3931 Chestnut St, Riverside, CA 92501

Downtown Specific Plan-Raincross District

The Raincross District is the cultural, historic, and social center of both Riverside and the region beyond. The quality of Downtown Riverside’s historic buildings and the relationship between these buildings creates an historic urban fabric unparalleled in the region. The positive image and economic health of Riverside is strongly influenced by this historic character and the protection of that is an essential part of assuring Riverside’s economic health and growth into the future. The intent of this specific plan is to create and encourage opportunitiesfor a variety of commercial, residential and entertainment uses, including retail,office, cultural,residential, and visitorserving uses. The Raincross District encourages a concentration of uses that generate activity during both daytime and evening hours. The permitted retail uses in this District are intended to serve the specialty shopping needs of Downtown residents and employees, as well as city wide residents,regional shoppers, and tourists. The Rain cross District encourages these uses to occur as both single use buildings and as mixed-use buildings. The Raincross District is divided into two sub-areas. The center of the District is occupied by the Mission Inn Historic District, which contains Riverside’s most important historic buildings. In this sub-area the development standards have been carefully crafted to maintain a scale of development that is compatible with the well-established historic fabric ofthe district. Outside of the Mission Inn Historic District,the development standards of the District allow greater intensity,while still assuring compatibility of the adjacent historic district and historic residential areas beyond. The development standards for the Raincross District are designed to create a place of daytime, evening and weekend activity by providing a high activity pedestrian environment with a storefront emphasis at the street level. Within the Raincross District, there are numerous local and national historic landmarks that define the district’s character, including the Mission Inn, Fox Theater, Stalder Building, Municipal Museum, Unitarian Church, Congregational Church, Municipal Auditorium, Post Office, Loring Building, and Art Museum. Preservation ofsuch structures, alongwith careful and compatible design of new development is important in maintaining the District’s character and unique sense of identity.