REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Public Hearing: Adoption of the Third Zoning Code Cleanup Ordinance and Rezoning of Properties Currently Designated TN (Transit Neighborhood) to R6 (Transit Neighborhood Residential)
Report
BACKGROUND
The Zoning Code is the primary regulatory tool that implements the General Plan. As an on-going update, staff periodically brings clean-up ordinances to address clerical inconsistencies within the document or areas needing further clarification based on implementation of the new zoning code and to be consistent with recent changes in State Law. This allows the zoning code to stay current. Staff tracks the necessary updates over time and then periodically brings them forward as one clean up document. This report and resolution represent the third minor code clean-up ordinance.
Planning Commission Recommendation
The City of Santa Clara Planning Commission (Commission) heard the item at their June 10, 2026 meeting and discussed noticing for public hearings, which is typically done through required mailings, posting of the agenda online, Council Chamber, Library and Clerks Office. The online noticing requirement from the Zoning Code is duplicative as the notice is already on the event calendar. The Planning Commission recommended an alternative such as posting City Council agendas online, which are relevant and accessible and also fulfill the same function as online noticing of individual projects. This is the typical noticing, however for more complex or controversial projects, the City continues to do additional outreach per the adopted Outreach Policy.
The Planning Commission also discussed the definition of "Smoke Shop" and recommended revising it to better capture the range of items sold in such businesses. Specifically, the Commission recommended replacing "and" with "or" in the list describing smoking materials and paraphernalia used to determine whether a business is "primarily engaged in" those sales. The Planning Commissio...
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