AGENDA TITLE:
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Public Hearing to Consider a Resolution Adopting the Downtown Specific Plan (CD)
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MEETING DATE:
June 3, 2026
PREPARED BY:
Cynthia Marsh, Interim Community Development Director/City Planner
recommendation
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Public hearing to consider a resolution adopting the Downtown Specific Plan.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The Downtown Specific Plan (DTSP) is a long-range visioning, policy, and implementation document prepared pursuant to California Government Code Sections 65450-65457 to guide the future evolution of Downtown Lodi. The DTSP establishes a coordinated vision, land use guidance, mobility concepts, placemaking strategies, and an implementation framework intended to support future policy decisions, reinvestment, and subsequent regulatory updates consistent with the City’s General Plan.
The Specific Plan area generally extends from Lodi Avenue to the south, Lockeford Street to the north, Pleasant Avenue to the west, and Washington Street to the east. The plan area includes the historic downtown core and extends east of the Union Pacific Railroad corridor to Main Street, reflecting the City’s recent expansion of the Downtown Mixed Use (DMU) zoning district.
The DTSP was initiated at the direction of the City Council to proactively address the long-term vitality of downtown while building upon the success of the established School Street core. While the historic west side of downtown is largely built out and functioning well, the City identified opportunities to plan more intentionally for areas east of the railroad tracks following expansion of the Downtown Mixed Use zoning district to include Main Street.
A central focus of the DTSP is strengthening connectivity and reinvestment across the broader downtown area through a corridor-focused strategy for Main Street. The railroad corridor has historically created a physical and economic divide within downtown; therefore, the planning process emphasized strategies to improve east-west connections, encourage compatible infill development, enhance the public realm, and evaluate underutilized sites along Main Street and within the DMU area. Coordination with Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) was also an important component of the planning effort given the railroad’s role in shaping circulation and development patterns.
The DTSP builds upon and implements goals and policies contained within the City’s General Plan, Housing Element, Environmental Justice Element, and recent Focused General Plan Update by providing a more detailed implementation framework to guide future decision-making over time. The DTSP supports broader City objectives related to economic vitality, multimodal mobility, housing opportunity, public health, placemaking, sustainability, and equitable investment within the downtown area.
The DTSP is not a development project; rather, it is a program-level policy framework intended to guide future discretionary actions, capital improvements, infrastructure planning, mobility enhancements, and private investment within downtown. While the DTSP includes conceptual land use, urban design, mobility, and placemaking guidance, additional regulatory refinements and implementation measures are anticipated to occur over time through future zoning code amendments, objective design standards, infrastructure planning, capital improvement programming, and related City actions. Future implementation actions requiring discretionary approvals, environmental review, funding authorizations, or Municipal Code amendments will return separately for future City Council consideration and approval, as applicable.
The Downtown Specific Plan document is included with this staff report as Attachment 1. Supporting technical studies and outreach summaries prepared as part of the planning process are included as Attachment 2. These materials provide additional detail regarding mobility, economic and financial feasibility, historic resources, railroad coordination and quiet zone feasibility, and community engagement results that informed preparation of the DTSP. The environmental analysis supporting the DTSP is included as Attachment 3, consisting of the Addendum to the certified 2025 Focused General Plan Update Subsequent Environmental Impact Report.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Preparation of the Downtown Specific Plan included an extensive and multi-phased community engagement program designed to inform the Plan’s vision, priorities, and implementation strategies. The outreach process began with project kickoff in October 2024 and continued throughout the planning process to ensure ongoing opportunities for public participation and stakeholder input. Outreach efforts included:
• Steering Committee meetings and downtown walking tours with representatives from local stakeholder groups;
• Community workshops and interactive design charrettes;
• Multi-day public open houses with presentations and materials provided in both English and Spanish;
• Stakeholder, property owner, and business outreach;
• Online questionnaires, surveys, and digital engagement tools;
• Planning Commission and City Council study sessions;
• Ongoing project updates through www.PlanLodi.com <http://www.PlanLodi.com>, project email lists, and social media outreach; and
• Public review and comment opportunities on the Draft Downtown Specific Plan and appendices.
Key milestones in the community engagement process included a January 9, 2025 community workshop at the WOW Museum Classroom Building focused on existing conditions and opportunities; a multi-day community open house held February 4-5, 2025 at 22 South Main Street; an additional community open house on April 17, 2025; a Planning Commission study session on April 23, 2025; and a City Council study session on May 7, 2025. Separate open house and Steering Committee meetings were also held on February 17, 2026, to review the Public Review Draft Downtown Specific Plan and gather additional public feedback prior to preparation of the Final Public Hearing Draft. An additional Steering Committee meeting was held on April 13, 2026, to discuss the committee’s ongoing role in plan implementation.
Community input received throughout the planning process emphasized preservation of Downtown Lodi’s historic character, strengthening east-west connectivity across the railroad corridor, enhancing pedestrian mobility and public spaces, supporting economic vitality and reinvestment, encouraging housing opportunities, and improving the Main Street corridor as an extension of downtown. Feedback and comments received during the outreach process were incorporated into the Final Public Hearing Draft of the Downtown Specific Plan.
On May 13, 2026, the Planning Commission conducted a duly noticed public hearing and recommended City Council approval of the Downtown Specific Plan following consideration of staff’s presentation, public testimony, and Commission discussion.
DISCUSSION
The DTSP provides a framework to implement the General Plan vision for a vibrant, walkable downtown. Specific plans translate high-level policy into actionable standards and implementation strategies, allowing the City to guide growth in a coordinated and predictable manner.
Adoption of the DTSP supports reinvestment within existing urban areas, strengthens economic vitality, and advances mobility and placemaking improvements consistent with City priorities. The plan provides a coordinated framework to guide future investment, revitalization, and placemaking efforts while preserving the character and identity that define Downtown Lodi.
Main Street Corridor Strategy and East-West Connectivity
A key focus of the DTSP is the Main Street corridor, which represents a significant opportunity area east of the railroad tracks. The plan identifies strategies to unify downtown by improving east-west connections, enhancing the public realm, and encouraging reinvestment on underutilized sites.
By planning for Main Street as an extension of downtown rather than a separate district, the DTSP supports incremental revitalization while maintaining compatibility with surrounding neighborhoods. Collaboration and ongoing coordination with Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) informed mobility, safety, access, and long-term placemaking concepts related to the railroad corridor. The planning process also included analysis of potential railroad quiet zone requirements and related crossing considerations to better understand long-term opportunities and constraints associated with improving downtown connectivity, pedestrian experience, and quality of life adjacent to the railroad corridor.
As part of the DTSP process, the City and its consultant team also engaged in discussions and meetings with UPRR regarding the potential lease or acquisition of UPRR-owned parcels along Main Street. Those discussions remain ongoing. Accordingly, the DTSP evaluates a range of potential future scenarios for the UPRR parcels, including acquisition of limited right-of-way areas associated with the three Main Street-adjacent parcels, potential long-term lease arrangements, and the possibility of future acquisition of the full parcels. The DTSP incorporates conceptual alternatives intended to preserve flexibility as discussions with UPRR continue and future implementation opportunities are evaluated over time.
Sacramento Street and Discovery Plaza
The Downtown Specific Plan addresses Sacramento Street as an important opportunity area for future pedestrian-oriented improvements, public gathering space, museum expansion, and downtown placemaking. Several concepts and implementation strategies within the DTSP specifically focus on Sacramento Street and its relationship to the World of Wonders (WOW) Science Museum, downtown connectivity, and adjacent businesses.
A key recommendation of the DTSP is the potential creation of “Discovery Plaza” on Sacramento Street between Pine Street and Elm Street. The concept envisions closure or limitation of vehicular traffic along this block to transform the currently underutilized street segment into a vibrant pedestrian-oriented public space that supports community gathering, downtown activity, and future museum expansion opportunities. The DTSP identifies this location as uniquely suited for a pedestrian plaza given the limited direct business frontage, the proximity to the WOW Museum, and the fact that the adjacent parking garage maintains access from Pine Street and Elm Street rather than Sacramento Street itself.
The DTSP notes that the World of Wonders Science Museum has expressed support for the concept as part of its long-term expansion and activation goals. The proposed plaza is intended to strengthen downtown connectivity, improve walkability, support cultural and educational activities, and encourage greater pedestrian activity and economic interaction within the surrounding downtown area.
In addition to Discovery Plaza, the DTSP includes broader recommendations related to downtown pedestrian improvements, including continued use of temporary street closures for events, expanded outdoor dining opportunities, parklets, pedestrian amenities, landscaping enhancements, and traffic-calming measures intended to support a more walkable downtown environment. Sacramento Street between Elm Street and Locust Street has been identified as a potential area for future outdoor dining and parklet improvements that could complement the proposed Discovery Plaza and further activate the corridor with pedestrian-oriented uses.
The DTSP builds upon prior public infrastructure investments within downtown. Sacramento Street underwent significant streetscape improvements approximately a decade ago utilizing Measure K funding, while School Street received major streetscape enhancements approximately 25 years ago. The DTSP seeks to build upon these earlier public investments by identifying additional opportunities for placemaking, pedestrian improvements, and public realm enhancements throughout the broader downtown area.
As with other conceptual recommendations contained within the DTSP, the Discovery Plaza concept and related Sacramento Street improvements are intended as long-term planning and implementation strategies. Any future street closures, infrastructure improvements, operational changes, property agreements, funding authorizations, or related implementation measures would require additional analysis, environmental review, design development, public outreach, and separate City Council consideration and approval, as applicable.
Parking, Walkability, and Downtown Accessibility
The DTSP evaluates downtown parking and walkability as interconnected components of a successful and vibrant downtown environment. Consistent with widely accepted urban planning principles, the DTSP recognizes that a comfortable pedestrian walking distance within downtown areas is generally considered to be approximately one-quarter mile. In practical terms, this distance is comparable to the walking distance between the entrance of the Costco store and the Burger King within the Reynolds Ranch shopping center. Within downtown Lodi, a similar walking distance exists between City Hall and the Downtown Parking Garage.
The DTSP emphasizes that strategically located public parking facilities, including the Downtown Parking Garage, are intended to support downtown businesses, events, dining, entertainment, and future reinvestment opportunities by allowing customers, visitors, and employees to park once and walk between destinations within the downtown core. The plan also recognizes that the most convenient on-street parking spaces located directly adjacent to storefronts are particularly valuable for short-term customer access and business turnover.
During the DTSP process and related public discussions, concerns were raised regarding perceptions of safety associated with the Downtown Parking Garage and pedestrian access routes connecting the garage to surrounding downtown businesses and destinations. Coordination with the Police Department, Public Works Department, downtown stakeholders, and the Downtown Business Association identified several ongoing and potential strategies intended to enhance comfort, visibility, accessibility, and perceptions of safety within the downtown area. These strategies include continued parking enforcement efforts, enhanced lighting, security cameras, transit security presence, proactive police patrols, activation of pedestrian corridors, identification of preferred walking routes, and exploration of operational improvements associated with garage access and visibility.
The DTSP also supports broader placemaking, activation, and public realm improvements intended to encourage increased pedestrian activity throughout downtown, recognizing that active, walkable environments with consistent foot traffic, events, outdoor dining, and activated public spaces can contribute positively to both the perception and reality of downtown safety and vibrancy over time.
Implementation Strategy and Funding Opportunities
The DTSP is structured as an implementation-focused document intended to support long-term reinvestment, infrastructure improvements, placemaking, mobility enhancements, and economic development within Downtown Lodi. In addition to land use and urban design guidance, the plan includes a comprehensive implementation program identifying:
• Grant and funding opportunities for infrastructure, mobility, public realm, and streetscape improvements;
• Public-private partnership strategies;
• Programs to support downtown businesses, housing opportunities, and catalytic redevelopment projects; and
• Phasing strategies intended to prioritize near-term, mid-term, and long-term implementation actions.
The DTSP is also intended to position the City competitively for future State, regional, and local funding opportunities, including programs such as the Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Program, Regional Climate Collaboratives (RCC) Program, Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) Program, Active Transportation Program (ATP), San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG) funding programs, Measure K transportation funding opportunities, and related infrastructure, sustainability, housing, mobility, and placemaking funding sources. The plan’s focus on multimodal mobility, infill development, downtown revitalization, housing opportunity, public health, climate-supportive land use patterns, and public realm improvements is intended to align with priorities commonly associated with these competitive funding programs and broader regional investment initiatives.
The DTSP aligns with broader regional mobility, climate, and reinvestment planning efforts led by SJCOG, including the San Joaquin Regional Climate Collaborative and the Regional Mobility Hub Plan. Through the Regional Mobility Hub planning effort, SJCOG identified priority locations for future mobility hub investments intended to improve first- and last-mile connectivity, transit access, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, rideshare coordination, and multimodal transportation options throughout San Joaquin County. Lodi was identified as a finalist community within the Regional Mobility Hub planning and implementation process, reflecting the City’s strategic location, downtown transit connections, and opportunities to improve multimodal connectivity within and around the downtown area.
The DTSP also builds upon recent public and private reinvestment occurring within the downtown area, including the City’s rehabilitation of the building at 22 South Main Street for future County-operated supportive housing services. Together, these regional mobility initiatives and local reinvestment efforts reinforce the importance of establishing a coordinated long-range framework to guide future downtown investment, revitalization, infrastructure improvements, housing opportunity, and multimodal connectivity.
This implementation-focused approach ensures that the DTSP functions as an active framework to guide future investment and partnership opportunities rather than a static planning document.
Coordination with the Economic Development Strategic Plan
The Downtown Specific Plan is intended to function in coordination with the City’s Economic Development Strategic Plan (EDSP), which establishes a broader citywide framework for economic vitality, business attraction, workforce development, fiscal sustainability, and long-term economic competitiveness. The EDSP identifies downtown revitalization and implementation of the Downtown Specific Plan as important components of the City’s overall economic development strategy.
While the DTSP focuses specifically on land use, mobility, placemaking, public realm improvements, and long-range implementation strategies within the downtown area, the EDSP provides complementary economic development strategies intended to support business growth, investment attraction, tourism, entrepreneurship, and catalytic redevelopment opportunities citywide. Together, the two planning efforts are intended to create a coordinated framework supporting downtown reinvestment, economic resilience, housing opportunity, multimodal connectivity, and enhanced quality of life.
Downtown Lodi is at a pivotal moment. Market conditions, recent policy updates, and the expansion of the Downtown Mixed Use area create new opportunities for reinvestment. Without a coordinated framework, development could occur in a piecemeal manner. Adoption of the DTSP provides a clear policy foundation to guide future projects, support housing and economic development goals, and advance mobility and public realm improvements.
REQUIRED FINDINGS FOR APPROVAL
Pursuant to California Government Code Section 65454, the City Council must find that the DTSP is consistent with the General Plan. Staff recommends the following findings:
• The Downtown Specific Plan is consistent with the Lodi General Plan goals, policies, and implementation measures.
• The DTSP has been prepared in accordance with California Government Code Sections 65450-65457.
• The DTSP promotes orderly development, multimodal mobility, economic vitality, and preservation of community character.
• Public hearings and noticing requirements have been satisfied in accordance with State law and City procedures.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
The Downtown Specific Plan has been evaluated in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq.) and the State CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Section 15000 et seq.). The City of Lodi is the Lead Agency pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15051 and 15367.
Environmental review for the Downtown Specific Plan relies on the previously certified 2025 Focused General Plan Update Subsequent Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and an Addendum prepared for the DTSP. Consistent with CEQA Guidelines Sections 15162 and 15164, preparation of an Addendum is appropriate where only minor technical changes or additions are necessary and none of the conditions requiring preparation of a subsequent or supplemental EIR are present. The Addendum concludes that adoption of the Downtown Specific Plan would not result in new significant environmental impacts, would not substantially increase the severity of previously identified impacts, and remains within the scope of analysis contained in the certified EIR.
The Downtown Specific Plan is a program-level planning document intended to guide future discretionary actions. Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15152 and 15168, future development projects within the Specific Plan area may tier from the previously certified EIR, allowing subsequent environmental review to focus on project-specific effects not already analyzed. In addition, consistent with CEQA Guidelines Section 15183 and State law implementing SB 743, transportation impacts for future projects will be evaluated using Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) standards and the adopted General Plan policies and mitigation framework.
Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15164(c), the Addendum is not required to be circulated for public review; however, the Addendum has been made available to the public and is included as part of the administrative record for consideration by the City Council.
Accordingly, staff finds that the environmental documentation prepared for the Downtown Specific Plan complies with CEQA and supports consideration of the Specific Plan for adoption.
STAFF CONCLUSION
Based on the analysis presented, staff finds that the Downtown Specific Plan establishes a clear and coordinated framework to guide future land use, mobility, urban design, placemaking, and economic development efforts within Downtown Lodi, and that the plan is consistent with the General Plan, supported by extensive community engagement, and appropriately evaluated under CEQA.
The Downtown Specific Plan establishes a long-range visioning, policy, and implementation framework for Downtown Lodi. While the DTSP includes conceptual land use, urban design, mobility, and placemaking guidance, additional regulatory refinements and implementation measures are anticipated to occur over time through future zoning code amendments, objective design standards, infrastructure planning, capital improvement programming, and related City actions. Future implementation actions, including but not limited to zoning code amendments, infrastructure improvements, funding authorizations, capital projects, development agreements, design standards, mobility improvements, and related implementation measures, may require separate environmental review, discretionary approvals, budget appropriations, or additional City Council consideration and approval, as applicable. Adoption of the Downtown Specific Plan does not itself authorize specific construction projects or funding commitments.
On May 13, 2026, the Planning Commission conducted a duly noticed public hearing and recommended City Council approval of the Downtown Specific Plan.
Accordingly, staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution approving the Downtown Specific Plan.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 - Downtown Specific Plan
Full Downtown Specific Plan document, including the vision, land use, mobility, placemaking, and implementation framework.
Attachment 2 - Downtown Specific Plan Appendices
Supporting technical studies and community outreach summaries, including mobility, economic, historic resource, railroad coordination, and outreach materials.
Attachment 3 - Addendum to the 2025 Focused General Plan Update Subsequent Environmental Impact Report
Environmental documentation supporting City Council consideration of the Downtown Specific Plan.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Not applicable.
FUNDING AVAILABLE:
Not applicable.