SR 05:131 - Laserfiche WebLink

Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council: BACKGROUND Study of the 318 acre City-owned portion of the Bemal Property has been an on-going process for the past four years. During this time, planning has taken place on three levels: · The Draft Phase II Specific Plan for the entire 318 acre City-owned area was initially prepared by the Bernal Specific Plan Task Force. Subsequently, a design competition was conducted for the Plan area with M. D. Fotheringham, Landscape Architects (MDF), selected as the winner of the competition. The Draft Plan is now being informally reviewed by the City Council for updates prior to being considered at formal public hearings. · Alternatives for the draft Bernal Community Park were prepared by (1) the Community Park Task Force, and (2) MDF. These two alternatives have also been informally reviewed for the selection of a preferred plan at future public hearings. · The Phase I Community Park plan (two lighted baseball fields, one unlighted informal field, and other public amenities) for approximately 13 acres of the Community Park site was prepared by MDF. The Council recently authorized development of specific design drawings for that phase of development. The Specific Plan update and the Community Park planning processes were recently merged by the Council to ensure that the two end up consistent with one another. The Phase I Community Park plan has been separated from the Specific Plan and remaining Community Park process in order to proceed independently in accordance with the requirements of the "Initiative to Save Our Community Park." STATUS OF BERNAL PROPERTY PLANNING The five site plan alternatives for the Bernal Phase II Specific Plan area were developed by City staff and project consultants in the fall of 2004. These evolved as a result of substantial input received over the previous three years from the Bemal Property Task Force, City Council, City commissions, general public, and through the Bernal Design Competition. In addition, two site plans for the Bernal Community Park have evolved over the past several years for which the Council has requested community input. The first is the draft Community Park plan prepared by the Bernal Community Park Task Force in 2001. The second is the Park concept that was part of the Bemal Design Competition plans prepared by M. D. Fotheringham, Landscape Architects, winner of the competition. This alternative is commonly referred to as the "M. D. Fotheringham Unified Concept Plan." SR 05:131 Page 2