The purposes of the establishment of the Waterfront District Master Plan and subsequent Sub-District Amendments as the Regulating and Design Codes for the Hercules Village, Refugio Neighborhood, Historic Town Center (including the Railroad Live/Work areas) Transit Village, and Hercules Point Sub-Districts are to:
1. 
Recognize and preserve the historic character of the existing Hercules Powder Company town site and allow reuse of existing structures, where appropriate;
2. 
Allow the construction of new buildings while maintaining the architectural quality of the district;
3. 
Provide a network of public spaces that have access to views to Hercules Point and San Pablo Bay;
4. 
Provide access along the Bay shoreline that does not degrade its existing natural resources;
5. 
Provide a location for a commuter rail station with adjacent mixed-use development;
6. 
Provide for a variety of professional, administrative and personal service offices, as well as retail businesses that support the offices and provide services and goods to visitors to the waterfront area;
7. 
Provide the opportunity to accommodate both residential and commercial uses in a well planned mixed-use development;
8. 
Provide public spaces and facilities that offer a balance of open space, landscaping, recreation space, transit access and shared parking facilities;
9. 
Allow lower cost live-work opportunities for start-up businesses that are compatible with the residential and commercial uses within the district;
10. 
Provide the opportunity for upper floor residential uses over ground floor commercial uses;
11. 
Provide for careful design review of proposed buildings to ensure that the benefits of mixed-use development are fully realized and the potential negative impacts of one use upon another are minimized.
(ZO § 27.100; Ord. 357 § 1, 2000; Ord. 515 § 2, 2018)
The zoning regulations and development standards for the first phase of the "Hercules Village" for the "Waterfront District Master Plan" were adopted on September 12, 2000, by Ordinance No. 357. The zoning regulations and development standards for the second phase of the "Refugio Neighborhood" and third phase of the "Railroad Live/Work" project were adopted by Ordinances 378 and 379 on November 26, 2002, and Ordinance 454 adopted on September 22, 2009, respectively. The zoning regulations and development standards for the Historic Town Center (excluding the Railroad Live/Work project), Transit Village, and Hercules Point were adopted via the Waterfront Now Initiative ordinance in 2008 through Ordinance 440 and subsequently amended by Ordinance 464 in January 2012.
(ZO § 27.200; Ord. 357 § 1, 2000; Ord. 368 § 1, 2001; Ord. 372 § 1, 2002; Ord. 378 § 1, 2002; Ord. 379 § 1, 2002; Ord. 387 § 1, 2003; Ord. 393 § 1, 2004; Ord. 397 § 1, 2004; Ord. 440 § 1, 2008; Ord. 454 § 1, 2009; Ord. 464 § 1, 2012; Ord. 515 § 2, 2018)