Land Use & Urban Design

Richmond General Plan Update Issues & Opportunities Paper 1: Land Use & Urban Design DRAFT Prepared In May 2006 by Moore Iacofano Goltsman, Inc. City of Richmond General Plan Update CONTENTS 1.1 THE REGION____________________________________________________ 3 1.2 LAND USE IN RICHMOND ________________________________________ 5 1.2.1 The Past 100 Years: History, Change and Recent Trends ___________5 1.2.2 Land Use Distribution ___________________________________________9 1.3 URBAN DESIGN________________________________________________ 16 1.3.1 City Structure & Physical Identity _______________________________ 16 1.4 EXISTING PLANS______________________________________________ 20 1.5 KEY PLANNING ISSUES/CONSIDERATIONS/OPPORTUNITIES _____ 27 2 DRAFT Issues & Opportunities: Land Use & Urban Design 1 LAND USE & URBAN DESIGN Land use and urban design are the fundamental building blocks of a city’s physical environment and character. Together, they create a citywide framework that supports and guides all development and growth. The types of uses permitted in a given area, the relationship between one use and another, the interaction between private and public lands, community character and a sense of place are all byproducts of a land use and urban design framework. To create a cohesive community in which each new development project fits into a greater community vision, the land use and urban design framework must be community-driven, comprehensive, consistent and inclusive. The City of Richmond is well positioned to redefine and strengthen its land use and urban design framework. Despite a somewhat piecemeal approach to land use planning over the past decades, the community’s distinct history, active neighborhoods, location within the Bay Area region, desire for change and recent successes set the stage for creating a cohesive and dynamic city structure and community place. 1.1 THE REGION The City of Richmond is situated between San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay and the San Pablo Ridgeline in the westernmost portion of Contra Costa County. Richmond sits along Interstate 80, directly across the water from the City of San Francisco, at a central axis of the San Francisco Bay Area region (see Map 1.1 - San Francisco Bay Area). As a region, the Bay Area is an idyllic place to work, shop, live, learn, and play. In North America and within the context of the Pacific Rim, the Bay Area is a major economic and cultural center. The region’s natural beauty, mild climate, location on the West Coast and position as a gateway between North America and Asia has long made it an international destination for tourists, businesses and people looking for a new place to call home. Over the years, this diverse influx of people has itself become part of the Bay Area’s character and is arguably one of the region’s strongest assets. Though composed of 101 cities, 9 counties, and nearly 7 million residents, in several manners the Bay Area functions as a single, integrated place. It is not rare for someone to live in one county, work in another county, and go for weekend hikes in an entirely different county, all within the region. Regional transportation options such the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), a regional open space and park network, consolidated infrastructure systems and facilities, and regional planning agencies are some of the initiatives that connect the many distinct parts of the Bay Area together into one regional place. DRAFT 3 City of Richmond General Plan Update Map 1.1 – San Francisco Bay Area 4 DRAFT Issues & Opportunities: Land Use & Urban Design In recent years, the Bay Area, along with many other places along the West Coast, has experienced extreme population growth. Between 1980 and 2000 the population grew by approximately 30% from 5,179,780 residents to 6,783,760 residents1. Over the next 20 years the region’s population is projected to increase by another 14% to approximately 8 million residents2. While some of the region’s cities and counties have been more significantly impacted by this growth than others, every part of the region has somehow been affected. The demand for more housing, jobs, services and amenities continues throughout the region. While several of the outermost located jurisdictions have the option to accommodate these demands by placing new development along the edges of existing development, many of the Bay Area’s cities and counties have already grown as far their jurisdictional or urban growth boundaries permit. Without the possibility of outward expansion, these cities and counties have to respond to growth demands through other means such as growth control measures or incentives for infill development. Jurisdictions choosing infill development as a solution are changing their land use regulations to allow for more intense utilization of already developed land. Tapping into existing infrastructure, amenities and services, infill development strategies are being implemented with success throughout the region and beyond. The cities of El Cerrito, Emeryville, Walnut Creek, Oakland, and Berkeley are amongst the many cities in the Bay Area encouraging infill development as a way to revitalize their urban areas, make efficient use of land, and accommodate growth demands. Bay Area jurisdictions have a unique opportunity to learn from one another and work together to address regional issues. Building on existing partnerships and joint planning efforts, collaboration between the various jurisdictions and agencies is increasing. The 580 and 80 freeways, the San Pablo Avenue Corridor, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, the Richmond Line BART terminus, multiple rail lines and the Richmond Port are all integral pieces of the regional transportation network located within the Richmond’s city limits means. This important regional infrastructure along with Richmond’s location, amenities, and physical shape, which borders six different jurisdictions, make it a key regional player and an inherently strong candidate for participation in collaborative planning efforts. 1.2 LAND USE IN RICHMOND 1.2.1 The Past 100 Years: History, Change and Recent Trends Richmond’s land use pattern and character has largely been shaped by the city’s history as an industrial center and transportation. The natural shoreline and easy access to both the Bay and the rest of the country, set Richmond up to become a center for industry before it was incorporated as a city in 1905. In the late 1880’s, as jurisdictional 1 Bay Area Census: Population by County, 1860-2000, Association of Bay Are Governments, 2005 2 Bay Area Regional Projections, Association of Bay Area Governments, 2005 DRAFT 5 City of Richmond General Plan Update boundaries were formally recognized, land ownership disputes were settled and the Santa Fe railway was laid down through the countryside with its terminus at Richmond’s shoreline, the original ranch owners began to sell their properties to speculators who, upon purchasing it, subdivided it into small lots ready to be improved into workforce housing and town amenities. In 1901, Pacific Coast Oil (later to become Standard Oil and then Chevron) opened an oil refinery close to Point Richmond. At the time, Point Richmond and the surrounding lands were both remote and distant enough from the emerging metropolis of San Francisco to be inexpensive and inconspicuous and close enough to the major transportation nodes to be productive and efficient. The refinery became the largest employer in Richmond and expanded to encompass nearly 1,800 acres of land. In addition to Pacific Coast Oil, other port, industrial and manufacturing uses established themselves along or near Richmond’s waterfront. Residential and other uses needed to support the industrial businesses were established in the flatlands to the east, beyond the original city site in Point Richmond. As the industrial businesses and transportation industries increased their capacity, and the need for more worker housing and amenities grew, the residential and commercial area now known as Central Richmond expanded. By second decade of the 20th Century, MacDonald Avenue was the recognized city center, hosting all the major civic and commercial uses. While growth in Richmond was steady for the first 4 decades of the 20th Century, the City’s population spiked dramatically with the commencement of the Second World War, increasing 330% from 23,642 residents to over 101,000 in under 7 years3. Men and women from all over the United States came to Richmond to work at Henry Kaiser’s shipbuilding yards and other wartime industries operating out of Richmond’s waterfront. The demand for housing, services, and amenities brought about by the arrival of workers and their families sharply outpaced the supply. Hasty new construction intended to temporarily serve the wartime workers took place throughout the city. After WW II, the need for war-serving industries dropped off sharply. Richmond was left with a large population comprised primarily of workers with very limited skills and inadequate infrastructure. In an effort to progress forward and to meet the needs of its new residents, the city began a series of expansions, annexations and redevelopment projects that significantly changed the city’s structure and character (see Map 1.2 - Annexation History). A steady decrease in population between the end of the 1940’s and the beginning of 1970’s meant that the housing, shopping and service capacity built up during the war and immediately postwar era became less utilized. Residential and commercial vacancy

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