Envisioned public market plaza, shops, offices and boutique hotel at the wharf

At their regular meeting on June 22 the Ventura County Board of Supervisors warmly received a presentation of the Channel Islands Harbor Vision Report.  Over the past year, Sargent Town Planning has worked closely with the County Harbor Department and a Visioning Committee composed of Harbor busi

ness owners and residents of surrounding neighborhoods to define a new vision for the future of this small harbor on the south edge of the City of Oxnard.  Owned and operated by the County, the Harbor for many years has not attracted or retained the high-quality development and active visitor-serving uses for which the County, City of Oxnard, and community had hoped.  Through the visioning process - which included dozens of Committee meetings, online community surveys and a well-attended virtual public workshop - the STP team produced richly illustrated presentations of potential improvements to the waterfront promenades, walking and biking network within and surrounding the harbor, and a range of infill development types that might generate new activity and value in the Harbor.  The overarching goal defined through the Visioning is to make the Harbor a more active place that attracts residents and visitors to pursue a wide range of boating, fishing, recreation, dining, shopping and educational activities in a beautiful, welcoming, unique, waterfront environment.  The Committee reached consensus that the Vision Report is a good start for attracting new investment and potentially updating an outdated master plan, and the Board seemed generally to agree.

Mixed-use center surrounding Metrolink/High-Speed Rail Station Plaza

The Public Review Draft of Rancho Cucamonga's comprehensive General Plan Update was posted for public review on June 16. The Plan can be found by simply Googling PlanRC. As part of a large multi-disciplinary team retained by the City, Sargent Town Planning has been leading the work o

The Public Review Draft of Rancho Cucamonga's comprehensive General Plan Update was posted for public review on June 16. The Plan can be found by simply Googling PlanRC. As part of a large multi-disciplinary team retained by the City, Sargent Town Planning has been leading the work on the general plan vision and preparing a new Land Use and Community Design Element that is based on Place Types rather than conventional land use designations.  Throughout 2020, City staff and Circlepoint led an expansive Plan RC public engagement process that included numerous community stakeholder meetings, community surveys, and virtual public meetings and workshops.  STP supported that process by preparing richly illustrated presentations, including mapping, imagery and illustrations of potential development and public space typologies for the the future of each part of this large and diverse community.  Based on robust community input, STP and the rest of the team collaborated in compiling prefered elements and conccepts into plan alternatives that were presented back to the community.  Based on the community's expressed preferences, and on State planning policiy and economic and fiscal imperatives, the team then defined a preferred alternative and STP crafted a highly illlustrated Land Use and Community Design Element.  The Element includes 8 "Focus Area Plans" for areas in which significant near- and mid-term change is anticipated, some benefitting from significant collaboration with Torti Gallas Partners and Grimshaw Architects.  The public review period will conclude in mid-July, at which point the team will prepare updated documents for considertation by the Planning Commission and City Council.  

New public plaza adjacent to the historic Vortox Building in Village South

At their meeting on June 1, the Claremont Planning Commission unanimously recommended that the City Council approve the Village South Specific Plan.  Through a public process over the course of nearly 4 years, Sargent Town Planning has worked collaboratively with the City, the community, property

owners and prospective developers to produce a plan to deliver a 21st century mixed-use, transit-oriented development a short walk from a planned Gold Line Metro station and existing Metrolink commuter rail station.  The plan - including a form-based code, objective design and development standards, and detailed implmementation strategies and procedures - has been crafted to ensure human-scale, pedestrian-oriented urban patterns, building forms, and active public spaces that reflect the unique character, quality and scale of the historic early 20th century Claremont Village just to the north. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Commission Chair commented that the Village South Plan was the best specific plan she had ever seen, a much appreciated compliment coming from a senior principal of a prominent national architectural firm.

Claremont Village South Workshop #1

On Saturday, July 15, 2017, the City of Claremont held the first public workshop at the Alexander Hughes Community Center to solicit public input on the Village South Specific Plan.

