Land Use Policies

There are 22 policies in the Land Use chapter of the North Fair Oaks Community Plan. Of these, 12 have been completed, three have been initiated and partially completed, five are ongoing and two have not yet been initiated. Ninety-one percent of the policies in the Plan’s land use chapter have been completed, initiated and partially completed or are ongoing and 9% have not been initiated. Click on the plus (+) symbol to expand each policy and its completion status. Priority goals or policies are indicated by a diamond symbol (♦).

Completed

12

Initiated and Partially Completed

3

Ongoing

5

Not Initiated

2

    • Policy 1A: Allow and promote appropriately scaled mixed-use development along Middlefield Road, El Camino Real, and along segments of Edison Way and 5th Avenue, to encourage a range of commercial, residential, institutional, and industrial (by conditional use permit) development and community facilities. Status: Complete

    • Policy 1B: Promote mixed-use development in existing industrial areas along Edison Way to provide flexible space for a range of industrial, commercial, institutional and live-work residential (by conditional use permit) land uses and community facilities to revitalize underutilized and vacant land. Status: Complete

    • Policy 1C: Encourage continued and expanded industrial uses in the Spring Street area, with the potential for live-work residential (by conditional use permit) land uses and community facilities. Also allow limited commercial uses in this area, fronting on Bay Street only, to support adjacent industrial and institutional uses. Status: Complete

    • Policy 2A: Identify areas that should be preserved for current and future industrial and job generating uses, particularly in existing industrial areas identified as appropriate for additional development. Designate and preserve these areas for activities that are consistent with industrial and job generating uses, such as warehousing, office, research and development, and light manufacturing and assembly. Status: Complete

    • Policy 2B: Take advantage of potential demand generated by new job rich development, such as the Stanford Redwood City campus, to catalyze redevelopment and job creation in the industrial areas in the northern end of North Fair Oaks in the Spring Street area along Bay Street. Allow a range of uses in this area, including warehouse and other industrial, institutional, live-work (by conditional use permit only), and retail (along Bay Street only). Status: Complete

    • Policy 2C: Allow residential infill development on vacant and underutilized residential parcels and within areas identified as appropriate for additional mixed use residential, commercial, and other development. Encourage multifamily residential and mixed-use residential development in these areas, and revise subdivision regulations to remove barriers to the development of multifamily attached for-sale housing in all appropriate areas in North Fair Oaks. Status: Complete

    • Policy 2D: Consider the use of centrally located vacant or underutilized parcels in residential neighborhoods for parks, play lots, community gardens and/or residential parking lots. Status: Complete

    • Policy 3A: Simplify and combine land use categories for residential uses to reduce redundancies and provide clear guidance on the type and density of development that is desired within residential areas. Status: Complete

    • Policy 3B: Implement new mixed-use land use categories to promote mixed-use development in appropriate areas. Mixed-use development guidelines should recognize the needs of any retail, so the space meets the requirements of businesses, especially brand tenants. Status: Complete

    • Policy 3C: Update the County’s General Plan map and zoning ordinance to be consistent with the new Community Plan land use map and land use designations for North Fair Oaks. Status: Complete

    • Policy 4A: Establish a higher density mixed-use district within a ¼ mile radius of the potential future multi-modal-transit hub at the intersection of the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks and Middlefield Road. Higher densities in this area will support transit, reduce automobile use, and maximize development of vacant and underutilized lots while providing needed housing and other uses. Status: Complete

    • Policy 4C: Encourage transit-oriented uses through incentives such as unbundled parking and reduced parking standards, and through measures such as amendments to land use regulations to allow higher densities that will support future multi-modal transit improvements, including a potential multi-modal transit hub. Status: Complete

    • Policy 4B: As part of Plan implementation, study appropriate timing and interrelation of 1) increased development densities, and 2) transit improvements required to support higher intensity development, in the high density mixed use district, and explore appropriate methods, including specific zoning regulations and development phasing contingent on specific transit improvements, to ensure that higher density development is adequately supported by approved and funded transit, and that development densities are appropriately supportive of approved and funded public transit. Status: Initiated and Partially Completed

    • ♦ Policy 5A: Designate the following six locations as primary gateways: El Camino Real and 5th Avenue, Middlefield Road at the Southern Pacific Railroad crossing (at the potential site of the multi-modal transit hub), Middlefield Road and 8th Avenue, 5th Avenue and Bay Road, Spring Street and Charter Street, and Marsh Road at the Southern Pacific Railroad crossing. Apply distinctive design treatments and streetscape elements to distinguish gateways as key entry and exit points to and from North Fair Oaks. The intersection of Middlefield Road and 5th Avenue is also designated as a neighborhood activity node where special intersection and corner treatment (such as creation of a plaza or other community space) should be considered. Status: Initiated and Partially Completed

    • ♦ Policy 5B: Provide incentives and allow flexibility to encourage creative building forms and design elements that emphasize the prominence of gateway locations. Status: Initiated and Partially Completed

    • ♦ Policy 1D: Ensure that the design of the public and private realm land uses along residential and commercial streets promotes safe, convenient, and well-integrated walking, bicycling, and public transit use. Status: Ongoing

    • ♦ Policy 1F: Identify key parcels with development potential, and potential barriers to such development. Address these barriers through creative solutions (rezoning, parcel consolidation, and others) to attract private developers and encourage higher intensity infill development. Status: Ongoing

    • Policy 2E: Address incompatible industrial uses in residential and mixed-use areas, particularly along Middlefield Road, through County assistance to relocate uses to more appropriate industrial areas within North Fair Oaks, through fee waivers, incentives, identification of appropriate sites, and other measures. Status: Ongoing

    • ♦ Policy 4D: Allow and encourage transit-oriented development and the integration of development with multiple transportation options along major corridors including El Camino Real, 5th Avenue, and Middlefield Road, if and as these transportation options emerge. Status: Ongoing

    • ♦ Policy 6A: As part of the Implementation Program for the adopted Community Plan, create a development incentive and exception program, as described in more detail in Section 2.5, which specifies the amount and type of contribution to the creation of community benefits required in order to be eligible for specified exceptions to normal development standards and restrictions. Status: Ongoing

    • ♦ Policy 1E: Ensure that all new commercial, institutional, industrial, and mixed-use development provides space for or contributes to the creation of community-oriented facilities (i.e., pocket parks, community gardens, plazas, community gathering spaces, and other facilities). Status: Not Initiated

    • ♦ Policy 2F: Explore opportunities to strengthen neighborhood-scaled and neighborhood located commercial and retail locations, such as the existing commercially-zoned area at 13th Avenue and Fair Oaks, through modifications to zoning designations, expansion of commercial areas, and other modifications to improve compatibility and appropriateness of local uses and provide accessible local serving retail throughout North Fair Oaks. Status: Not Initiated