Cupertino City Council
April 19, 2022

PDA PLANNING PROGRAM

PDA PLANNING GRANT GUIDANCE:

PLANNING PROCESS & ELEMENTS

This document provides guidance to local jurisdictions awarded PDA Planning Grants, offering a suggested planning process and outlining required and recommended planning elements to include in a Scope of Work. This information also provides potential grantees with an expectation of what MTC/ABAG will be looking for in grant scopes of work and submitted deliverables.
1 An MTC/ABAG grant manager will work closely with local staff to draft, revise, and finalize the scope, which will set the stage for consultant selection and project completion. This is a “living” document updated periodically to reflect new research, data, and resources; the most recent update is indicated in the footer at the bottom of the page.

Planning Process
Potential Sequence of Planning Process (table suggests general order). All grants must be completed within 36 months of execution of a funding agreement between MTC and the recipient, or execution of a consultant task order if using the Regional Planning Bench.

The diagram below suggests a general sequence for completing the tasks outlined in the next section of this document.

Potential Sequence of Planning Process (table suggests general order)

1. En
gagement

2. Community
Assessment &
Polic
y Development

3a. Specific Plan
3b. EIR
3c. Zoning & General
Plan Amendments

1 MTC/ABAG expects that all planning grants will lead to implementation, including agreement by the local jurisdiction to formally adopt the completed plan, as well as corresponding zoning code and General Plan amendments. If a jurisdiction selects a reimbursement-based grant, it will not receive full payment until adoption (a required task) is complete. Jurisdictions that select to utilize the MTC regional planning bench will not receive the entirety of the services outlined in the scope.

Adoption

Planning Elements
All planning grant recipients must complete or have completed a set of Planning Elements for their PDA. The required elements include a robust engagement process, a community assessment addressing a spectrum of topics and identifying potential policies and investments, and a Plan adopted by the grantees’ City Council or Board of Supervisors that is accompanied by a programmatic Environmental Impact Report and Zoning and General Plan Amendment. These are summarized below. Detailed guidance for each element is provided in the next section.

1. Engagement: Throughout the planning process, gather meaningful input from a full range of community members living within and nearby the planning area, including residents of all incomes, races and ethnic backgrounds, employees of local businesses, community- and faith-based organizations, and staff from public agencies providing services in the area.

2. Community Assessment & Policy Development: Assess the planning area and surrounding communities—both as unique places and as locations within the greater Bay Area and surrounding subregion—to inform policies and the Plan. Based upon engagement with community members and assessment of historic, existing, and potential future, conditions, identify potential policies for further development integration into the Plan document. The assessment must address, but need not be limited to, the following topics, which are described in greater detail in the next section of this document:
 Equity
 Affordable Housing & Jobs
 Mobility
 Community Assets & Infrastructure
 Resilience & Climate Adaptation

3. Adopted Plan Documents:
 Specific Plan or equivalent
 Programmatic Environmental Impact Report
 Zoning and General Plan Amendment
Duty to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing: State law charges all public agencies with broadly examining their existing and future policies, plans, programs, rules, practices, and related activities, and making proactive changes to promote more inclusive communities. Jurisdictions are tasked with taking actions that will have a significant impact in integrating living patterns and reducing socio-economic concentrations – well beyond combating discrimination or mitigating disparities. Grant-funded PDA Plans are a critical component of meeting this requirement and catalyzing change. To the extent possible, jurisdictions are encouraged to coordinate the analysis and policy development conducted through this plan with the Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) required for its Housing Element. California HCD provides guidance on this and other aspects of Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing.

1. ENGAGEMENT
Throughout the planning process, gather meaningful input from a full range of community members living within and nearby the planning area, including residents of all incomes, races and ethnic backgrounds, employees of local businesses, community- and faith-based organizations, and staff from public agencies providing services in the area. Depending on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic, recipients may need to modify their approach.

