CC 2024-09-24_09i General Plan Update ReportItem 9.i.
MEMORANDUM
TO: City Council
FROM: Brian Pedrotti, Director of Community Development
BY: Andrew Perez, Planning Manager
SUBJECT: General Plan Update Progress Report – September 2024
DATE: September 24, 2024
RECOMMENDATION:
Receive an update on the status of the Comprehensive General Plan Update project.
IMPACT ON FINANCIAL AND PERSONNEL RESOURCES:
The financial and personnel impacts associated with this project are included in the
budget for the Comprehensive General Plan Update .
BACKGROUND:
On March 28, 20231, the City Council approved a consultant services agreement with
Mintier Harnish to assist City staff with the Comprehensive General Plan Update. In
addition to a comprehensive update of the existing General Plan Elements, t he project’s
scope includes creating an Environmental Justice Element, an evaluation of development
standards, an East Grand Avenue Corridor Overlay District, creation of objective design
standards, a Development Code update, retail market analysis, market demand study,
and update to the City’s Climate Action Plan. An environmental impact r eport (EIR) will
be prepared to analyze the significant environmental effects of the update and discuss
options to mitigate or avoid those effects.
The project scope is divided among eleven (11) phases, the first four of which are
complete:
1. Project Initiation
2. Public Outreach Strategy
3. Background Data & Analysis
4. Visioning & Guiding Principles
5. Alternative Choices
6. General Plan
7. Environmental Impact Report
8. Public Review & Adoption
9. Technical Development Code
Update
10. Economic Tasks & Analysis
11. Climate Action Plan
1 https://pub-arroyogrande.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=5977
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City Council
General Plan Update Progress Report – September 2024
September 24, 2024
Page 2
Item 9.i.
Project initiation consisted of a kick-off meeting with city staff and a subsequent study
session with City Council, which was held on August 22, 20232, to refine the scope of
work and project schedule. Development of the project website3, logo and branding,
creation of an email list were part of the Public Outreach Strategy phase. The
Community Engagement Summary Report4 describes the outreach efforts that took
place during the initial phases of the project and strategies to engage the community
and transmit information to the public throughout the process. Although this phase is
noted as being completed, it continues to evolve as staff and the consultant pursue
additional ideas and concepts to encourage community input and involvement.
The Background Data and Analysis phase focused on the identifying existing trends in
land use, population, employment, housing, circulation, economics, and environmental
resources. The first community workshop was held on October 5, 2023, with the purpose
of hearing the community’s opinions about the city’s major assets, issues, and opportunity
areas. Information gathered during this phase informed the Existing Conditions and
Trends Workbook5, which was published in February 2024.
Using data and information obtained from the first workshop and Existing Conditions
Workbook, staff transitioned to developing a vision statement and guiding principles for
the project. A second workshop was held on February 28, 2024, to obtain information
about the community’s vision for the future. A series of exercises was provided to further
identify the places in the City that offer opportunities for improvement and enhancements
and describe the participants’ ideal vision for the future. Comments gathered from the
workshop and the associated online survey were compiled and analyzed to create draft
vision statements and guiding principles to be reviewed and refined by Planning
Commission on July 2, 20246. Those recommendations were presented to Council on
August 13, 20247, when the final vision statement and guiding principles were adopted.
A seven-member General Plan Citizen Advisory Group (GPCAG) has also been formed,
consisting of residents from a wide range of professional backgrounds. The GPCAG will
meet approximately one time per month to review administrative drafts of deliverables
and be consulted during initial policy development.
2 https://pub-arroyogrande.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=8165
3 https://planarroyogrande.com/
4
https://planarroyogrande.com/images/images/AGGPU_Fall2023CommunityOutreachSummary_PRD_red
uced_2024%2001%2025%20NZ.pdf
5
https://planarroyogrande.com/images/AGGPU_ECTW_Final%20Draft_Reduced_2024%2002%2021%20
MG.pdf
6 https://pub-arroyogrande.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=11552
7 https://pub-arroyogrande.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=12015
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City Council
General Plan Update Progress Report – September 2024
September 24, 2024
Page 3
Item 9.i.
ANALYSIS OF ISSUES:
This is the first version of what is anticipated to be regular updates to the Council from
Community Development Department staff regarding the comprehensive General Plan
Update project. The next phase of the project will be evaluating and developing land use
alternatives for future development. This phase will rely heavily on input from the
community and decision makers to identify development scenarios. Phase 5 will consist
of at least one community workshop, an online survey and mapping exercise, and pop -
up events at local venues and events, and is anticipated to go through the end of 2024
and into early 2025.
Decision-makers will weigh the costs and benefits of each alternative presented in this
report and select a preferred land use alternative. The preferred land use alternative may
be one of the alternatives or a combination of features from each alternative. The
preferred land use alternative, along with community input and the City’s Vision Statement
and Guiding Principles (prepared during Phase 4), will then guide the preparation of
General Plan goals, policies, and implementation programs. Per the schedule, the main
portion of the project (Comprehensive General Plan Update) will continue until mid -2025,
with the Environmental Impact Report effort from spring 2025 through spring 2026, and
the Comprehensive Development Code Update beginning in spring of 2025 extending to
fall/winter 2026. Staff will continue to monitor the schedule to ensure that the timeline of
the project components are maintained.
ALTERNATIVES:
The following alternatives are provided for the Council’s consideration:
1. Receive an update on the progress of the Comprehensive General Plan Update;
or
2. Provide other direction to staff.
ADVANTAGES:
Regular updates to the City Council will inform decision makers and the community on
the status of the project.
DISADVANTAGES:
None identified.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
No environmental review is required for this General Plan Update. An EIR will be
necessary to evaluate the potential impacts of the update and has been included in the
scope of work.
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION AND COMMENTS:
The Agenda was posted at City Hall and on the City’s website in accordance with
Government Code Section 54954.2.
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