Fremont Land Use & Planning

FREMONT'S LAND USE & PLANNING

Click on either image to Enlarge

Even before the towns of Niles, Mission San Jose, Warm Springs, Irvington, and Centerville incorporated into Fremont, they were discussing and preparing development plans for the new city. A major incentive to incorporate was to plan for and control the expected swell in population which other parts of the Bay area were experiencing after World War II. Two months after incorporation, a Planning Commission was appointed and an planning firm hired. Before a plan was developed, however, the Planning Commission was already acting on ideas it wanted included in the plan such as increasing minimum lot size from 5,000 to 6,000 square feet, denying subdivision building permits which would conflict with aspirations for green belt areas, and denying commercial building permits because (in the words of planner Sydney H. Williams): "Lack of strip development could become the distinguishing feature of Fremont." Later planners have not shared Williams's vision.

A Preliminary General Plan was adopted in 1956, and in 1962 after a huge six year battle over whether or not to support the plan, The Fremont General Plan-1980 was adopted. It prepared the city to grow from 26,788 residents to an anticipated 250,000 by 1980. This plan has been largely followed as can be seen in the city today. It provided for: the bulk of housing to occur on the 10,000 acres of level land east of I-880 (alias Nimitz Freeway); 5,000 acres of farms and parks to act as peripheral greenbelts; 3,000 acres of industry (a huge understatement for what exists today and what is about to be developed in Pacific Commons-see section on Industrial district) to be located near the industry of Newark along the transportation routes (train and I-880) on the west side of the city; the creation of a municipal district (named Central) to be located at the center of the original communities and to act as a hub for the city's activities. It would (and does) house the Central Business District (CBD), Civic Center, main library, and a large park with a lake and recreational facilities. This visual and physical hub would be surrounded by office buildings and high rise urban housing. (While the municipal part of this plan for Central was carried out, the private investment anticipated never materialized.) Each of the five original communities would have a business district with satellite neighborhood shopping centers following the CBD model. The plan's (unrealized) goal was to achieve "unity and identity."

Although the city does not have a sense of "unity and identity," its greatly differing communities which maintain some of their original personalities are in themselves a distinguishing feature.

One reason that the plan was less than successful was that developers felt financially handicapped by its imposition of widened streets, curved streets, set back requirements, street improvements, and rear yard utility poles, and scenic parkways-all of which were features meant to prepare Fremont to be a large city of upper-middle-class values. Another reason for the plan's limited success was a monstrous battle over the location and need of the municipal hub which resulted in its current weak presence.

The above information derived from: Stanley Weir's "Separate Efforts--Similar Goals and Results: A Study of the New Public City of Fremont, California, for Comparison with Private New Communities" (1965)- Anne Toxey

This is the imagined land use pattern of Fremont by the year 1980 as proposed by the new city council in 1956.
source: Pacific Planning & Research, "Planning Program for Fremont, CA," 1956

Today, Fremont is divided into 10 "Planning Areas" – "Fremont is a large city with unique issues and planning concerns associated with its various sub-areas" (General Plan). In total Fremont has 1,300 acres of land dedicated for retail/commercial use, 14,000 acres for residential, 6,200 acres for industrial and 26,000 acres of open space (19,000 of which are under public control).

Source: City of Fremont General Plan, 1991, amended 1995

Land development—industrial growth
Even with its rapid growth since the 1980s, Fremont still has an abundant area of land waiting for further development and siting of new industries. According to the 1991 General Plan, in 1990 Fremont had 2,700 acres of undeveloped industrial land, nearly 45% of the total designated 6,200 acres in the city. Since 1990, there has been 12 million square feet of non-residential construction in the city, and in the recent boom period of the late 1990s development in the city of Fremont has comprised _ of all industrial permit activity in entire Bay Area (City of Fremont 1999). Projections based on regional job growth figures calculated by the Association of Bay Area Governments were for the city to double its industrial building square footage from 25 million in 1990 to 50million by the year 2010 (General Plan).

Fremont has one of the largest supplies of developable land for industry in the Silicon Valley Crescent and land prices are cheaper. The city’s promotional literature, advertising 2,000 acres of land available for development, boasts of "room to grow" and "beautiful facilities" with "plenty of new industrial space in park-like settings" (City of Fremont brochure). This abundance of land is particularly attractive for biotechnology and high tech manufacturing operations which often need large spaces for testing and production (Munroe Consulting 2000). Biotech companies in particular need large space for laboratories and storage, which likely explains the new growth of Fremont as a biotech hub (Krieger, Mercury News 2000).

The latest major development project in the city’s industrially-zoned districts is the "Pacific Commons" project, which will be an 840-acre industrial "campus" providing space for a total of 20,000 new jobs including a hub for Cisco Systems that will employ nearly 12,000 workers (Johnson, SF Chronicle 2000).

