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

Chapter 14.09.190 creates the Specific Plan District, an overlay that applies to seven adopted plan areas across the city. Section 14.09.190.020 lists them by name: the North Village Specific Plan, Brighton Landing Specific Plan, Vanden Meadows Specific Plan, The Farm at Alamo Creek Specific Plan, Roberts Ranch Specific Plan, the Downtown Specific Plan, and the Greentree Specific Plan.

For downtown parcels, Section 14.09.190.030 makes the Downtown Specific Plan the primary design and development authority: all new structures and development, as well as alterations to existing structures, shall comply with the requirements of the applicable specific plan, with the underlying zoning district standards (height, setbacks, parking, and use tables elsewhere in Title 14.09) filling in only where the Specific Plan itself doesn't address a particular standard. A downtown property owner has to check the Downtown Specific Plan's own design chapter, not just the citywide tables, before submitting plans.

The rule reaches historic structures too. Section 14.09.130.040(C), inside the separate Historic Preservation Overlay District chapter, specifically cross-references the same document: modifications to existing historic buildings in the downtown area must comply with the Downtown Specific Plan, layering that plan's design standards on top of whatever design review criteria the City Council has adopted for the historic building itself. In practice, a downtown project can face overlapping layers of review, the Downtown Specific Plan, any applicable historic preservation design criteria, and the citywide design review chapter, Chapter 14.09.290, whenever a project isn't fully addressed by the Specific Plan alone.