Project Timeline

Completed!

This phase lays the foundation for the General Plan Update, including developing tools to be used throughout the Update, meetings with the City staff, the Planning Commission, and City Council, and initiating the community engagement program.

Completed!

The main tasks in this phase are to introduce the project to City leadership and the community and to conduct an audit of the existing General Plan. The audit will provide insights on the existing Plan’s clarity, progress toward desired outcomes, and the applicability of existing policies. The audit will also consider additions needed to address changes in State law.

Completed!

During this phase, the City and Consultant Team will compile information on existing conditions within the city and Planning Area organized by the topics to be covered in the General Plan Update. The Existing Conditions and Trends Workbook will focus on identifying and evaluating existing conditions and future trends and present them in a highly graphical format. The existing conditions outlined in the Workbook will influence the development of the General Plan Update, the Environmental Impact Report (EIR), and the future of the community.

Completed!

In this phase, we will help facilitate the development of a vision statement and guiding principles which will guide the preparation of the General Plan Update. The General Plan vision statement and guiding principles are intended to reflect what community members and decision makers value most about their community and the shared aspirations of what they envision their community being in the future. The vision statement should be inspirational and set the key values and aspirations for the General Plan guiding principles, goals, policies, and implementation programs. The guiding principles should provide more specific guidance that provides the fundamental rules or doctrine that the City will use to guide General Plan goals, policies, and implementation programs.

In-Progress

This phase involves working with the community to prepare, evaluate, and ultimately define a preferred policy and land use alternative that will be the basis of the updated General Plan. This phase involves developing alternative scenarios for specific vacant sites and redevelopment areas within the City and evaluating the implications of each alternative

Based on the Existing Conditions and Trends Workbook, visioning, and alternatives planning in previous phases, the City and Consultant Team will prepare the General Plan. The General Plan document will be attractive, contemporary, and user‐friendly, using extensive photos, illustrations, and maps.

A General Plan is considered a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), so the city must analyze the potential environmental impacts of carrying out the General Plan. The General Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR), will be released simultaneously with the Public Review Draft General Plan, with opportunities for community review and comment.

The General Plan will go to the Planning Commission and the City Council for public hearings. The City Council has the final authority to adopt the General Plan. The community will have opportunities to provide comments to the Planning Commission and City Council during the final public hearings. After adoption, the Consultant Team will reformat the General Plan into a full searchable and highly-graphical online General Plan.

(throughout all phases)

Community outreach and engagement is an essential component of an effective General Plan Update and has been built into every phase of this project. It embodies the community’s shared values and goals for the future. Throughout the project, the Consultant Team will facilitate community outreach and engagement, which will include City Council and Planning Commission meetings, community open houses, newsletters, and an informational kiosk at City Hall!