] Some of the issues after talking with developers

[1:33:31] and fabulous projects that we have gone

[1:33:33] through the process of vetting and approving

[1:33:36] and we're jumping at the bit to get them

[1:33:38] built and they don't, some of that is attributed to the delays

[1:33:42] in getting it through the permitting process,

[1:33:45] the entitlement process.

[1:33:47] So anything we can do on this end

[1:33:51] to streamline and to be very clear about what Windsor wants

[1:33:57] built here will benefit those projects at the other end

[1:34:01] and actually having them come to fruition.

[1:34:05] >> All right.

[1:34:06] Sam quickly?

[1:34:07] Please?

[1:34:10] >> There is a problem with access from the smart station

[1:34:14] to the downtown.

[1:34:16] The people get off and there's a parking lot.

[1:34:19] And thinking about the solution, there may not be one.

[1:34:23] But it might be that that vehicle access through the arch

[1:34:29] -- that may have to be closed to vehicles.

[1:34:33] I don't know what that means but that might be

[1:34:36] something we need to look at.

[1:34:37] Because to try to use the arch -- it doesn't work.

[1:34:43] I think a lot of people spend some time trying to figure out

[1:34:47] -- in the village for example, from the streets --

[1:34:50] there is kind of a pathway through the parking lot

[1:34:54] and it is so people and cars kind of know it.

[1:34:58] It seems like we may want to look at that because it is not

[1:35:04] real welcoming.

[1:35:06] And just wanted to raise that as an issue for the stationary >>

[1:35:19] Council member?

[1:35:19] >> I wanted to explain what I'm seeing tonight.

[1:35:20] I am seeing a lot.

[1:35:21] But in the beginning, the nice pictures and the descriptions

[1:35:27] of the areas that could be used were very intriguing to me.

[1:35:32] What I find interesting about being

[1:35:36] on town council is that the commissions, commissioners

[1:35:39] and staff do a lot of work and essentially come down and give

[1:35:44] us three choices and we check a, B or C and the decisions made,

[1:35:49] we take a vote and move forward.

[1:35:51] And I would love to see a book --

[1:35:55] and I'm talking only about those slides which were examples from

[1:36:02] other cities, and I would like to see a book that tells me

[1:36:08] which properties are available for doing interesting things.

[1:36:14] What are the planning and zoning problems or opportunities

[1:36:19] in those?

[1:36:20] And that's chapter one.

[1:36:22] And chapter two is a spectrum of ideas

[1:36:26] that apply to that that are like the ones we saw here.

[1:36:30] And then a page full of boxes that I can rate one through five

[1:36:37] or something like that.

[1:36:38] And then we can stand back and not

[1:36:41] talk about all the other stuff and go forward in that category.

[1:36:46] That's my dream for these things.

[1:36:50] Thank you..

[1:36:51] Commissioner Richards?

[1:36:54] >> My comments are more about things that I have read,

[1:36:58] heard tonight's and connecting some dots.

[1:37:01] Looking at 2097, one thing that stands out

[1:37:05] is improving bike parking facilities.

[1:37:08] Looking at our guiding principles,

[1:37:10] continuing to promote green leadership,

[1:37:13] encourage outdoor activity living.

[1:37:15] While doing that we can build that connectivity and community

[1:37:21] gathering space and the mobility space.

[1:37:41] (inaudible) helps with the diversity and --

[1:37:45] that Commissioner said, talks a bit with what Council member

[1:37:49] stamen said.

[1:37:50] I think for me those are those aspects that I look at and want

[1:37:54] to see us build on.

[1:37:58] >> Excellent.

[1:37:58] Thank you so much.

[1:37:59] I appreciate all the comments from everyone

[1:38:02] and I want to go through a few I have real quick.

[1:38:05] What I would like to see is again,

[1:38:10] what are these exact changes that need to be done?

[1:38:15] Excuse me -- to make us eligible for the 1 to $2 million

[1:38:19] for the downtown area?

