Report Prepared by: Francisco Mendoza-Gonzalez, Planner, Development Services
Title
SUBJECT: Public Hearing Regarding Proposed Amendments to the City's Commercial Shopping Center (C-SC) Zone
REPORT IN BRIEF
Council will consider amendments to Merced Municipal Code Table 20.10-1-Permitted Land Uses in the Commercial Zoning Districts regarding the Commercial Shopping Center (C-SC) Zone.
RECOMMENDATION
City Council - Adopt a motion adopting a Categorical Exemption and Introducing Ordinance No. 2486, an Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Merced, California, Amending Table 20.10-1 ("Commercial Zoning Districts") of the Merced Municipal Code.
Body
ALTERNATIVES
1. Introduce the ordinance as recommended by the Planning Commission and City staff; or,
2. Introduced a modified ordinance as revised by the City Council (identify specific modifications in the motion);
3. Deny; or,
4. Refer back to City staff for reconsideration of specific items (specific items to be addressed in the motion);
or,
5. Continue to a future City Council meeting (date and time to be specified in the motion).
AUTHORITY
City of Merced Charter, Section 200
CITY COUNCIL PRIORITIES
The City Council has expressed for many years the need for a grocery store in South Merced and it has been a high priority project for City staff.
DISCUSSION
Site Selection
There is currently only one lot within the entire City of Merced that is zoned Commercial Shopping Center. This vacant 6-acre lot is located at the southeast corner of Childs Avenue and Canal Street (112 S. Canal Street - Attachment 5). The City of Merced Redevelopment Agency (RDA) purchased this site several years ago with the intention of reserving it for a grocery store in an effort to spur economic development and provide access to fresh produce in an area that had been identified as a "food desert" by the Martin Luther King Jr. Way Revitalization Plan. This site is surrounded by high-density residential uses and is located...
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