SAN RAFAEL

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

The 1993 Downtown Community Plan set the foundation for San Rafael’s downtown revitalization. In creating the plan, the city held three community workshops with 250 participants, and took the unusual step of involving 270 children and their parents to make sure it would meet the needs of families. Participants agreed on the goals of
upgrading the downtown’s image and identity, promoting diverse architecture and cultural activities, and making it more walkable.

Encouraging Housing
A fundamental strategy for meeting these goals was to build more housing downtown. In 1996, key zoning changes made this possible. For example, in some areas the city doubled height limits from three to six stories, halved residential parking requirements to one space per apartment, and increased density limits from 42 to 72 homes per acre. The downtown plan’s urban design recommendations, including height transitions to surrounding neighborhoods and improvements to streetscapes and pedestrian areas, guided this new development. Between 1993 and 2006, nearly 400 homes were built downtown, adding 50% more housing.

In 2004, after extensive community participation, the City Council adopted a new general plan. This plan extended the 1996 zoning successes into other neighborhoods. The general plan also promoted home affordability by requiring that 20% of the homes in larger developments be affordable to low- and moderate-income households. San Rafael was one of the first cities to implement the state density bonus law, which increases the number of units developers are allowed to build if they make a certain portion affordable.

Downtown Satisfaction
In 2007, a city survey found that 86% of residents felt “the revitalization effort in the downtown area has been a good thing for San Rafael” and 74% felt that San Rafael was “maintaining its unique character and hometown atmosphere.” San Rafael’s efforts have been remarkably successful in accommodating change while preserving small-town charm.