Vacaville council poised to examine land use alternatives

VACAVILLE — The Vacaville City Council will continue to work through proposals this week for its General Plan update, including ideas to change uses for some underperforming shopping centers, putting aside land for technology research businesses and finding other uses for some now-vacant school sites.

Special meetings are scheduled Tuesday and Thursday at city hall. The meetings are open to the public.

Vacaville City Council

• What: General Plan update preferred land use alternatives report.
• When: 2 p.m. Tuesday and 6 p.m. Thursday.
• Where: Vacaville City Council chamber, 650 Merchant St.
• Info: 449-5100.

The city has spent the last year talking to residents, developers, business owners and landowners about what direction they want to see Vacaville’s development and growth head. The input from those meetings is now going before the City Council for examination as preferred land use alternatives.

Tuesday’s meeting will focus on recommendations from the General Plan Update Steering Committee on preferred land use alternatives for northeast Vacaville, the area east of Leisure Town and several smaller individual sites scattered across town.

The individual sites include several school sites such as Elm Elementary School, a parcel next to Jepson Middle School, the former Vacaville School District offices next to Andrews Park, the Muzetta Thrower Alternative Education Center and the Brown Street center.

Vacaville planners are also looking at what the General Plan needs to do with a half-dozen ailing and underused shopping centers such as Alamo Plaza, Golden Hills Plaza, Glenbrook Plaza, Peabody Center Plaza, Elmira Square and Peabody Road at Marshall Road. Downtown Vacaville sites being looked at include two redevelopment project sites: Opportunity Hill and Depot Street.

The committee supported allowing a mixed-use development at the former school district office and education center site.

Committee members also supported changing land-use designations to allow mixed-use commercial and residential development at the Glenbrook Plaza, Peabody Center, Elmira Square, and Peabody Road and Marshall Road shopping areas. The potential for new major users for Alamo Plaza and Golden Hills Plaza prompted the support to keep them with commercial uses.

For northeast Vacaville, the steering committee supported not restricting housing, putting aside a generous amount of land for technology research and development businesses, while the Interstate 80 corridor would be primarily commercial.

No decisions will be made at either meeting. The council will meet Nov. 8 to review the preferred land uses that the council voices preference for at the Tuesday and Thursday special meetings. Consultants will then review General Plan policies and start preparing a draft environmental impact report.

Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or ithompson@dailyrepublic.net.

Short URL: http://www.dailyrepublic.com/?p=97138

Posted by Ian Thompson on Oct 17 2011.

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