News

Nov 29, 2023

Ukiah General Plan: Is it worth the paper it’s written on?

In 2019, the Ukiah City Council initiated the 2040 General Plan (GP) update, a

In 2019, the Ukiah City Council initiated the 2040 General Plan (GP) update, a long-term framework for future growth and development, with extensive citizen participation, expressing the community's vision for its future, resulting in a 450-page document published in December of 2022.

The GP and zoning code designate how land may be developed: The GP has a long-term outlook, identifying types of development that will be allowed and the zoning code regulates development through specific standards such as lot size, building setbacks and allowable uses. Future development must meet the requirements of both the GP and the zoning code.

Redwood Credit Union recently purchased the 20,852-square-foot property on the southeast corner of Perkins and Main streets. After receiving approval by the Design Review Board, their proposal for a Major Site Development Permit for construction of a Redwood Credit Union facility came before the Ukiah Planning Commission on May 10.

Director of Community Development Craig Schlatter and Planning Manager Michelle Irace made the presentation requesting approval of the project while many of those who attended for public comment expressed strong opposition. The commissioners’ vote was split with the decision to defer until their next meeting at City Hall on June 14 at 6 p.m.

The project proposal includes: demolition of the two existing buildings; construction of a 4,331-square-foot, one-story, Redwood Credit Union facility with a drive-thru ATM; construction of two new driveway aprons, the primary one from South Main and the secondary from East Perkins; Perkins Street sidewalk widened to 11 feet; 19 parking spaces, one bike rack and two EV charging stations; and approximately 6,003 square feet (29 percent) of landscaping.

The GP Downtown Land Use goals and policies include: high-density residential development; mixed-use development to include housing, retail commercial, offices, open space; vibrant, walkable areas rather than non-pedestrian-friendly strip retail; limiting the number of access driveways; adaptive reuse of otherwise obsolete structures; and preservation of residential and commercial structures of historic value.

The Downtown Zoning Code (DZC) requirements include: development of a healthy, safe, diverse, compact and walkable urban environment; gateways (Perkins Street corridor) that reflect Ukiah's sense of place; mixed-use shopfront buildings; and preserving and enhancing the historic downtown.

The following is from a recent interview with Dennis Crean, concerned citizen; Pinky Kushner, citizen activist; Alan Nicholson, architect and former member of the city's Design Review Board for over 15 years; and Linda Sanders, former city planning commissioner for 12 years who retired in 2020.

"I’ve had plenty of time to think about this," says Crean "and what RCU wants to build is not the right development for that particular site. The proposed plan conflicts with the GP's vision, goals and policies and the design does not conform with several fundamental elements of the DZC.

"According to the GP, a primary aspect for the downtown area is mixed use, high density but RCU plans to build 10 percent use of the space compared to what could be theoretically allowed; it's a very small building with most of the area designated for parking and driveways — low density on a large parcel zoned for and intended to be high density.

"Although new downtown buildings are required by the DZC to be two or three stories, RCU has proposed a one-story building, a single use development when the GP encourages mixed use.

"When you think of the heart of downtown — and in this case the actual historic heart where A.T. Perkins built a feed stable in 1857 — you don't think of a small building surrounded by a big parking lot; that's called a strip mall, the best location for that sort of use. Seeing a picture of the building RCU is proposing, you can imagine it in any suburb, any town; this project does not enhance the character of Ukiah, does not fit in that spot."

Kushner says when the citizens were involved in the creation of the GP, "they were looking toward a downtown vibrant with more shops and more downtown living, as the core of the community.

"In approving the RCU project, it appears the city is ready to reject their own current codes and the ideals of the vision of the GP and the DZC.

"Although the GP goals call for compressed housing within city limits, with the approval of the RCU plan, it's now a free for all where anything goes. Let's throw out the zoning codes; it's not important to city staff; what matters to them appears to be money on the table.

"Their interpretation is flexible, impermanent, to be changed to suit the moment. As part of the group that worked so hard to develop the GP and the zoning code, it hurts to have it all thrown out, disrespectful towards all that we put into law."

Nicholson has been involved in community input to the Ukiah Valley Area Plan, the Mendocino County General Plan, the GP and the zoning code.

"This project is of interest to me because it's right in the middle of a new downtown neighborhood — the development of the $450,000,000 courthouse by the railroad tracks that will significantly change the shape of Ukiah for the future.

"RCU's proposal ignores the Ukiah Valley Area Plan, the GP and especially the DZC which requires a two-story minimum, up to a three-story minimum and up to a 50,000-square-foot building on that corner lot.

"Although the facility will significantly impact traffic patterns, the city decided not to do a traffic report. There are two driveways into and out with an easement to the adjacent neighbor's parking lot which creates three separate entries and exits. The drive-through ATM will exit onto Perkins Street creating excessive traffic jams at the corner, less than 200 feet away.

"Although the large proposed parking area is convenient for the bank, it would be a major exception to the DZC. Parking, a significant component, requires not exceeding the maximum parking allowed. There is already sufficient parking on street and the lot just north.

"The project does not meet the codes which state emphatically that the future of Ukiah should be in minimizing auto traffic and maximizing pedestrian and bicycle transit.

Sanders says, "What I object to is that the Planning Department has not respected the creation of the GP — following the Ukiah Valley Area Plan — that the community worked so hard on developing.

"RCU submitted four different plans to the Design Review Board; why should they have to do that if the Planning Department staff had been guiding them? They had to use a lot of resources because the GP was not respected.

"Those documents are created to show developers what the community would like to see for future projects, to help them understand what the requirements are, before they begin, so they don't have to spin their wheels like what has happened with the RCU.

"There's so much interest to get every empty property fully developed; that has become more important than the design.

"Unfortunately, the project is very car centric and the goal of the people who live in Ukiah and surrounding area is to develop a very accommodating pedestrian and cyclist-friendly downtown, where everybody can move in a busy downtown area without being traumatized by traffic.

"I am very concerned about that intersection. People have already been injured there.

"The RCU plan proposes three driveways, designed for people who live in other places to get in and out quickly, but not for people who live here, who are crossing the street to the library or going to the new courthouse. The project is not in compliance for traffic.

"The planning commissioners were not going to approve it but the whole process broke down at the last meeting; it was embarrassing. It was derailed and the next planning meeting is just going to be a do-over, which I don't think is proper.

"Even though the design is not in compliance, I can live with that. My main concerns are that there be no drive-through ATM but a walk-in, reducing the parking and taking measures to prevent future calamities at that intersection.

Nicholson adds, "The city staff is recommending three major exceptions for this project — parking; height and size of the building and the setbacks to adjacent properties. All are excessive exceptions; the project does not fit the use of the property.

"This corner and the rest of Perkins are the entryway to historic downtown Ukiah, in all the codes considered a gateway corridor. City staff created exceptions in a similar manner at the Chipotle project, the last major building approved for Ukiah and, using the Chipotle exceptions as a precedent for this project, could mean that all future projects will be able to use these two projects for their standard of compliance with the codes and master plans. With this, it's obvious that the Perkins corridor will turn into a suburban strip mall with ample parking and drive throughs with no considerations for what the citizens have been working to create over the past 25 years — a downtown that feels like a downtown.

Crean concludes, "City staff has been manipulating the process to push through something they believe should belong there; things are going on behind the scenes that are not right, that are not reflecting and respecting what the people want; citizens are not being supported by professional staff.

"At the last Planning Commission meeting, the commissioners were ready to deny the proposal; then the process went haywire; the system is not working properly."

Comments may be submitted via email to [email protected].

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