DRAFT SCOPE OF WORK
HEART OF THE CITY SPECIFIC PLAN UPDATE– VTA CORES, CORRIDORRS, AND
STATION AREA PDA
PROJECT GOAL
Originally approved by Council in 1995, with subsequent minor amendments in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2010, 2012, and 2014, Cupertino’s current Heart of the City (HoC) Specific Plan 1 encompasses approximately 596 acres of the City’s primary commercial corridor nestled within VTA’s Cores, Corridors, and Station Area PDA. The City intends to update the existing HoC Specific Plan to accommodate a portion of the City’s 6th RHNA cycle allocation of 4,588 units2. The specific plan update will be completed in conjunction with the City’s Housing Element update , which will include state -mandated updates to the General Plan and environmental review currently envisioned to be a Programmatic Environmental Impact Report. In line with the City’s Housing Element update, the HoC Specific Plan update will incorporate meaningful public engagement throughout and will integrate an analysis of the current conditions of the planning area and surrounding community to address the overarching goals of affirm atively furthering fair housing, vehicles miles traveled reduction strategies, and climate adaptation strategies. The update to the City’s Housing Element is anticipated to result in Zoning amendments and updates to the HoC Specific Plan to ensure that all sites that are identified as Priority Housing S ites are appropriately situated for housing development projects.
Task 1 – PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Public engagement for the HoC Specific Plan update will be conducted as part of the robust public engagement process to take place during the City’s Housing Element update. As part of the community engagement and education for both projects , residents of all incomes, races, and ethnic backgrounds as well as employees of local businesses, community - and faith -based organizations, and public agencies will be encouraged to participate . Throughout the public engagement process, the consultant will g ather meaningful input from community mem bers, community-based organizations, decision makers, City staff, and the development community on how the City may achieve the overarching goal of accommodating the increased housing needs allocation for the 6 th RHNA cycle in a responsible manner that considers the needs of existing and future residents.
1 2014 Heart of the City Specific Plan can be accessed at:
https://www.cupertino.org/home/showpublisheddocument/415/636280426123030000 2 ABAG’s Draft RHNA Plan with Cupertino’s allocation can be accessed at:
https://abag.ca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021-05/ABAG_2023-2031_Draft_RHNA_Plan.pdf
The engagement process may incorporate a hybrid of online and in -person formats , such as traditional workshops, online surveys, pop- up events, and virtual meeti ngs, in order to thoughtfully consider COVID-19 protocols. Specific tasks include:
• Community Involvement Strategy: Create a detailed Community Involvement Strategy d ocument outlining the approach to involving community members throughout the planning process and ensuring input is integrated into the specific plan.
The Community Involvement Strategy should identify translation needs, drawing on the data gathered through the Community Assessment (see Task 2), and highlight potential translation services and/or protocols to utilize throughout the specific plan update.
• Community Advisory Council: Form a Community Advisory Council (CAC) to inform the planning process and review draft plan materials. The CAC should consist of a representative group of residents, local employees, community -based organizations, service providers, and/or other involved community members in the plan area. Host a minimum of three CAC meetings throughout the planning process, including, but not limi ted to: (1) Plan Kickoff & Goal-Setting Meeting, (2) Policies & Strategies Meeting, and (3) Draft Plan Meeting.
• Technical Advisory Committee: Form a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to provide detailed technical input throughout the planning process. The TAC should consist of city electives and representatives, representatives of regional agencies such as ABAG/MTC, representatives of service providers such as utilities, transit agencies, and/or air and water quality management districts. Host a minimum of three TAC meetings throughout the planning process, including, but not limited to: (1) Plan Kickoff & Goal-Setting Meeting, (2) Policies & Strategies Meeting, and (3) Draft Plan Meeting.
• Project Outreach Materials: Project outreach materials may include a project webpage with project background, fact sheets, information for meeting and engagement opportunities, and a FAQ handout/pdf. Additional outreach materials include, but are not limited to, social media posts, e -updates, and postcards to dis tribute meeting information to all interested parties. Project outreach materials for the HoC Specific Plan update will be incorporated into the outreach efforts for the Housing Element update.
• Public Workshops: Host a minimum of three public workshops thr oughout the planning process, including, but not limited to: (1) Plan Kickoff & Goal-Setting Workshop, (2) Policies & Strategies Workshops, and (3) Draft Plan Workshop. Public workshops for the HoC Specific Plan update will be incorporated into the outreach efforts for the Housing Element update.
• Additional Engagement Events: Organize interactive events engaging community members with an emphasis on reaching low -income communities and communities of color . Additional engagement events may include : Online surveys and forums ; Digital story/photo maps; “Pop up” workshops at public events such as flea markets, farmer’s markets, and local festivals; Drop-in Design Charrette workshop held in a publicly-accessible location. Additional engagement events for the HoC Specific Plan update will be incorporated into the outreach efforts for the Housing Element update. • Elected & Appointed Official Engagement: Regular memos, dedicated sessions, or briefings with councilmembers and planning commissioners to provide an overview of the planning process, preview of challenges, an opportunity to review and comment on alternatives, and provide input during the development of the Draft Plan to help ensure buy-in and smooth the plan adoption process.
