After more than four hours of painstaking fine-tuning, the Planning Commission recommended Tuesday that the City Council approve an updated zoning code that would create new regulations for St. Helena’s built environment.

The new code adds a mixed-use zoning destination for potential residential/commercial sites, expands the historic preservation overlay district protecting historic buildings, creates more objective design standards, and expands the range of businesses that are allowed without a use permit in commercial zoning districts.

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It also relaxes restrictions on St. Helena’s small wineries, removing an on-site residency requirement and requiring merely that grapes be sourced from within the city limits, instead of 85% from the winery premises.

Two St. Helena residents told the commission they were concerned about their homes being added to the historic preservation overlay.

The list of properties on the overlay was actually approved with the 2019 General Plan, but the commission talked about ways for property owners to seek accommodations if their buildings were added to the list without notification or based on erroneous information.

Planning Director Maya DeRosa said the General Plan directed the city to expand the overlay because the city had been losing historic buildings.

She said the new code provides clearer standards for changes to historic buildings and streamlines the process for approving minor structural modifications.

“We’re saving people time and money … and creating more certitude, which was one of the objectives of this code,” she said.

The council will review the proposed code at a future hearing.

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