Santa Rosa plan for downtown soon coming up for public review

Santa Rosa will host two neighborhood meetings to discuss a draft of a new downtown plan before city officials meet at City Hall early next month.

The city will hold meetings at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Roseland Community Library, 779 Sebastopol Road, and 6 p.m. Monday at the Church of One Tree, 492 Sonoma Ave.

The City Council and Planning Commission are set to discuss the initiative on Dec. 3 at 1 p.m. at City Hall, 100 Santa Rosa Ave.

The draft plan, based on feedback the city's received to this point, can be viewed at plandowntownsr.com. The 12-page document, which will be used to guide critical environmental studies in the future, aims to “enhance the role of downtown Santa Rosa as an energetic commercial and cultural center with a range of housing, employment, retail and restaurant options in a vibrant, walkable environment.”

The evolving vision for downtown envisions new, taller buildings for living and working, a reconnected Fourth Street for bicyclists and pedestrians stretching through the Santa Rosa Plaza mall site, and a “high-frequency trackless trolley” linking Old Courthouse Square and the downtown SMART station. The city is also poised to consider redeveloping the City Hall complex into high-density housing, waiving parking requirements for developments near transit, and relaxing height caps on downtown structures.

You can reach Staff Writer Will Schmitt at 707-521-5207 or will.schmitt@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @wsreports.