urban form and land use - fremont

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Figure 2.1 | City Center existing Conditions

Wide streets: view looking south down Paseo Padre from Mowry.

Surface parking lot.

Largely single-use buildings.

PLAN AREA

C H A L L E N G E S A N D O P P O RT U N I T I E S

URBAN FORM AND LAND USE

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1.0| GENERAL PLAN AND COMMUNITY PLAN DIRECTION

The General Plan has made it very clear that Fremont wants an urban city center, and has acknowledged that the “city center area” is currently developed in a very different pattern. Currently, the city center area is characterized by wide streets designed to convey automobile traffic quickly and efficiently, large and in many cases underutilized surface parking lots, and mostly single-use buildings (see Figure 2.1). It is largely disconnected from the Fremont BART Station and the preferred and most practical method for getting around is the automobile.

2 | CITY CENTER PRECISE PLAN + CODE: LAND USE, URBAN FORM AND POLICY ANALYSIS

Figure 2.2 | City Center PlaCe tyPe as desCribed in the general Plan

The General Plan, on the other hand, envisions Fremont’s City Center as a focal point and destination for the region – a place that is memorable and imparts a positive impression that is shaped by high-quality architecture, dynamic and thoughtfully designed public spaces, and a street environment that is comfortable and welcoming to pedestrians. The Community Character Element of the General Plan focuses on the ways in which Fremont’s buildings, streets, and open spaces work together to define the City’s sense of place, build civic pride, make the City more economically competitive, help attain sustainability goals, and ultimately improve the quality of life of its inhabitants. The Community Character Element calls for some parts of Fremont to change less and others – such as the City Center – to change more dramatically. The General Plan guides the transformation of the City Center through two place types, which in turn provide standards for urban form, development, mobility, and land use:

• CityCenter.This place type (see Figure 2.2) designates the Center City as the primary business district and economic and cultural activity center of the city, describing it as “a vibrant downtown that serves as the focal point for the southeast San Francisco Bay region.” It calls for “a compact development pattern with taller buildings, more refined street grid and a lively streetscape environment” that increases the residential population in order to “help add vitality, extend the hours of activity, and provide a built in market for retail, services, and entertainment uses.” Buildings within the City Center Place Type range in height from 2-8 stories with a density range of 50 - 70+ du/acre and typical FAR range of 0.8 - 3.0. These mixed-use buildings are sited along narrow, tree-lined, pedestrian-oriented streets with shared parking behind buildings.

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Figure 2.3 | urban Corridor PlaCe tyPe as desCribed in the general Plan

• UrbanCorridor. This place type (see Figure 2.3) envisions the City Center’s corridors being transformed into complete streets that accommodate a variety of travel modes and uses. They are flanked by wide sidewalks with ample pedestrian and transit amenities – including streetscape furnishings and public art – and multi-story structures with buildings located along the sidewalk to create a street wall and enhance the pedestrian environment. They have bike lanes and on-street parking and accommodate public transit with frequent bus service and connections to BART. Buildings within this Place Type range from 2-8 stories.


2.0| COMMUNITY PLAN DIRECTION

The Downtown Community Plan expands on these ideas, calling for a lively, mixed-use, transit-oriented, and sustainable environment with a more pedestrian-friendly public realm that is activated by street-level commercial, retail, civic uses and public open spaces that stimulate economic activity and entice high-quality, high-density development to the district (see Figure 2.4 and Figure 2.5). Development projects are to take advantage of the close proximity to the Fremont BART Station with the goal of changing Downtown’s character from it’s current low-density, vehicular-oriented suburban development fronting surface parking lots to a mid to high-density, transit oriented development directly fronting streets and sidewalks (See Figure 2.6).

The stated goals of the Downtown Community Plan are to: create a social heart for the City; encourage economic development; create an identifiable civic center and public realm; leverage the BART Station for transit-oriented development’; and initiate a sustainable model neighborhood. The Downtown Community Plan’s objectives are to: create a distinct and memorable downtown destination; encourage a vibrant district of mixed-use development; support economic vitality and expand business and retail opportunities for residents; improve the street and block pattern as well as the streetscape design and amenities; create a pedestrian and bicycle friendly environment; improve pedestrian connections to Fremont BART station and the Hub Shopping Center; encourage a strategic network of shared public and private parking facilities; reflect Fremont’s cultural diversity; require energy efficient, green building construction and environmental stewardship; and promote a thriving employment center that is a destination of choice.

