SR 05:034 - Laserfiche WebLink

assume that all the street network, land uses, and policies contemplated by the existing General Plan were in place. Then by changing the street network, land uses, and policies, Council could arrive at several General Plan alternatives that it wanted staff to analyze as part of the CEQA process. At the January 11, 2005 workshop there was considerable discussion concerning this methodology. An alternative was suggested which involved beginning with the existing land uses and existing street network. Then different street network revisions and land uses would be added to existing conditions, along with possible revisions in policies to make the document internally consistent, to arrive at several General Plan alternatives that would be reviewed under CEQA. Staffwas directed to proceed with the first methodology; the first street widening options were reviewed, with the balance scheduled for the January 25, 2005 meeting. Notwithstanding that direction, staff recognizes there remains an undercurrent of concern about whether this is the better process to follow. Accordingly, because of the importance in following a process that decisionmakers support, staff has scheduled the process issue for discussion at the January 25, 2005 workshop/special meeting. OPTION A The process recommended by staff was consistent with the direction the Council provided to staff in May 2004 and was outlined in the January 11, 2005 staffreport. It proposed a series of workshops exploring the effects, generally, of various street network, land use, and policy changes starting with the 1996 General Plan. Following these workshops, Council would provide direction to staff which alternatives to study in the EIR. Step 1 - Exploration of Elements Affecting Traffic In exploring the initial effects of these various options, staff proposed to use the existing General Plan land use and street network at buildout as a base case against which to see the effects of change. Staff proposed starting with the 1996 General Plan at buildout for a couple of reasons. First, it is easy to use the traffic model to modify the General Plan by deleting the street extensions/widenings and changing land uses from that shown on the 1996 General Plan. The model can quickly and inexpensively be mn to make those changes and to determine exactly how traffic would be affected on other streets. (These model runs would not include Level of Service (LOS) analyses, which are considerably more expensive and time consuming.) Second, SR 05:034 Page 2