DATE: July 29, 2025
TO: Council Economic Development Committee
FROM: Development Services Director and Chief Economic Development Officer
SUBJECT
Title
Strategic Roadmap Update: EP5 & EP6 - Business-Friendly Hayward Project
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
That the Council Economic Development Committee (CEDC) provide feedback and direction on the Business-Friendly Hayward Project based on the Summary of Best Practices Report, Downtown Commercial Analysis, and outreach to date.
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SUMMARY
The Business-Friendly Hayward Project is a joint effort of the Planning and Economic Development Divisions which aims to accomplish a series of Strategic Roadmap projects and Downtown Specific Plan implementation programs by focusing on the following objectives:
? Streamline entitlement and permitting processes for desirable businesses across the City's commercial and mixed-use zoning districts.
? Activate vacant and underutilized properties and storefronts Downtown.
To date, the project team has reviewed best practices from nearby jurisdictions and conducted a commercial analysis of the Downtown area. An analysis of City's codes and practices related to commercial and mixed-use districts is underway, as is a series of outreach efforts aimed at getting feedback from businesses, the community, and other stakeholders. Based on this research and outreach, revisions to the Municipal Code will be drafted and presented to stakeholders for review later this year.
At this stage of the project, staff would like the Council Economic Development Committee's feedback on the following questions:
1. Is there a particular best practice from the Summary of Best Practices Report that you believe would work especially well for Hayward?
2. Based on the data from the commercial analysis, are there any challenge areas related to the Hayward Municipal Code or our permitting processes that you believe we should focus on?
3. Based on the...
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