§9220.1 PURPOSE

The purpose of the downtown zoning code is:

A. To create an urban environment that implements and fulfills the goals, objectives and strategies of the Ukiah General Plan by encouraging the development of a healthy, safe, diverse, compact and walkable urban community.

B. To implement the vision for the study area created by the community during an intense and open community design charette process in 2007. That vision is one of environmentally sustainable and economically vital public spaces and buildings with a renewed civic square, attractive civic buildings and spaces, a healthy creek corridor, gateways that reflect Ukiah’s sense of place, a mix of building types and affordability, new development that supports and enhances the train depot and rail corridor, interconnected and pedestrian-oriented public streets, specific locations for potential anchor buildings (such as large-scale retail, employment centers and parking structures), and pedestrian-friendly buildings and streetscapes.

C. To manage the scale and general character of new development to emulate the best elements of Ukiah’s heritage, such as shady downtown streets, diverse architecture, mixed-use shopfront buildings in the downtown, and the architecture of historic civic buildings.

D. To ensure that public and private spaces are connected and compatible. Buildings that line public spaces relate to the natural surroundings and character of the local built environment, and connect to one another at the pedestrian scale. Public spaces are more than streets and paths for people traveling on foot, on bicycles and in cars. They are the community gathering places. The character of these public spaces is defined by their design and detail, and by the way that private buildings connect to public spaces.

E. To coordinate the design of public and private elements in a comprehensive and systematic approach. The downtown zoning district provides this system, focusing on the pedestrian experience as well as on the efficient movement of pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles.

F. To facilitate the coexistence of a wide range of residential, commercial and similar uses in close proximity within a lively downtown urban environment.

G. To preserve and enhance the historic downtown.

H. To support local businesses and create a vibrant commercial downtown where buildings meet the street and activate a wide range of pedestrian-friendly uses.

I. To promote and encourage a sustainable community through the reuse and improvement of existing buildings, infill development, green building and smart growth practices, and resource conservation (such as the enhancement of the creek corridor, tree planting, and tree preservation). (Ord. 1139, §2 (Exh. A, 1.010), adopted 2012)