Figure 2.5 | City Center as envisioned by downtown Community Plan

Figure 2.4 | downtown existing Conditions

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Figure 2.7 | City Center distriCt areas

3.0| CITY CENTER TRANSFORMATION

The task of this Plan is to envision how Downtown connects to the rest of the City Center Plan area – east to the Office/Mixed-Use/Health Care District & Bart Station Area, south to the South Walnut District, and west to the Hub District (see Figure 2.7) – and how the City Center transforms into a memorable, vibrant, thriving, and sustainable place. Potential strategies, described in further detail on the following pages, inlcude:

• Subdividing the area into urban blocks to create an identifiable public realm that links to the BART Station to the east and the Fremont Hub District to the west.

• Inserting urban, multi-modal street types that accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists as well as transit and automobiles.

• Constructing urban buildings within those blocks, mixing residential and commercial uses of various types, as well as consolidating civic uses and amenities at key focal points, and providing sufficient and efficient parking facilities.

Figure 2.6 | downtown Community Plan vision For the downtown distriCt

Office/Mixed-Use/Health Care District &

BART Station Area

Downtown

Hub District

South Walnut District

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4.0| STREET NETWORK/BLOCK STRUCTURE

Currently, the City Center’s streets are not conducive to pedestrian activity. Transforming these streets according to the visions of the General Plan and the Downtown Community Plan, will be a gradual process. There are two basic strategies for transforming the auto-oriented, single-use City Center, into a multi-modal, mixed-use Downtown with comfortable, walkable, complete streets (see Figure 2.8):

1. Implement streetscape improvements. This consists of widening the sidewalks, planting missing street trees, installing pedestrian-oriented street lights, providing street furniture such as benches and trash cans, and introducing bulbouts at intersections. These improvements initially focus on the east-west streets and pedestrian passages that link the BART Station to Downtown:

• BART Way to Civic Center Drive to the vehicular passage that connects Civic Center Drive to Paseo Padre Parkway along the Capitol Avenue alignment.

• BART Way via the pedestrian passage through the Gateway Plaza Shopping Center.

• Walnut Avenue.

The first two will require the cooperation of Washington Hospital and the Gateway Plaza Shopping Center owners and could also include creating pedestrian-friendly streets adjacent to the existing retail frontages along the west side of the shopping center. In order to reduce traffic speeds and mark the way to Downtown, roundabouts could be introduced where Civic Center Drive intersects BART Way and where it intersects the vehicular passage that connects Civic Center Drive to Paseo Padre Parkway along the Capitol Avenue alignment.

Secondary improvements include improving the appearance, primarily through streetscape improvements and traffic calming, of north-south running arterials such as Civic Center Drive and Fremont Boulevard. Key to achieving a strong connection between the BART Station and Downtown will be to shorten the pedestrian crossing distance of Civic Center Drive and/or Paseo Padre Parkway at Capitol Avenue, BART Way, and Walnut Avenue. In addition, Class II bike lanes could be introduced, parallel parking could be added along portions or along their entire length, and/or in the case of Civic Center Drive, its center median could be widened and landscaped in order to emphasize its connection to Fremont Central Park – a strategy that would also help reduce the pedestrian crossing distance for people who walk from the BART Station to Downtown.

Finally, gateway intersections – short, landscaped medians that provide a gateway/signage element – to alert motorists of Downtown’s presence could be introduced along Mowry Avenue, Fremont Boulevard, Walnut Avenue, and Paseo Padre Parkway (see Figure 2.8).

2. Introducing infill development. This includes introducing new buildings that face and are accessed from adjacent sidewalks, beginning with the priority development projects identified in Section 4.0 (Infill Development Opportunities). This is followed by the introduction of street-facing infill buildings at the edges of surface parking lots and the addition of new streets and buildings in the existing BART Station parking lots. In the long term, new streets and street-facing buildings could be introduced through and around the Fremont Hub Shopping Center.

