Updating land-use rules

WHAT:

Planning commission review of the land-use element of the city’s general plan.

WHAT’S BEHIND IT:

The state requires that elements of a city’s general plan must be updated on a regular basis, although “regular” is not defined. Generally 20 years is considered to be about the limit. The city’s land-use element was originally approved in 1983, with some modifications over the years.

Planning commissioners Norm Grossman and Linda Dietrich were appointed to a subcommittee in April to gather public input for revisions to the element’s goals and policies, deemed by city staff to be one of the most important sections of the element.

Goals, policies and related actions provide a foundation for community decision-making with regard to land-use and development programs, according to city Principal Planner Carolyn Martin, who prepared the staff report on the land-use element revision for the commission.

In other words: the element determines what can be built where.

The subcommittee held seven public workshops between May 23 and Aug. 15. Proposed goals and policies were distributed for public review on Sept. 22 and 26 with requests for comments and proposed modifications presented at subsequent workshops on Oct. 3 and 10.

“The philosophy of the element has not changed -- it is still the protection of the environment and the preservation of neighborhood character,” Grossman said. “The major change is the addition of goals and actions items, which were not in the original element.”

WHAT NOW:

The subcommittee’s recommendations were presented to the full commission at the Nov. 9 meeting and conditionally accepted with some changes. Copies are available at the front desk in City Hall, 505 Forest Ave. For more information, call Martin at (949) 497-0398.

WHAT’S SAID:

“It was time to revise the land-use element from the ground up,” Grossman said.

WHAT’S NEXT:

The subcommittee will begin in January to draft actions that will implement the revised goals and policies.

-- By Barbara Diamond