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POLICY
1
The Salinas General Plan Land Use Map indicates future growth areas.
Prior to permitting any development within a future growth area,
the City shall approve a Specific Plan for that area, which shall
identify the most appropriate location for all land uses within
the Specific Plan area. The Specific Plan for each future growth
area shall be consistent with the principles of traditional neighborhood
development set forth in the policies below.
POLICY
2
Charrettes are strongly encouraged in the early part of the process
in drafting a Specific Plan to ensure effective public participation
in the planning process and to ensure that traditional neighborhood
development principles are properly employed.
POLICY
3
New developments within each future growth area shall be made up
of one or more “neighborhoods.” Each neighborhood shall
follow a transect of land uses from an urban neighborhood center
to a parkway edge.
POLICY
4
Each neighborhood center shall be defined by and shall be required
to have the following urban characteristics:
a)
A civic or public open space such as a plaza or green shall be
located in the neighborhood center.
b)
Retail space, office space, and residential uses shall be located
in the neighborhood center, often in multi-use buildings.
c)
Except for schools, Institutional uses should also be located
in the neighborhood center.
d)
Streets in the neighborhood center shall be thoroughly interconnected
with the surrounding street system to provide easy, multiple accesses
for cars, pedestrians, and bicycles.
e)
All buildings in the neighborhood center shall be permitted to
satisfy their parking requirements with spaces located both on-and
off-street within 1/8 mile of the building. All off-street parking
shall be placed behind or under buildings in order to present
a continuous building façade to the public street.
POLICY
5
Each neighborhood or group of neighborhoods within each future growth
area shall provide for a mix of housing, workplaces, retail, and
institutional uses including schools, and shall include land designated
for public parks/recreation.
POLICY
6
Development within each future growth area shall be consistent with
the following policies:
a)
The outer edge of development in each neighborhood shall not be
more than 15 minutes walk from the neighborhood center.
b)
The average housing densities within blocks shall decrease from
neighborhood center to neighborhood edge (transect).
The
neighborhood edge shall be bordered either by a natural corridor,
a landscaped buffer adjacent to arterials, or the edge of an adjacent
neighborhood across a pedestrian-friendly boulevard or parkway;
sound walls should not be allowed.
POLICY
7
In order to preserve prime agricultural land, and to achieve the
other benefits of compact urban design, new neighborhoods shall
be required to achieve a minimum average density of 9 units per
net residential developable acre, exclusive of open space, parks,
schools, streets and other non-developable areas.
POLICY
8
New residential developments shall not achieve the required average
density of 9 units per net residential developable acre through
an exclusive mix of low-density and high-density units. At least
40% of the housing units in new residential developments shall be
of housing types that fall within the range of 7-14 units per net
residential developable acre.
POLICY
9
Residential developers shall be encouraged to design new residential
developments with as many discreet lot sizes and housing types as
is feasible, in the interest of offering a greater number of choices
across the broad range of housing prices. Several lot sizes and
housing types within each block shall be encouraged, to provide
variety and texture within the block, as well as throughout each
neighborhood. Clustering a large group of any single housing type
in several large blocks shall be avoided.
POLICY
10
The street network within each future growth area shall have the
following characteristics:
a)
Traffic shall be channeled from major arterials around groups
of neighborhoods on boulevards which shall have a maximum of two
travel lanes and a bike lane in each direction with a large 20’
to 30’ landscaped median. The center medians shall allow
access to every neighborhood street. Large lot homes with large
front setbacks and garage access only from rear alleys shall face
onto the boulevards.
b)
Parkways may be used to channel traffic from major arterials and
boulevards to, but not through, neighborhood commercial centers.
Each parkway shall have one narrow travel lane and a bike lane
in each direction, with a large 20’ to 30’ landscaped
median. The center medians shall allow access to every neighborhood
street. Homes with garage access only from rear alleys shall face
onto the parkways. The front setbacks shall progressively decrease
as residential areas approach the neighborhood center.
c)
Each neighborhood shall be connected in as many locations as possible
to the parkways and boulevards to disburse and calm the traffic
as it leaves and enters the residential neighborhood. Collector
street systems shall not be allowed.
d)
Open spaces, schools, parks and other natural amenities shall
be fronted by streets or public spaces, and shall not be privatized
behind backyards.
e)
“Gated” single-family home communities shall not be
permitted.
f)
Individual blocks should generally average less than 600 feet
in length and less than 1800 feet in perimeter, measured at the
right of way line.
g)
Cul-de-sacs shall be avoided unless natural terrain conditions
demand them.
h)
The street network shall be thoroughly interconnected.
i)
Streets in the neighborhood commercial center shall have parking
on both sides. Head in and angle parking is preferred in the commercial
center with a maximum of two 12-foot travel lanes.
j)
In order to slow traffic, standard residential streets shall be
no more than 32 feet wide with parking on both sides in the last
block before the street connects to a parkway or boulevard, and
shall be reduced in stages to 28 feet or less with parking on
both sides once away from the parkways and boulevards. In addition,
the corner curb radius shall be no more then 10 feet where the
neighborhood streets connect to the parkways and boulevards and
shall not exceed 4 feet elsewhere within the neighborhoods.
k)
Rear alleys shall be strongly encouraged. Rear alleys must be
paved and landscaped and must be maintained by a landscape and
lighting district, or comparable, permanent financing mechanism.
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