To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Vincent Smith, Community Development Director
Prepared By: Michael Walker, Senior Planner
TITLE:
Title
General Plan Update
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Receive a report and provide comments on the progress of the General Plan Update.
Body
DISCUSSION:
The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of Phase 2 of the General Plan Update progress to date, including the Draft Vision & Guiding Principles, Draft Land Use Plan, community outreach activities, and response to the COVID-19 health emergency. The report will also outline next steps and timeframes for upcoming review of General Plan elements. The work completed during Phase 2 has been guided by the Visioning and Issue Identification in Phase 1 as outlined in the scope of work below.
Phase 1: Project Initiation, Visioning, and Issue Identification - Tasks include (1) Project Initiation; (2) Issue Identification and Key Strategies; and (3) Existing Conditions, Trends, and Opportunities Assessment
Phase 2: Options and Strategies - Tasks include (4) Alternatives and (5) Preferred Plan and Key Goals
Phase 3: Draft and Final Documents - Tasks include (6) Draft General Plan; (7) Draft and Final General Plan EIR; and (8) Hearings and Adoption
The City Council received a report on the progress of Phase 1 at a joint meeting with the Planning Commission on April 30, 2019.
The General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) has held seven meetings since the April 30, 2019 update to City Council. The primary focus of the GPAC over the past 15 months has been to establish the Draft Vision & Guiding Principles for the General Plan Update, establish the Draft Land Use Plan, and set the stage for continuing community outreach.
Draft Vision & Guiding Principles
The Vision reflects the community’s aspirations for Napa’s future. It is a summary of the shared goals to be achieved by the General Plan. The Guiding Principles elaborate upon the Vision and will provide guidance to detailed policies. The Draft Vision & Guiding Principles document (see Attachment 1) are based on input from the community, gained through community workshops and outreach, the initial online community survey, stakeholder interviews, and meetings of the GPAC. The Vision and Guiding Principles are intended to remain in “draft” form until the Preferred Plan and the General Plan policies are developed. The Vision and Guiding Principles will be finalized and included in the adopted General Plan.
Draft Land Use Plan
The Draft Land Use Plan and key Focus Areas were developed through mapping exercises and charrettes at GPAC meetings throughout the fall of 2019. The Draft Land Use Plan, Land Use Designations, Focus Areas, and Urban Design Strategies were introduced to the GPAC at their February 24, 2020 meeting. This meeting was intended to be the first of several meetings on Land Use and launching the next phase of Community Outreach and surveys. Shelter-in-place and other protocols related to the COVID-19 outbreak had major impacts on the General Plan Update process, which are described further below.
The Draft Land Use Plan remains a work in progress with an anticipated final review by the GPAC in late August, the Planning Commission in September, and the City Council in October.
Community Outreach & Response to COVID-19
The Outreach phase of the Land Use Plan was intended to start with a Community Workshop in March that would also launch the second Community Survey. The statewide shutdown of group activities and other shelter-in-place protocols going into effect on March 16, 2020 shifted the schedule considerably. In lieu of a Community Workshop to launch the survey, it was determined that the best course of action was to launch the survey first and develop alternatives for the Community Workshop as conditions changed. The survey was released in English and Spanish on April 22 and was anticipated to run through May 17, setting the stage for a late-May Community Workshop. As the COVID-19 shelter-in-place continued, Staff and the Consultant Team began discussing options for Virtual Workshops and GPAC meetings. Seeking input from the GPAC, Staff scheduled the first GPAC meeting via Zoom webinar for June 15. Another virtual GPAC meeting was held on July 13 using the same platform.
A Virtual Land Use Workshop was held on July 22 with 95 participants. The primary focus of the Workshop was to share development and redevelopment opportunities on four corridors and Focus Areas identified in the Draft Land Use Plan and to obtain community feedback. Attendees participated in several instant polls throughout the Workshop, providing feedback on preferred development strategies for each of the Focus Areas.
In addition to virtual GPAC meetings and Workshops, outreach has been increasingly dependent upon email and E-Newsletter communication. Staff created a General Plan Newsletter in August 2019 and has sent 20 E-Newsletters to date. The subscriber list has increased to almost 700 since its inception. This is in addition to the GPAC QuickHits Newsletter, which was created in April of 2019 primarily as a means of communication for GPAC members to share content of interest related to planning and urban design. While created for the GPAC, this public Newsletter has gained an additional 100 subscribers. To date, over 50 QuickHits Newsletters have been sent.
Next Steps
Preparation and review of the Draft Land Use Plan is underway. It is anticipated that the GPAC will review the Draft Land Use Plan in late August with review by the Planning Commission in September and the City Council in October.
While the environmental and infrastructure analyses related to the Preferred Land Use Plan are underway, the GPAC will turn its focus to other Elements and outreach strategies beginning with reviewing the approach to the next Community Workshop, Transportation goals and policies, and addressing Climate Change and Resiliency in October.
In November, the GPAC will focus on goals and policies related to Community Services, Open Space and Recreation, Natural Resources, and Health & Safety Elements.
Goals and Policies related to Historic Resources and Economic Development will take place in December.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
Funds for the General Plan Update were budgeted through the normal process and this action simply utilizes already appropriated funds and will have no impact on budget or fund balance. The Capital Improvement Program budget for FY 2018-22, adopted June 20, 2017, included expenditure of $1,500,000 for the General Plan Update (MS18CD02) in 2018. The current project balance is approximately $906,000.
CEQA:
The Community Development Director has determined that the Recommended Action described in this Agenda Report is not a project (pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378) since it does not result in a physical change in the environment. However, the Recommended Action is part of a larger project that will be subject to environmental review in accordance with CEQA at the earliest feasible time prior to approval consistent with CEQA Guidelines Sections 15004 and 15352. The larger project is the General Plan Update for which an Environmental Impact Report would be prepared for certification prior to adoption of the General Plan.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Draft Vision and Guiding Principles
NOTIFICATION:
None.