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Figure 2.8 | network interventions

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Legend

Plan Boundary

BART Station

Connect BART to Downtown

Improve pedestrian connections in Gateway Plaza shopping center

Improve Civic Center Drive

Traffic-calm Walnut Avenue

Improve streetscape per Downtown Community Plan

Introduce new streets per Downtown Community Plan

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Introduce new streets in BART Sta-tion parking lot

Introduce new streets in Fremont Hub District

Introduce new streets in south of Walnut District

Introduce new parks

Introduce bulbouts and crosswalks

Introduce roundabouts

Introduce gateway intersection

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5.0| INFILL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

The Center City’s transformation begins with infilling the vacant parcels along Capitol Avenue at Hastings Street and between State Street and Fremont Boulevard and on the large block bounded by Walnut Avenue, California Street, Beacon Avenue, and Liberty Street (see Figure 2.9 and Figure 2.10).

In addition, there are a number of locations where the edges of parking lots could be infilled with buildings – especially at corners (see Figure 2.11). Priority locations are along the routes between the BART Station and Downtown and include:

• Introducing a new hospital building along the north side of BART Way per the Washington Hospital Master Plan and adding street-facing liner buildings along the south side of BART Way. The latter would require the cooperation of the owner of the office building to the south.

• Transit oriented development within the existing BART Station parking lots with buildings that face Mowry Avenue, Walnut Avenue and Tule Pond. A trail or path could be introduced along the edge of Tule Pond. In addition, sufficient parking for BART patrons would need to be provided and the bus bays located on the east side off the BART station would need to be accommodated.

• In the longer term, introducing street-facing buildings along the edges of parking lots along Civic Center Drive, Paseo Padre Parkway, Liberty Street, and Walnut Avenue. Infill of parking lots would need to take into account existing lost parking spaces as well as potential additional ones that would be required by the new building occupants.

Figure 2.9 | Priority ProjeCts Per downtown Community Plan

Figure 2.10 | downtown Community Plan vision For CaPitol avenue at state street

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Figure 2.11 | inFill oPPortunities

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Plan Boundary

Existing Streets

Downtown Community Plan Infill

Infill buildings

BART Station

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6.0| EXISTING LAND USES

As mentioned above, the City Center’s use pattern is primarily single-use and is comprised of five primary uses (see Figure 2.12):

• Retail/Service, which is concentrated in the Gateway Plaza and Fremont Hub shopping centers, along Mowry Avenue between Hastings Street and Fremont Boulevard, and along Fremont Boulevard.

• Office, located primarily along and south of Walnut Avenue, inlcuding the underutilized Wells Fargo Bank Operations Center site (located at the southwest corner of Walnut Avenue and Liberty Street) that provides an opportunity for infill. Medical office uses are primarily concentrated on the north side of Mowry Avenue, across the street from Washington Hospital.

• Institutional, including Washington Hospital and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s Fremont Center (both located adjacent to and just to the west of the BART Station), the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, and Fremont Hospital.

• Civic, including Fremont City Hall and associated buildings, the U.S. Social Security Administration building, the Alameda County Courthouse, and the Chadbourne Carriage House (located just to the north of Beacon Avenue).

• Multi-FamilyResidential, located within the southeast corner of the Plan Area along Civic Center Drive between Walnut Avenue and Stevenson Boulevard and assisted living along Beacon Avenue near California Street. The Plan Area is almost completely surrounded by residential uses – single-family with pockets of multi-family.

As the auto-dominant streets become more multi-modal, as street-facing, mixed-use buildings are introduced, and as the connection to the Fremont BART Station is strengthened, the vision of the General Plan and the Downtown Community Plan will gradually be achieved over time.

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Figure 2.12 | existing downtown uses

Institutional (Hospital)

Office (Medical)

Office

Retail/Service

Retail/Service


Office Office

Civic

Residential (Multi-Family)

Civic

Office

Office

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Residential (Multi-Family)


urban form and land use - fremont

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