Sources:

City of Fremont, "Designed for Business and Living," brochure produced by City of Fremont

City of Fremont, 1991, Fremont General Plan, May 7, 1991, amended 2/14/1995

City of Fremont, 1999, "City of Fremont California, Community Economic Profile & Resource Guide 1999/2000"
Johnson, Chip, 2000, "High-Tech Boom Awakens Fremont," San Francisco Chronicle, 11/23/2000

Krieger, Lisa M., 2000, "Fremont is New Hot Spot for Biotechnology in California’s Silicon Valley," San Jose Mercury News, 7/14/2000

Munroe Consulting Inc., 2000, "East Bay Indicators 2000; Focus on the New Economy," report sponsored by Economic Development Alliance for Business and the Alameda County Social Services Agency, May 26, 2000


	FREMONT'S LAND USE & PLANNING Click on either image to Enlarge Even before the towns of Niles, Mission San Jose, Warm Springs, Irvington, and Centerville incorporated into Fremont, they were discussing and preparing development plans for the new city. A major incentive to incorporate was to plan for and control the expected swell in population which other parts of the Bay area were experiencing after World War II. Two months after incorporation, a Planning Commission was appointed and an planning firm hired. Before a plan was developed, however, the Planning Commission was already acting on ideas it wanted included in the plan such as increasing minimum lot size from 5,000 to 6,000 square feet, denying subdivision building permits which would conflict with aspirations for green belt areas, and denying commercial building permits because (in the words of planner Sydney H. Williams): "Lack of strip development could become the distinguishing feature of Fremont." Later planners have not shared Williams's vision. A Preliminary General Plan was adopted in 1956, and in 1962 after a huge six year battle over whether or not to support the plan, The Fremont General Plan-1980 was adopted. It prepared the city to grow from 26,788 residents to an anticipated 250,000 by 1980. This plan has been largely followed as can be seen in the city today. It provided for: the bulk of housing to occur on the 10,000 acres of level land east of I-880 (alias Nimitz Freeway); 5,000 acres of farms and parks to act as peripheral greenbelts; 3,000 acres of industry (a huge understatement for what exists today and what is about to be developed in Pacific Commons-see section on Industrial district) to be located near the industry of Newark along the transportation routes (train and I-880) on the west side of the city; the creation of a municipal district (named Central) to be located at the center of the original communities and to act as a hub for the city's activities. It would (and does) house the Central Business District (CBD), Civic Center, main library, and a large park with a lake and recreational facilities. This visual and physical hub would be surrounded by office buildings and high rise urban housing. (While the municipal part of this plan for Central was carried out, the private investment anticipated never materialized.) Each of the five original communities would have a business district with satellite neighborhood shopping centers following the CBD model. The plan's (unrealized) goal was to achieve "unity and identity." Although the city does not have a sense of "unity and identity," its greatly differing communities which maintain some of their original personalities are in themselves a distinguishing feature. One reason that the plan was less than successful was that developers felt financially handicapped by its imposition of widened streets, curved streets, set back requirements, street improvements, and rear yard utility poles, and scenic parkways-all of which were features meant to prepare Fremont to be a large city of upper-middle-class values. Another reason for the plan's limited success was a monstrous battle over the location and need of the municipal hub which resulted in its current weak presence. The above information derived from: Stanley Weir's "Separate Efforts--Similar Goals and Results: A Study of the New Public City of Fremont, California, for Comparison with Private New Communities" (1965)- Anne Toxey

		This is the imagined land use pattern of Fremont by the year 1980 as proposed by the new city council in 1956. source: Pacific Planning & Research, "Planning Program for Fremont, CA," 1956
	Today, Fremont is divided into 10 "Planning Areas" – "Fremont is a large city with unique issues and planning concerns associated with its various sub-areas" (General Plan). In total Fremont has 1,300 acres of land dedicated for retail/commercial use, 14,000 acres for residential, 6,200 acres for industrial and 26,000 acres of open space (19,000 of which are under public control). Source: City of Fremont General Plan, 1991, amended 1995
	Land development—industrial growth Even with its rapid growth since the 1980s, Fremont still has an abundant area of land waiting for further development and siting of new industries. According to the 1991 General Plan, in 1990 Fremont had 2,700 acres of undeveloped industrial land, nearly 45% of the total designated 6,200 acres in the city. Since 1990, there has been 12 million square feet of non-residential construction in the city, and in the recent boom period of the late 1990s development in the city of Fremont has comprised _ of all industrial permit activity in entire Bay Area (City of Fremont 1999). Projections based on regional job growth figures calculated by the Association of Bay Area Governments were for the city to double its industrial building square footage from 25 million in 1990 to 50million by the year 2010 (General Plan). Fremont has one of the largest supplies of developable land for industry in the Silicon Valley Crescent and land prices are cheaper. The city’s promotional literature, advertising 2,000 acres of land available for development, boasts of "room to grow" and "beautiful facilities" with "plenty of new industrial space in park-like settings" (City of Fremont brochure). This abundance of land is particularly attractive for biotechnology and high tech manufacturing operations which often need large spaces for testing and production (Munroe Consulting 2000). Biotech companies in particular need large space for laboratories and storage, which likely explains the new growth of Fremont as a biotech hub (Krieger, Mercury News 2000). The latest major development project in the city’s industrially-zoned districts is the "Pacific Commons" project, which will be an 840-acre industrial "campus" providing space for a total of 20,000 new jobs including a hub for Cisco Systems that will employ nearly 12,000 workers (Johnson, SF Chronicle 2000). Sources: City of Fremont, "Designed for Business and Living," brochure produced by City of Fremont City of Fremont, 1991, Fremont General Plan, May 7, 1991, amended 2/14/1995 City of Fremont, 1999, "City of Fremont California, Community Economic Profile & Resource Guide 1999/2000" Johnson, Chip, 2000, "High-Tech Boom Awakens Fremont," San Francisco Chronicle, 11/23/2000 Krieger, Lisa M., 2000, "Fremont is New Hot Spot for Biotechnology in California’s Silicon Valley," San Jose Mercury News, 7/14/2000 Munroe Consulting Inc., 2000, "East Bay Indicators 2000; Focus on the New Economy," report sponsored by Economic Development Alliance for Business and the Alameda County Social Services Agency, May 26, 2000