DATE: February 3, 2025
TO: Council Economic Development Committee
FROM: Chief Economic Development Officer and Development Services Director
SUBJECT
Title
Business-Friendly Hayward Project Update (Oral Report Only)
End
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
That the Council Economic Development Committee (CEDC) receive an update and provide feedback on the Business-Friendly Hayward project.
End
SUMMARY
Strategic Roadmap. The Hayward Strategic Roadmap articulates the City Council's shared vision and outlines the highest priorities for Fiscal Years 2024, 2025, and beyond. There are six core priorities required to achieve the Strategic Roadmap's vision and numerous key projects to advance each priority. The "Grow the Economy" priority focuses on investing in business support services, creating thriving commercial corridors, growing workforce development pipelines, and strategically disposing of City property. Grow the Economy Project E6 requires an informational report on older ordinances that may have an adverse impact on businesses and business development, such as the cabaret and alcohol ordinances, and offer recommendations to update them. It should be noted that the City's alcohol regulations were updated in March 2023 to make it easier for full-service restaurants to obtain permission from the City to serve alcohol at their establishments. Grow The Economy Project E5 requires a report on how midsized cities revitalized downtowns.
Downtown Specific Plan. In 2019, the City Council adopted the Downtown Specific Plan, which provides a strategy to achieve the community's vision of a resilient, safe, attractive, and vibrant historic Downtown. It includes a series of implementation programs, including:
* Program LU 2: Update zoning regulations to allow temporary uses such as temporary structures on vacant lots, temporary uses in existing structures, pop-up shops, fruit stands, and mobile businesses, especially ...
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