MEETING DATE: 5/10/2016
DEPARTMENT: RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AGENCY
DEPT HEAD/DIRECTOR: Brent Barnes
AGENDA ITEM PREPARER: Brent Barnes
SBC DEPT FILE NUMBER: 790
SUBJECT:
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AGENCY - B. BARNES
Update on Staff Proposed General Plan Amendment to Amend the Land Use Element of the General Plan to Create the Southside New Community Study Area.
SBC FILE NUMBER: 790
AGENDA SECTION:
REGULAR AGENDA
BACKGROUND/SUMMARY:
Staff has prepared a draft report to the Commission recommending amendment of the County General Plan Land Use Element to create a Southside New Community Study Area. This matter has been scheduled for the Planning Commission on May 11, 2016. In the event that the Planning Commission determines that a new community study area would be appropriate, the matter then would be brought before the Board of Supervisors for final approval in June 2016.
The recommendation from the RMA is based on the fact that the area is subject to intense uncoordinated development pressure that could result in as many as 3,000 new homes. No commercial development is presently proposed, raising questions about fiscal neutrality and jobs/housing balance. Certain issues relating to infrastructure (roadways and non-roadway circulation, water and sewer, parks, schools), services (emergency response, governance), and natural hazards (fault zones, flooding) cannot be adequately addressed through review of individual projects.
On May 11, 2016, staff is recommending that the Planning Commission conduct a public hearing and, after the public hearing, recommend that the Board adopt the proposed General Plan amendment. The adoption would not require CEQA documentation beyond an Addendum to the EIR that approved for the General Plan (although the Specific Plan for the area would require a subsequent EIR). Staff is also proposing to prepare and follow a robust Public Engagement Plan for the process.
Projects subject to the new community study area would likely experience an estimated 12-18 month planning process, while the new specific plan and its relating EIR, is developed. However, future projects could either potentially be covered entirely by the Specific Plan EIR, or could "tier" off the EIR that is developed for the New Community Study Area, thus focusing the environmental process on aspects of a specific project not studied in the New Community Study Area specific plan/EIR. The staff report to the Planning Commission is attached.
BUDGETED: