Petaluma, CA Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Downtown Design Guide (2026)

The overlay applies only to Subarea A: thirteen parcels within two blocks bounded by B Street, Petaluma Boulevard South, D Street and Fourth Street (IZO § 5.070(B)(1)). Within that footprint, § 5.070(C) establishes a Pedestrian/Façade Activation Zone for the first 30 feet of ground floor facing the right-of-way, where permitted uses are limited to a specific activating list: artisan shop, library/museum/art gallery, bank or financial services, personal services, fitness/health facility, restaurant/cafe/coffee shop, general retail of 25,000 square feet or less, art/dance/martial arts/music studio, and groceries or specialty foods of 25,000 square feet or less (§ 5.070(C)(3)).

Multi-family residential is a permitted ground-floor use only outside that activation strip (§ 5.070(C)(5)). Table 5.1 sets the facade design metrics: 60 percent minimum storefront glazing, blank walls capped at 30 feet in length, interior partitions or shelving over 36 inches set back 30 feet from the storefront when parallel to it, and window signs capped at 15 percent coverage. Building form is separately controlled: base height is 45 feet with no exceptions under Section 12.020 (Table 5.2, note 1), rising to 60 or 75 feet only through a Planning Commission conditional use permit under § 5.070(F)-(G).

Buildings above 45 feet on primary street frontages (Petaluma Boulevard South, Kentucky Street, Fourth Street, Western Avenue and Washington Street) must step back 8 feet, and 16 feet above 60 feet, per Tables 5.3 through 5.5. Under § 5.070(J), the whole overlay carries a sunset: it expires on the effective date of a zoning ordinance implementing the adopted 2040 General Plan unless the City Council amends it first (Ord. 2907 § 4, 2025).