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The San Ramon City Council and Planning Commission are set to hold a joint meeting Tuesday evening to discuss potential amendments to the city’s retail strategy plan — specifically identifying what type of retail can and should be brought into the city and where those retail stores can best be located.
The strategy consists of a series of updates to the Economic Development Strategic Plan to invigorate retail and restaurant offerings locally. Plans specifically focus on six key areas: the Bollinger Canyon Road Corridor, the East Crow Canyon Road retail corridor, Diablo Plaza, the Northwest Specific Plan Area and retail centers in the eastern and southern parts of the city.
“Across the US, the retail sector is undergoing rapid changes,” community development director Debbie Chamberlain wrote in a city staff report. “Demand for physical store space from commodity retailers is shrinking in the face of increased online shopping, while at the same time, a strong and growing consumer preference for specialty shopping environments that offer retail shopping together with leisure amenities is driving redevelopment of existing retail shopping centers as well as the design of new ones.”
Chamberlain added that San Ramon is one of the many cities across the country facing these evolving issues.
Promotions primarily revolve around supporting the success of City Center at Bishop Ranch, incentivizing new commodity retail development, promoting neighborhood-oriented retail and encouraging supportive non-retail uses, all while also placing an emphasis on ensuring sufficient parking locations are available for residents and visitors.
The proposed plan also addresses residential housing in various degrees at the aforementioned areas of focus. Currently the strategy does not propose adding more housing, at least not more than what is already planned, but it does propose the removal of housing from three retail shopping centers and relocate them to “more suitable” areas.
Deliberations over potential retail investments will not be concluded Tuesday night as the city is required to hold at least two more public hearings discussing the strategy. In addition to this, in order to be adopted the plan must be approved by at least a four out of five City Council members and four out of the five Planning Commission members.
After city staff receives feedback from the two agencies regarding the plan, the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Sept. 18, to hear additional public comment on potential general plan amendments.
The joint City Council and Planning Commission meeting will be held Tuesday 5 p.m. at the San Ramon City Council Chambers, 7000 Bollinger Canyon Road. The joint meeting will be followed by a standalone City Council meeting starting at 7 p.m., also in the council chambers.
In other business
* After the joint meeting ends the City Council will meet to discuss potential revisions to the city’s public peace, morals and welfare ordinance in reference to the regulation of massage establishments in San Ramon.
Changes to the ordinance are numerous and if approved will mean a complete overhaul of San Ramon’s massage services regulations, which haven’t seen a comprehensive updated since 2005.
Key proposed changes include madating massage therapists be CAMTC-certified, therapists are required to register every two years, the city’s permit administrator can suspend a massage establishment permit after a hearing, enhanced ability for city staff to perform inspections and the establishment of a $2,500 fine for anyone who falsely claims to be a licensed therapist.
At its July 24, meeting the council endorsed the proposed updates regulating the city’s massage parlors, agreeing to officially vote on the issues at this week’s meeting.
* In order to reduce redundancy in the municipal code, the council will discuss the removal of certain Architectural Review Board procedures.
Two ordinances adopted for the official Architectural Review Board’s procedure codes essentially cover the same issues and can cause confusion for board members. The removal of one of the ordinance will eliminate the potential for confusion, according to city staff.
* To start its regular meeting the council will welcome three new police officers to the SRPD force: Mark Holland, Todd Feinberg and John Cattolico.
* San Ramon Police Chief Dan Pratt will be making remarks regarding his impending retirement at Tuesday’s meeting.
Pratt has worked in law enforcement for over 28 years, after retiring in 2016 he returned to the force on a temporary bases to serve as a part-time acting police chief. He took on the job full-time in January 2017 after Police Chief Joe Gorton was hired to serve as San Ramon’s permanent city manager.
* The council will also recognize city operations manager Steve Piersol and SRPD records supervisor Mary Doherty, two longtime public servants who are also set to retire.