Deliverables:
Kick-off Meeting with City Staff: Conduct a virtual or in-person kick-off meeting with City staff to discuss the overall scope of work, timeline, and key milestones of the HoC Specific Plan update.
Community Involvement Strategy: Prepare a Community Involvement Strategy to be reviewed by City staff.
Community Advisory Council Formation + CAC Meeting #1 : Form a Community Advisory Council (CAC) and conduct a virtual or in-person kick-off and goal setting meeting. Work with staff to create meeting materials, such as staff reports, meeting presentations, and meeting notes/key findings as appropriate. Technical Advisory Committee Formation + TAC Meeting #1 : Form a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) an d conduct a virtual or in -person kick- off and goal setting meeting. Work with staff to create meeting materials, such as staff reports, meeting presentations, and meeting notes/key findings as appropriate. Project Outreach Materials: Prepare appropriate p roject outreach materials in conjunction with the Housing Element update engagement. Outreach should consist of both online and physical materials in effort to engage a wide range of residents and other stakeholders.
Public Workshops & Other Engagement Eve nts: Host a minimum of three public workshops. Organize a minimum of three additional engagement opportunities to engage a wide range of residents and other stakeholders within the community. Work with staff to create meeting materials, such as meeting presentations and meeting notes/key findings as appropriate.
Elected & Appointed Official Engagement : Prepare appropriate and regular engagement for City Council and Planning Commission. Work with staff to create
meeting materials, such as memos, staff reports, meeting presentations, and meeting notes/key findings as appropriate.
Task 2 – COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT & POLICY DEVELOPMENT
Based on available data and initial public engagement (e.g., kickoff workshop, surveys, etc. ), conduct an assessment of the Heart of the City planning area and surrounding community that addresses, at a minimum, Equity, Housing & Jobs, Mobility, Community Assets & Infrastructure, and Resilience & Climate Adaptation. Additionally, assess the existing goals and policies found in the Heart of the City Specific Plan and General Plan. Identify potential policy updates for further development integration into the document based on community engagement and an assessment of historic, existing, and potential future conditions. If a required topic is addressed through a previous planning process, or will be addressed through a parallel planning process, key findings and applicable policies related to the planning area and surrounding community should be integrated and identified in the specific plan.
The assessment must address, but need not be limited to, the following topics, which are described in greater detail below:
• Equity Assessment: The equity assessment will be conducted in conjunction with the citywide equity assessment for the Housing Element update and General Plan amendment. T he equity assessment will include analyses such as demography, economic opportunity, housing stability, health, and other life outcomes of residents and employees of businesses throughout the city. Additionally, any existing inequities between residents of different racial or ethnic backgrounds, genders, age groups, abilities, or sexual orientation, as well as the historic and recent factors or policies that contribute to these inequities should be identified. Th e HoC Specific Plan should identify potential policy updates and integrate policies and program s to directly address identified inequities in the plan area . The equity analysis findings should inform all other elements in the Community Assessment, as well as the outreach strategy for the planning process (see Task 1).
• Affordable Housing & Jobs Assessment: The citywide assessment of affordable housing and jobs will be conducted in conjunction with the Housing Element update and General Plan amendment. The assessment should draw upon the findings of the equity assessment. Additionally, the assessment should i dentify the composition of jobs and evaluate the affordability of housing in the area to the wages of employees in these jobs. The HoC Specific Plan should identify potential policy updates and integrate policies and programs to directly address identified obstacles to delivering housing affordable to all income levels.
• Mobility Assessment: The City is planning on conducting a VMT Assessment & Mitigation Project, to be completed approximately Spring ‘22 . Data and key findings from this effort will be used to identify potential policy updates and integrate preliminary policies or programs into the HOC Specific Plan.
• Community Assets, Services & Infrastructure Assessment: Identify the availability of essential services and physical infrastructure relative to current and potential future needs in the planning area and surrounding community, as well as key assets identified by community members through outreach such as surveys, public workshops, etc. (see Task 1). Assess the stability of these community assets by asking questions such as: How are community/neighborhood serving businesses and cultural institutions performing, what is their risk o f displacement, what are the external factors that they are dependent on, etc. Identify a short list of potential policies and investments for further analysis and potential inclusion in the Plan. • Resilience & Climate Adaptation Assessment: The citywide re silience and climate adaptation assessment will be completed as part of the City’s updated Climate Action Plan. The HoC Specific Plan should identify potential policy updates and integrate policies, programs, or investments to better adapt the specific plan area to vulnerabilities such as natural hazards, anticipated climate change, and seismic impacts and prepare the community to respond to future conditions and events. • Objective Design Standards Assessment (Optional): Review the City’s objective design standards and identify potential updates for further integration in the HoC Specific Plan update to help streamline development.
Deliverables:
Document Research : Conduct a thorough review of the existing Heart of the City Specific Plan, existing General Plan, and citywide assessments identified above.
Prepare an annotated list of reviewed documents, as well as appendices to be incorporated into the HOC Specific Plan highlighting/summarizing key findings from the document review.
