Existing documents analysis 30

In order to effectively answer the study question and produce a draft update of Hayward’s Downtown Design Requirements and Guidelines, analysis of existing City documents covering the subject of Downtown and design was conducted. As planning implementation tools, these existing City documents provide direction for the development and maintenance of Downtown

Hayward. In total nine documents were analyzed for consistency in information, specifically in regards to goals, objectives and policies for the Downtown area. Analysis and comparison of the documents allowed a better understanding of the existing position of the City on urban design concepts for the Downtown Area and provided insight on how to approach architectural, sustainability, and circulation features that would affect placemaking in the area.

City of Hayward, Ca. General Plan (2002)

A General Plan is a state mandated planning document that acts as the constitution for the long-term physical development of a city or county (OPR, 2003). The General Plan typically plans 25-40 years into the future and consists of a minimum of seven required elements—each one containing a set of goals, objectives and policies (OPR, 2003). The City of Hayward General Plan was adopted by the City Council in 2002 and proposes policies and programs for the city’s development 20 years into the future. Within the Land Use element there is identified five focus areas. The Downtown Area is among one of these five and has a dedicated section with policies and strategies.

City of Hayward Zoning Ordinance

Zoning codes/ordinances is another form of a planning tool used to regulate the built environment manipulating it through the allocation of uses within the City. Per State of California law, zoning ordinances shall be consistent with the General Plan. As chapter 10, article 1 of the City’s municipal code, the Hayward Zoning Ordinance is stated to be consistent with the City’s General Plan. Overall, it contains 35 main sections, each with its own subsections, focusing on zones, city processes, and development direction (City of Hayward, 1998). Sections regarding specific zones mostly contain a “minimum design and performance standards” subsection that provides design criteria for development. Within this study, Sections 10-1.1000 General Commercial District (CG) and 10-1.1555 Minimum Design and Performance Standards for CC-C, CC-R and CC-P Subdistricts was analyzed.

City of Hayward Design Guidelines (1993)

Design Guidelines, like zoning codes/ordinances, provides a planning tool that can be used for implementation and the process of placemaking. They are not always regulatory and can be flexible and are frequently used to supplement the zoning code/ordinance (Talen, 2009). The City of Hayward Design Guidelines was approved in 1993 and supersedes the 1987 Design Review Guidelines. It is the design guidelines document for the entire city and provides direction for site planning, circulation, architectural design elements, and landscaping design. Within the document, there is a section devoted to the Downtown Area that focuses on “B” Street and the main core area, open space features, and areas beyond the main core.

The Core Area Plan: A component of the Downtown Hayward Design Plan, RECENTERING (1992)

This document complements the Downtown Focal Point Master Plan as it focuses on the core area of downtown and provides a set of actions aimed to “repopulate and revitalize this once urban center” (Soloman, Inc. for the City of Hayward, 1992). Six categories of priority areas and issues are identified in the document and structure the plan for the core area. The focal point of Downtown, housing, B Street, cultural activities, the area’s boundaries and edges and the earthquake fault corridor are the six categories. Each of these categories has a devoted section with a descriptive discussion on its role in the overall plan and future direction for its success.

Downtown Hayward Design Plan (1992)

Another Downtown Area planning implementation tool, this document presents development policies for Downtown Hayward. It was drafted by the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Hayward and is to be used in conjunction with other city documents. The City of Hayward’s General Plan, zoning ordinance, and the Design Requirements and Guidelines document are just a few of the City documents referred to. Plain and simple, the document is divided into the following sections: Zoning, Maximum level of development, Densities, Open Space/Setbacks, Building heights, and Urban Design objectives.

Design Requirements and Guidelines for Downtown Hayward (1992)

This design guidelines document provides both regulatory and advisory directions and focuses only on Hayward’s Downtown Area. It was first approved by the City’s Redevelopment Agency in 1986 and then revised in 1992. The document is organized around three “Downtown Design Environments” delineated by different streets and building types and prescribes detailed architectural design direction. Sections for the entrances and rear of buildings, and shading devices are some examples of the architectural design direction provided. Signage requirements are also included and make up approximately half of the entire document.

Hayward Downtown Historic Rehabilitation District: Commercial Design Manual (1993)

Another design guidelines document, the Commercial Design Manual addresses just commercial buildings in the downtown historic district. This historic district is essentially the physical center of the Downtown Area and bounded by Foothill Boulevard to the north and northeast, “D” Street and Atherton Street to the south and southeast, and McKeever Avenue to the west.

Written by the consulting firm Terra Design Group of Mill Valley, this document was approved in 1993 and supersedes standards set forth for commercial buildings in the historic district in the 1992 Design Requirements and Guidelines for Downtown Hayward document. There are 18 sections to this document, each one covering a building design element such as: awnings, mass, style, materials, and roofline.

South Hayward BART/Mission Boulevard Hayward, California Form-Based Code (2011)

Form-Based Codes (FBC) provides a planning tool that can be used to regulate the built environment in the process of placemaking. Unlike design guidelines, they are regulatory (Talen, 2009) and have prescribed components. Hayward’s FBC for the South Hayward BART and Mission Boulevard area carries out policies in the Hayward General Plan’s Land Use Element for this particular neighborhood planning area. This FBC has a regulating plan with identified transect

zones and a multitude of standards for the area. Figure 4.3 is the regulating plan showing transects zones with their density allocations.

City of Hayward Climate Action Plan (2009)

Climate Action Plans are the regulatory planning tool that provides direction for the reduction of green house gas emission (GHG) in a city or jurisdiction. Adopted in 2008, Hayward’s Climate Action Plan provides policies and provisions for the reduction of GHG in the City in the near future. Included in the document is a baseline emission inventory, summarizing the current emission in the City; a reduction plan, that discusses energy saving methods in buildings; and an implementation plan and a measurement and verification section.