[1:38:20] What does that mean?

[1:38:22] I think you talked that there's a preference now for townhouses

[1:38:24] and I'd like to see ways that we can have purchasable residences

[1:38:28] for people to build equity and wealth

[1:38:31] and be able to move on potentially later if they want.

[1:38:34] Maybe they stay.

[1:38:35] Whenever we see apartments that doesn't necessarily

[1:38:37] give people any ability to build wealth

[1:38:39] and I see that in our downtown area.

[1:38:41] I would like to see --

[1:38:43] I really want to see this connectivity with the mill

[1:38:46] project through the Windsor Creek site and if we can get

[1:38:49] that put into this plan I would like to discuss that so that

[1:38:54] plan ahead of time -- is something we talked about with

[1:38:57] Council member Sam quite a bit is to make sure we don't lose

[1:39:00] the opportunity.

[1:39:01] I would like to see a Northern Gateway as part of our plan.

[1:39:09] There's nothing that signals the town coming from Arada so anyone

[1:39:14] coming off the freeway and out -- nothing tells you hey,

[1:39:17] you have come to the downtown of Windsor and I'd love to see that

[1:39:21] -- kind of like the Gaslamp District in San Diego,

[1:39:24] how you just see that beautiful archway and it signals you that

[1:39:28] you're coming into an area that's just vibrant

[1:39:30] and wonderful.

[1:39:31] It doesn't have to be just like that, just something

[1:39:33] similar that would make it just for Windsor.

[1:39:37] We've talked about there's a little mention of entertainment

[1:39:40] districts are really important so it gives us the opportunity

[1:39:43] to have our businesses spread out into the town green area

[1:39:48] so you can possibly take drinks and walk around the town

[1:39:52] and have the music playing and people feel it's vibrant

[1:39:55] and there's an evening nightlife that we see when we have

[1:39:59] our Tuesday nights and when we have our Thursday concerts

[1:40:01] but I would love to see it every night

[1:40:03] and I would love to see people walking

[1:40:04] down there so you experience the nightlife in downtown Windsor.

[1:40:08] I think part of our objective design standards

[1:40:10] if we can get it in there is to have bike parking

[1:40:12] for every new development.

[1:40:14] I find it bothersome to ride my bike to Oliver's and not

[1:40:19] have a place to park it.

[1:40:21] I'd like to make sure that is built in as an infrastructure

[1:40:24] to each new development and I would love to see bike parking

[1:40:28] all around so people can ride their bikes and park and walk

[1:40:30] around come and get your bike comment to another spot --

[1:40:34] and again, the 1 to 2 million --

[1:40:36] I want to figure out how we get more money

[1:40:38] to help with our downtown area.

[1:40:40] And see if that's reasonable for us.

[1:40:43] I really want to work with our transit agency to develop our --

[1:40:50] our last mile around Windsor.

[1:40:52] I know the transit agency is working on their plan

[1:40:57] also right now to revamp some of their routes

[1:40:59] and I want to work together with them

[1:41:02] to have a last mile where people can ride the smart train here

[1:41:06] and easily get onto a bus and ride to their house

[1:41:09] so that they are more likely to do that.

[1:41:12] I agree with everyone's comments on the smart trail.

[1:41:17] It goes down and underneath and over by the high school.

[1:41:20] So that walkway, when you come out

[1:41:22] underneath towards the high school

[1:41:24] there's not really anything that guides you.

[1:41:26] There's not even a pathway that takes you out

[1:41:29] from the Undercrossing.

[1:41:32] This drops you into a flower bed and I'm like, well, that was --

[1:41:36] so I would love to see some wayfinding signs and finish

[1:41:41] that.

[1:41:41] I don't think it would take much to finish that and make

[1:41:45] it an easy area that guides people back to where

[1:41:49] they can walk on the sidewalks.

[1:41:51] I want to see what it means.

