Reports in the Redlands Daily Facts and in the Redlands Community News this week confirmed that the Transit Village area plan calls for four-story buildings:
The portions of the area dubbed Village District, the land closest to each of the three rail stations, are the only places where buildings up to an average of four stories will be allowed, [city planner Brian] Foote said.
and:
Around the village center, buildings are only allowed to be up to four stories on average, with possible five-story tower elements only immediately around the station.
However, it should be noted that the City of Redlands Transit Villages Specific Plan Draft (Redlands Mall, 3.3 Vision) already states that: “New mixed-use and multi-family buildings …. Ranging from three to five stories in height…”
As a comparison and to help visualize the proposed heights, Krikorian Theater is 51′, while the Citibank building on State Street is 85′ /six- stories. According to the proposed Transit Village Plan, new construction could be as tall as 78′. But, given that there is currently no limit to the building heights, who knows?? Also, contrary to what the City claims, Redlands has never had four-story buildings: LaPosada Hotel and Casa Loma were both three-stories, Casa Loma had two four-story viewing towers, and LaPosada had a small service structure on the back of the roof.
Had Measure G not been soundly defeated last year, it would have allowed high-rises downtown along the railroad tracks. Measure U, passed by Redlanders in 1997, limited building heights in the city. However, it does not cover the Transit Villages along the train tracks downtown. Therefore, there is no height limit on new construction in the areas. Through the Growth Management initiative, Friends of Redlands would be able to close this loophole and limit building height to 40’ and population density in the Transit Villages Area downtown. This is why it is imperative that we continue to collect signatures to get it on the ballot.
We are asking that everyone who receives this email take a few minutes to email the City of Redlands citing your comments/concerns about the plans. We need to take advantage of every opportunity to let officials know that we do not want to see high-rise and/or high-density builds downtown and that the current plan does not address public concerns (lack of parking, overcrowding, unlimited heights, high-density, safety concerns, etc.), Remember, once the downtown area is developed, it will be too late to do anything about it.
Public comments must be submitted by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16, and kept to 250 words or less. They can be sent to publiccomment@cityofredlands.org or through a form on the city’s website, cityofredlands.org/public-speaker-form. Written comments can also be dropped off at the City Clerk’s Office at 35 Cajon St.