04 - Laserfiche WebLink

The following hypothetical examples demonstrate the impact of growth management: 1. City approves a 100-unit residential project in calendar year 2010, but full growth management approval (permits to construct) could be delayed until 2012 based on various growth management objectives. In this instance, construction would occur two years after project approval. 2. City approves a 100-unit residential project in 2010, but full growth management approval is granted over multiple years (or metered) based on various growth management objectives; 50 units in 2012 and 50 units in 2013. In this instance, the developer would have the option of phasing the project during this timeframe or waiting until 2013 to construct the full project. To accomplish the examples depicted above, the growth management process must set forth a detailed procedure for determining when approved projects can be constructed. This process was critical in the 1980's and 1990's as the City was in the process of constructing its infrastructure, expanding the city organization, and processing a significant number of residential development applications that were often in excess of the numbers allowed annually. Further, the commercial sector was also growing significantly and there was a need to assure that infrastructure and services would be adequate to accommodate both new and existing development. In recent years, however, the growth management program has not been factor for the City since the number of newly approved residential units has been less than 350 units annually. As the City looks to amend its growth management program, it will need to maintain (not diminish) existing City policies. For example, Program 2.2 of the Circulation Element requires a traffic study for all major developments to determine if mitigation measures are required by the developer to improve congested intersections. Other measures require new development to pay its pro-rata share of the cost of municipal facilities, including parks, water, storm water and sewer infrastructure, and to mitigate potential geological safety hazards. Still other measures address air quality, noise, energy and community character, including such matters related to pedestrian amenities, walkways, signage, building colors, parking, etc. A copy of some of the most significant General Plan development measures is included as Attachment 1. When viewing the Attachment note that these are excerpts from General Plan policies and programs that include standards, measures, or requirements that apply to development projects and can be used as part of a Growth Management program. These measures are sometimes expressed as General Plan standards such as Level of Service standards for traffic operations, or maximum noise levels that a certain land use can be exposed to. Others are simply a statement of policy such as the requirement that new development pay their fair share for required infrastructure improvements. The first group of policies/programs are already adopted in the General Plan and are currently applied to new development. The second group are programs in the General plan that call for new standards be developed. Several of these are related to the Climate Action Plan which calls for the development of several new requirements to be developed and imposed on new development. The City's new growth management should be viewed as an enhancement to these existing policies. REGIONAL HOUSING NEEDS ALLOCATION To better understand the regulatory environment in which the City's new growth management program would operate, it is beneficial to understand the impact of RHNA. The State of California requires each jurisdiction in the state to regularly update their Housing Element to plan for its share of the region's Page 2 of 5