Dance studio, café, liquor store? The city wants to know what type of business you want to see in Piedmont

From a June 18, 2024 press release from the City of Piedmont:

Help inform future standards for what types of businesses are allowed in Piedmont’s commercial districts by completing a brief online survey. 

The Planning & Building Department is working to streamline permitting processes for new business in Piedmont’s commercial areas along Grand and Highland Avenues. Your input will help staff understand what types of businesses residents want to see.  

For each of 16 possible business types, from dance studios to cafés to liquor stores, the survey asks:  

• Do you think it should be permitted without a public hearing process, permitted with limitations, or not permitted? 
• What should we consider when creating standards for that business type? 

The survey is available at piedmont.ca.gov/CommercialUsesSurvey and takes only a few  minutes to complete. After completing the survey, you can enter to win a $50 gift card  to Mulberry’s Market. 

The survey will remain open through July 19, 2024. Please share widely with your networks. 

Survey responses will help shape future Zoning Code updates 

Currently, any new businesses wanting to open in Piedmont’s commercial areas must go through a lengthy permitting process that involves public hearings before both the Planning Commission and City Council. The time and uncertainty involved in this  process creates a barrier to bringing new businesses to Piedmont. 

Your responses will help staff develop proposed updates to Piedmont’s Zoning Code that identify business types that would be allowed “by right” (without a public hearing),  as well as standards that each business type would have to conform to. For example, the  Code might define café as a permitted use, but also set standards for by-right permitted cafés, such as: they can’t serve alcohol, operate after 8pm, or offer drive-through service.  

Preliminary survey results will be shared with the Planning Commission at a study session on Zoning Code updates at their next meeting on July 8. No action will be taken at this meeting. Proposed revisions will be discussed and considered by the Planning  Commission and City Council over the next several months.  

This effort is part of Piedmont’s work to implement the 6^th Cycle Housing Element. For more information on the Housing Element, visit PiedmontIsHome.org. With questions  about permitted commercial uses, contact Associate Planner Gopika Nair at gnair@piedmont.ca.gov.