[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.