By Robert Haugh

City staff has been working on new regulations for a while. They’ come back with what they call “a regulatory approach that balances City objectives and provides opportunities to allow massage businesses selectively in places with more visibility and higher levels of current or anticipated pedestrian activity.”

Here are some of the new regulations as stated in the staff report:

•  The massage establishment is located on a minimum 10-acre size contiguously functioning mixed-use or commercial site with shared parking and circulation and a minimum of 20,000 square foot of retail space; or

• The massage establishment is in a wellness center of an employment center with 500 employees or more and shall be for employee use only.

The Planning Commission recommended that the City allow new massage establishments in hotels, too. But the hotels have to have at least 100 guest rooms “in order to facilitate resort-type amenities expected in larger hotels.”

 The Council approved the Staff recommendation with the Planning Commission recommendation on a 7-0 vote.

Bike Plan

The Mission City currently has about 70 miles of bike lanes.  The Bike Plan that City staff laid out proposes to double that amount to 142 miles. The estimated cost is $16 to $39 million in 2018 dollars. Wow.

The Bike Plan identifies different funding strategies.  Most of the strategies involve receiving grants from other local, state or federal agencies., The Bike Plan also identifies private development opportunities to support it.

 According to City Staff, 1.8 percent of commuters use bikes. They hope to push that number up to 5 percent.

 The Bike Plan was passed 7-0.

 Other

Silicon Valley Power gave a quarterly strategic plan update. We learned that they’ll be looking at creating new locations for EV charging stations.  Tell a Tesla owner and you can make his or her day.