Meeting with City Staff: Conduct a minimum of one virtual or in-person meeting with City staff to discuss findings of the document research and how to integrate potential policies, programs, or investments into the HoC Specific Plan update.
CAC Meeting #2: Conduct a minimu m of one virtual or in -person meeting with the CAC to discuss findings of the document research and how to integrate potential policies, programs, or investments into the HoC Specific Plan update.
TAC Meeting #2: Conduct a minimum of one virtual or in -person meeting with the TAC to discuss findings of the document research and how to integrate potential policies, programs, or investments into the HoC Specific Plan update. Policy & Program Recommendations: Prepare a report and/or matrix identifying the potential policies, programs, or investments to incorporate into the HoC Specific Plan update based on the document research and provided direction from City staff.
Task 3 – ADOPTED PLAN DOCUMENTS
Drawing upon input from public engagement (see Task 1) and the evaluation of potential policies included in the community assessment (see Task 2), prepare an administrative draft, a draft, and final Specific Plan update to be adopted by the City Council. The update to the Specific Plan will be accompanied by an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and appropriate amendments to the Zoning Ordinance and General Plan. Specific tasks include:
• Specific Plan Update: Prepare three specific plan update documents: (1) Administrative Draft, (2) Draft Heart of the City Specific Plan update , and (3) Final Heart of the City Specific Plan update. The documents should build upon Tasks 1 and 2 and should include a coherent set of policies and programs that facilitate short- and long-term implementation of the specific plan. The Administrative Draft will be shared with City staff for administrative review and edits to be incorporated into the Draft Specific Plan update document . The scope should also include a second Administrative Draft as an optional task. The Draft Specific Plan update will be shared with the CAC and TAC for review and input. The Draft and Final Specific Plan updates will be presented at Planning Commission and City Council public hearings in conjunction with the Housing Element update for review, edits, and approval of the Final version.
• Environmental Impact Report (EIR): A programmatic environmental analysis and certified environmental document that meets the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) will be completed as part of the Housing Element update and related General Plan Amendment. The environmental analysis will encompass the entir e planning area of the Heart of the City Specific Plan and will provide adequate analysis of potential impacts resulting from implementation of the Specific Plan update, and mitigations to address these potential impacts. • Plan Adoption, Zoning Code Update, & General Plan Amendment: City Council Resolutions and Ordinance adopting the update to the Heart of the City Specific Plan and amending the General Plan, Zoning Ordinance, Zoning Map, and any other relevant policies and regulatory documents.
Deliverables:
Administrative Draft: Prepare an Administrative Draft of the Specific Plan update to be reviewed by City staff. Staff will return one redlined copy of the Administrative Draft with edits and recommendations. The scope should also include a second Administrative Draft as an optional task.
Draft Specific Plan: Prepare a Draft Heart of the City Specific Plan that incorporates staff’s review comments for the Administrative Draft update. The Draft specific plan should also be sent to ABAG/MTC to review for consistency with the scope of work. Final Specific Plan: Prepare a Final Heart of the City Specific Plan that incorporates Planning Commission’s and City Council’s review comments for the Draft document.
Environmental Analysis : Environmental analysis to be prepared and certified in conjunction with the Housing Element update.
Meetings with City Staff: Conduct a minimum of two virtual or in -person meetings with City staff to discuss: (1) Staff’s takeaways and suggested edits and/or recommendations to the Administrative Draft(s); and (2) A recap of the CAC and TAC meetings, as well as the Planning Commission and City Council public hearings with suggested edits and/or recommendations to the Draft Specific Plan. CAC Meeting #3: Conduct a minimum of one virtual or in -person meeting with the CAC to review and discuss input for the Draft Specific Plan prior to public hearings. TAC Meeting #3: Conduct a minimum of one virtual or in -person meeting with the TAC to review and discuss input for the Draft Specific Plan prior to public hearings. Public Hearings: Attend up to four public hearings and assist staff in presenting the draft and final updates to the Heart of the City Specific Plan to Planning Commission and City Council.
DRAFT SCHEDULE
DELIVERABLE
EXPECTED DATE OF
COMPLETION
(Tentative)
Task 1 – Public Engagement
1.1 – Kick-Off Meeting with City Staff Early ‘22
1.2 – Community Involvement Strategy Early ‘22
1.3 – Project Outreach Materials Ongoing thru Early ‘23
1.4 – Public Workshops & Engagement Events Ongoing thru Early ‘23
1.5 – Elected & Appointed Official Engagement Ongoing thru Early ‘23 Task 2 – Community Assessment & Policy Development
2.1 – Document Research Early ‘22/Spring ‘22
2.2 – Meeting with City Staff Early ‘22
2.3 – Policy & Program Recommendations Spring ‘22
Task 3 – Adopted Plan Documents
3.1 – Administrative Draft Spring ‘22/ Summer ‘22
3.2 – Draft Specific Plan Summer ‘22
3.3 – Final Specific Plan Fall ‘22
3.4 – Environmental Analysis Fall ‘22
3.5 – Meetings with City Staff Summer ‘22/Fall ‘22
3.6 – Public Hearings Winter ‘22/Early ‘23