Regular Meeting
10/17/22 05:30 PM
Building
Christopher Heldreth
Contract
Doc ID: 5157
AGENDA ITEM
AGENDA MATTER:
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT FOR CONSULTANT SERVICES FOR THE GENERAL
PLAN UPDATE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City is mandated to update certain elements within the General Plan. The General Plan consists of a statement of development policies and includes a diagram or diagrams and text setting forth objectives, principles standards, and plan proposals. General Plans must be updated within a specific timeframe.
The General Plan is more than just land use decisions; it is a vision how a community will grow, reflecting community priorities and values while shaping the future.
The City issued a Request for Proposal to work with a consultant as part of its required General Plan update. City staff is recommending that the City enter into a Professional Services Agreement with Placeworks. As part of the General Plan update, there will be community engagement outreach.
Community engagement is a vital component of drafting and updating a General Plan. Such involvement will include public agencies, public utility companies, community groups, and others through hearings or other methods. As part of their proposal, Placeworks will help conduct public outreach. The General Plan expresses the community’s development goals and embodies public policy relative to the distribution of future land uses, both public and private. The General Plan extends far beyond zoning and land use.
General plans benefit local communities by promoting better projects, streamlined processes, integrated planning, and improved access and use of available resources.
The implementation of a General Plan is particularly important to consider. A General Plan is ineffective if not well implemented. Implementation relies on specific plans, zoning ordinances, subdivision ordinances, and public project consistency requirements, among other mechanisms. Because General Plans govern the type and location of new development, new or amended General Plans may lead to significant changes in the environment. The California Environmental Quality Act, also known as “CEQA,” requires cities to study those potential environmental impacts as part of the adoption or update process.
The City has determined that it requires the following professional services from a consultant: Review and drafting of the general plan update and Accompanying Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”). Consultant represents that it is fully qualified to perform such professional services by virtue of its experience and the training, education and expertise of its principals and employees. Consultant further represents that it is willing to accept responsibility for performing such services in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in this attached Agreement.
DISCUSSION:
See Executive Summary
FISCAL IMPACT:
Knowing the General Plan required updating; the City planned accordingly and budgeted $600,000 dollars for fiscal year 2022/2023 for the general plan update. The City will adopt the fiscal year budget 2023/2024 within the next 10 months and will budget accordingly to cover the remaining amount owed to Regular Meeting
10/17/22 05:30 PM
Building
Christopher Heldreth
Contract
Doc ID: 5157
AGENDA ITEM
the consultant. The General Plan update will span the fiscal years of 22/23 and 23/24. Therefore, the fiscal impact has been accounted for.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Staff recommends approval of the attached professional services agreement with Placeworks for the General Plan update.