[1:41:55] I know former Planning Commissioner

[1:41:58] Lois talked about the proposed roads and what that looks like.

[1:42:03] And if those proposed roads in there

[1:42:05] would help us to really have more control

[1:42:08] over that area in Mill Creek and the area down in that area.

[1:42:14] And I do think there is room in the future for an Overcrossing

[1:42:20] 101.

[1:42:20] It certainly doesn't have to cost what Santa Rosa's did.

[1:42:24] They went super fancy and we don't have to go super fancy.

[1:42:27] It also doesn't have to take that long.

[1:42:29] But that's something that if you were to --

[1:42:32] we look at our downtown but if you took a higher look from it,

[1:42:37] if there was connectivity between Raley's and Safeway

[1:42:40] and the downtown area, if we had significant connectivity there

[1:42:44] it would really allow people to go back and forth and walk

[1:42:47] and ride their bikes and have a more vibrant downtown area

[1:42:52] and not just a stationary.

[1:42:54] So I tucked that in the back for the future

[1:42:56] for an Overcrossing for 101.

[1:42:58] I want to say is Jody's still here?

[1:43:01] Jody?

[1:43:01] What he tried to have underground parking downtown.

[1:43:05] That was the underground for the hotel and it didn't work.

[1:43:10] That's why that big hole was there.

[1:43:12] That was supposed to be underground parking

[1:43:14] and unfortunately that project didn't go through

[1:43:16] and we know interest rates are still high

[1:43:18] and the cost of building is really high.

[1:43:21] I believe in the future we'll get something wonderful.

[1:43:24] So I just want to finish up with that.

[1:43:27] We are open to different ideas and this plan

[1:43:30] is the way that we're going to do it so thank you

[1:43:34] all for your comments and your ideas in the public

[1:43:37] for your comments and ideas and I

[1:43:38] hope they were captured so we can

[1:43:40] keep working towards this plan.

[1:43:42] It's by no means done and I think December --

[1:43:45] is that correct when the next -- when we're shooting for the next

[1:43:49] visit to this?

[1:43:50] With a lot of the inputs?

[1:43:51] And a lot of the next steps.

[1:43:53] Lastly, I wanted to say on some of those sites that talked about

[1:43:58] --

[1:43:59] I would like to see what the feasibility is because it's kind

[1:44:03] of like if you were to do -- if a company were to do a sequa

[1:44:10] and drill a well or something and then share that information

[1:44:13] to everybody, then would a developer come in and go oh,

[1:44:17] I can see that maybe my project works there?

[1:44:19] It would be similar to.

[1:44:20] If you had feasibility on all these different sites and you

[1:44:23] could see as a developer like oh maybe there is feasibility

[1:44:25] for me to bring my project and tweak it a little bit and see

[1:44:28] if it works -- that might open the door for developers to come

[1:44:32] in and do some things and they don't have to be huge projects

[1:44:35] but if there's something a little on a site in the town

[1:44:37] that might be creative, I'd like to have those and I think those

[1:44:40] are all included in this grant.

[1:44:42] This isn't money we are spending.

[1:44:44] It's all grant funded.

[1:44:45] Since it's grant funded I would like to take the full advantage

[1:44:48] and see what they want to show us.

[1:44:51] >> Okay, for that I would like to move to item number eight

[1:44:57] which is closing comments by council members.

[1:45:00] If there's anyone who has closing comments

[1:45:02] come I will go straight down the line.

[1:45:05] Commissioner Richards?

[1:45:08] >> Just dovetailing off of one of the comments you made,

[1:45:10] we would love to see a diverse group of housing.

[1:45:14] Townhomes, cottage homes, something to mix it up.

[1:45:17] Would love for that to come forward.

[1:45:28] >> I would also like to revisit the implementation plan

[1:45:30] at the end of our current area plan and it looks like we could

[1:45:30] cross a lot of successes off the list and grow some vision

[1:45:33] and timelines for action going forward.

