R3 Zoning District Update - Development Standards and Strategies
That the City Council confirms staff’s recommendations on the R3 Zoning District Update to:
1. Update the residential General Plan land use designations to revise the nomenclature for residential designations, and to include more specific density ranges, height guidelines, and allowable uses as described in Table 3 in the Council report.
2. Increase development feasibility by modifying the existing R3 development standards for height, setbacks, distance between structures, building coverage, floor area ratio (FAR), open area, and personal storage, as described in Table 5 in the Council report.
3. Ensure residential development occurs at densities consistent with areas intended for greater or lower intensities of development based on the associated R3 zoning subdistrict by establishing minimum densities, as described in Table 6 in the Council report.
4. Adopt new R3 Zoning District development standards for habitable ground-floor space, parking placement, building footprint, on-site circulation, open area, vehicle access, screening, rooftop decks, utilities, and public improvements, including a process to grant exceptions to these standards, as described in Attachment 3 to the Council report.
5. Adopt new R3 Zoning District design standards that include a menu of objective design options to address critical topics such as massing, articulation, and pedestrian-friendly and engaging entries, as described in Attachment 3 to the Council report.
6. Expand retail and live/work opportunities by allowing live/work units throughout the R3 Zoning District; allowing ground-floor commercial as a stand-alone use in the R3-D subdistrict; and, adopting operational standards to ensure compatibility between residential and commercial uses.
7. Update the off-street parking standard for multi-family development to require 1 stall for each one-bedroom and smaller unit, 1.5 stalls for each two-bedroom and larger unit, and 1 stall per 1,000 square feet for commercial uses over 1,500 square feet in area.
8. Establish an incentive for the consolidation of R-3D-zoned lots less than 20,000 square feet in area by limiting the allowable development density to 35 dwelling units per acre, and increasing the allowable development density to the maximum of the R3-D subdistrict (R3-D1: 65 dwelling units per acre, R3-D2: 110 dwelling units per acre) for sites that consolidate to greater than 20,000 square feet in area.
9. Revise the City’s nonconforming zoning provisions to simplify their application, and to address residential uses in nonresidential zones, sites with density greater than allowed by the applicable zoning district, allowing redevelopment of existing single-family residences in the R3 Zoning District, modifications to nonconforming buildings that do not increase the degree of nonconformity, and to address other commonly challenging circumstances.
10. Align the R4 Zoning District to achieve consistency with the updated R3 Zoning District standards.
Updated 2.17.2026 9:16:24 PM UTC