 The event was attended by over 50 citizens and produced many thoughtful comments and good ideas regarding a plan for the area along Indian Hill Avenue just south of Claremont Village.  The workshop began with an introduction by City staff and David Sargent of Sargent Town Planning, including background on the project, early observations about the project area, and some potential planning and urban design concepts and options.  Attendees were then divided into small working groups to develop and prioritize their ideas for the plan, with results then shared with the entire group.  These ideas will form the basis for a draft vision plan which will be presented in Planning Commission and City Council workshops in the fall, and brought back to a second public workshop toward the end of the year.  

Workshop #2

At the second public workshop for Fontana's Downtown Area Plan, the STP team presented a proposed district framework structure, a series of suggestions for public realm improvements, and range of recommended infill development types.

 The core strategy recommended is to improve the underdeveloped area separating the civic center from the historic downtown retail core as a "Civic Park District" and restaurant row, which will act as a new "north anchor" for the retail district connecting existing assets and attracting new customers and visitors. A new mixed-use center focused on student housing was recommended for the Chaffee College/Metrolink Station area as a "south anchor" for the retail district, and a "Foothill Gateway" themed with Historic Route 66 imagery was recommended to draw visitors from that historic highway into Downtown.  These recommendations were met with a good deal of interest and a great deal of valuable input was received, which will now form the basis for a Draft Specific Plan that will be presented at Workshop #3 in early December.

Sierra Avenue in Downtown Fontana

Over the past year Sargent Town Planning has been supporting the Stantec Urban Places Group in preparing the urban design framework for Fontana's general plan update.

Through the Fontana Forward stakeholder engagement and public workshop process, a series of priorities for the new general plan have been identified, and one of the goals with the broadest and deepest public support is the revitalization of the City's small underperforming downtown core.  STP - with support from Stantec, Kosmont Companies and Lisa Wise Consulting - is leading a Downtown Plan process to define a clear vision, market-based strategies, and vision-based development standards for attracting new investment to the City's well-located historic center.  Initially conceived as a Downtown Specific Plan, the Plan will be an Area Plan within the General Plan, and new zoning contained in the Zoning Code.  

Among the many untapped assets in Fontana's city center are a Metrolink commuter rail station, a civic center complex including City Hall and a major library, Chaffee College, a number of park and lovely historic buildings, and significant volumes of through traffic representing potential customers and residents.  Challenges include a fragmented street network, generally dilapidated streetscapes and buildings stock, and the lack of a core group of businesses to attract a diverse clientele. Additional downtown-specific stakeholder engagement and an initial visioning workshop are scheduled for the summer, with a draft plan expected by early 2017.

At their meeting on November 10, the Mountain View City Council endorsed the concept of introducing up to 9,100 housing units into the North Bayshore District.

The 2014 North Bayshore Precise Plan - prepared by the team of Raimi+Associates, Sargent Town Planning, Nelson/Nygaard and others - provided a vision plan, development standards and implementation strategies to transform the existing 1970s business park to a transit-oriented, mixed-use employment district. Council sentiment at the time was opposed to including housing in North Bayshore, but in early 2015 asked City staff and the Raimi/Sargent team to study options for including housing.  The alternatives presented to the Council represent several month's work by the team, which now also includes Van Meter Williams Pollock and Seifel Consulting. The team will work with City staff to refine the alternatives and incorporate appropriate standards and guidelines into the plan. 

http://www.mv-voice.com/news/2015/11/11/city-opts-to-max-out-housing-in-...

At a special joint study session on October 29, David Sargent presented the Nason Street Corridor Plan to the Moreno Valley City Council and Planning Commission, who expressed their support for the town center, walkable neighborhood, and employment district concepts presented.  

The plan - prepared by the team of Raimi + Associates, Sargent Town Planning, and Fehr & Peers under a grant from the Southern California Association of Governments - envisions this major corridor as a "complete street" with high quality pedestrian and bicycle facilities and future enhanced transit, with a mixed-use new town center at Alessandro Street and walkable neighborhoods and employment districts connecting two major existing medical centers to the south.  Working with the Raimi/Sargent team and City staff over the past year - with two public workshops for input and discussion of alternatives - Sargent Town Planning prepared an urban framework plan for the 3-mile corridor and 2,500 acre planning area, including detailed illustrations and perspectives of corridor and town center design alternatives.