[1:45:45] >> Also focusing on real visual interest,

[1:45:46] not just buildings for the sake of buildings or centers but can

[1:45:47] they really provide a visually interesting experience

[1:45:50] for people coming here?

[1:46:05] >> I like that.

[1:46:06] I want to say thank you for everyone who showed up.

[1:46:06] These meetings aren't super action

[1:46:06] packed but thank you and stay involved

[1:46:06] because that's important.

[1:46:06] Did you try that microphone?

[1:46:08] Okay.

[1:46:09] Real quick comment you mentioned what

[1:46:12] makes us different than Petaluma and all those things.

[1:46:15] When it comes to the train.

[1:46:16] For me is that the train lets off right downtown

[1:46:18] and you go to Petaluma and you're at five blocks away

[1:46:21] or you go to Brunner Park and you're in G section.

[1:46:23] We have an advantage that we're delivering people

[1:46:26] to our community and the idea of making that walkway

[1:46:29] inviting and bringing people to downtown makes sense.

[1:46:32] We have a better start because we don't

[1:46:35] have to reroute train tracks.

[1:46:36] Even at Santa Rosa, downtown if you want to walk under third

[1:46:40] Street -- that's up to you.

[1:46:41] That's all I've got.

[1:46:44] >> Great.

[1:46:44] So a couple of things that I left out

[1:46:46] is I really do want to focus on the zoning policy that makes it

[1:46:50] so we are reducing blight and that means making sure

[1:46:53] that our parking is in front of buildings

[1:46:55] and that we do have on street parking where it's

[1:46:57] appropriate and walkable areas.

[1:46:59] We can put on street parking and that helps our businesses.

[1:47:02] And was there something else?

[1:47:06] I think this is an opportune time,

[1:47:09] as we see what's going to happen with this Emily Rose parking,

[1:47:12] that we do look at it and try to see what

[1:47:15] will be the best for that open gateway from the smart train

[1:47:18] into the downtown.

[1:47:20] We might just have to have a study session specifically

[1:47:22] on that.

[1:47:23] Okay?

[1:47:25] >> I like to say thank you to all of you who are here.

[1:47:27] Ask your friends to come next time.

[1:47:29] It's a great party and --

[1:47:32] I've said all I want to say with respect to my dreams.

[1:47:36] Thank you so much.

[1:47:37] >> Sam?

[1:47:39] >> I think the time is now.

[1:47:42] I'm struggling with this updated plan because we have development

[1:47:49] applications in that are going to affect --

[1:47:56] more in my opinion than this plan.

[1:47:59] And I think what we need to do is look at the current plan

[1:48:05] and look at what we are planning and put those in motion

[1:48:10] in the current applications.

[1:48:13] The mill, the Windsor Creek site,

[1:48:16] whatever that's going to be -- and the trail in core creek --

[1:48:21] those are my comments.

[1:48:23] It needs to happen now.

[1:48:25] And in those principles that we are >> Great and thank you,

[1:48:39] I agree.

[1:48:39] I think that's probably heard by our planning commissioners who

[1:48:39] are actively looking at these projects coming in

[1:48:39] and can hear that we like to be thoughtful about the projects

[1:48:41] that are in application process now

[1:48:43] and then looking forward to the future

[1:48:45] with the rest of the plan.

[1:48:46] I'm going to move on to item number

[1:48:48] nine which is adjournment.

[1:48:50] Our next regular council meeting is scheduled for August 19th,

[1:48:54] 2026 at 6 p.m.

[1:48:55] Right here in the Civic Center Council Chambers.

[1:48:58] And that is 9391 old River Highway Building 400.

[1:49:02] And the next Planning Commission meeting is now scheduled

[1:49:05] for August 25th at 6 p.m..

[1:49:07] Thanks everybody.

Special Joint Town Council and Planning Commission

Transcript