Downtown Rohnert Park is Here!
A plan for Central Rohnert Park (PDA) was developed and approved in 2016. The plan calls for the development of a Downtown Rohnert Park.
The overarching idea of the Central Rohnert Park
PDA Plan is to create a place in the city that can
be identified as the heart of the community. The
PDA work effort included an extensive public
outreach strategy to seek input from Rohnert
Park residents, businesses, property owners,
regional agency representatives, non-profit
groups, City officials, City decision makers, and
other key community stakeholders. Through this
process, the community expressed the need for a
downtown with the following qualities:
- Distinctive. Downtown should reflect the
unique sense of place and traditions in
Rohnert Park.
Compact and Walkable. The area around
the new SMART rail station should be friendly
to pedestrians and transit oriented.
- Active and Mixed Use. Downtown should
include a mix of housing options; specialty
shopping; food and entertainment uses; parks,
plazas, and recreation; transit services; and
public amenities.
- Accessible. Downtown should be easily
accessible to members of the surrounding
community: local residents, employees,
students, and visitors.
- Business Oriented. The Downtown should
be a thriving place of business, with a focus on
businesses that support an active downtown
environment
A "downtown" environment requires special regulations that would govern the design of the streetscapes and buildings in the downtown district. These could be provided by a "form-based code".