Recommended Engagement Activities|
 Community Involvement Strategy: Document outlining in detail an approach to involving community members throughout the planning process and ensuring input is integrated into the Alternatives, Supportive Strategies and Specific Plan. It should be developed concurrent with the Community Assessment, considering data from the Equity portion of the Community Assessment (see Task 2). The involvement plan should identify:
o Tasks and a timeline for completion.
o Direct engagement with low-income communities and communities of color identified in the Community Assessment, including roles of local service providers (e.g., community centers, clinics, etc.) and community-based organizations. Identify translation needs (required for all non-English languages spoken by 10% or more of PDA residents) and document how these will be met throughout the process.
o Potential members of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) and/or selection process.
o Specific ways that community input at various phases of the planning process will be integrated into the Community Assessment and Policies and the Plan Documents.
 Community Advisory Council: A representative group of residents, employees of local businesses, community-based organizations, service providers, and other involved community members in the plan area and in surrounding neighborhoods. At a minimum, the Community Advisory Council informs the planning process and reviews draft plan materials. At least three meetings are required.  Technical Advisory Committee: Group providing detailed technical input throughout the planning process, including representatives of local, county, and regional agencies and service providers such as utilities, transit agencies, congestion management agencies, air and water quality management districts, and the ABAG/MTC grant manager. At least three meetings are required.  Direct Outreach and Information Gathering: Interactive events engaging community members outside the context of traditional workshops, with an emphasis on reaching low-income communities and communities of color, incorporating any translation needs. If possible, involve community members/service providers into outreach and operation of events. Grantees should tailor direct outreach to meet the needs of their community; successful direct outreach identified by previous PDA grantees include:
o Community Asset Mapping: Engage community members to create an inventory and map of specific cultural assets and spaces to preserve or enhance, such as community gathering places, cultural institutions, and shops providing daily necessities and culturally specific goods

o Walk and Bike Audits: Community member assessments of travel conditions by foot, bicycle, scooter, or wheelchair; community assets; and opportunities, and challenges.
o “Pop up” Workshop: Booths or tents at public events such as Flea Markets, Farmer’s Markets, shopping streets, grocery stores, and festivals to raise awareness of the plan and solicit input; can include intercept surveys and interviews
o Design Charrette in the Community: Drop-in workshop held in a location with foot traffic such as a storefront, library, or community center; community members work with the project team to design alternatives for the future of the PDA and develop supportive policies
o Drop-into local meetings: Coordinate with local community and neighborhood leaders to attend existing neighborhood, community or social club meetings to raise awareness of the plan
o Art and story-based visioning: Drop-in or scheduled events inviting community members to share stories or art capturing their experiences and aspirations for the PDA
o Maps and other planning tools that engage residents in expressing preferences and understanding trade-offs involved in various policy decisions.  Online and Print Engagement: Create a project website and provide additional electronic and traditional outreach materials. Suggested approaches include:
o Fact Sheets, updates and workshop invitations mailed to community members and posted in public places such as libraries, businesses, coffee shops, community centers, and places of worship
o Online and mail surveys to educate residents and solicit feedback about needs, values and tradeoffs
o Online discussion forums
o Social media accounts (i.e., Twitter, Instagram, Next Door etc.) to announce meetings, provide updates and links to project material, and solicit feedback In all outreach material, consider “branding” the plan using a consistent logo and tag line/motto to increase visibility
 Elected and Appointed Official Engagement: Regular memos, dedicated sessions, or briefings with individual councilmembers and planning commissioners, to provide Council and the Commission with 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.
 Public Workshops: Host public workshops at a minimum of three points in the planning process. (This in addition to required CEQA-related hearings). Recipients are encouraged to utilize creative approaches to enhance participation by low-income residents, communities of color, and residents with mobility limitations. In-person workshops are recommended but may be supplemented with web-based engagement.

If participation is limited by the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual workshops may replace in-person workshops. Potential workshop topics include:

o Plan Kickoff and Goal-setting Workshops: Incorporate activities to identify community assets, challenges and opportunities in the plan area, develop goals and targets for the plan, and shape the development of policies that inform the plan. o Alternatives & Strategies Workshops: Highlight input from previous workshops, gather responses to community assessment and potential policies to shape the Specific Plan; consider using live polling or similar tools to gather responses to strategy options, visual preference surveys, and other questions. o Draft Plan Workshop: Review draft specific plan and engage participants in interactive activities designed to gather critical feedback and shape final adjustments to the Plan.

For all workshops: Provide any translation services identified in the Community Engagement Plan and childcare.
 Additional Community Involvement Components:
o Public workshop or other option to present Draft Plan o Focus groups and interviews to obtain in-depth feedback from key stakeholders, including developers
o Partnerships with local schools and community-based organizations (CBOs) that provide services to residents and often are not involved in planning processes
o Outreach to local media, including ethnic newspapers, local weeklies and news blogs, radio, and TV stations
o Outreach through social media platforms used by different generations or ethnic communities. (titoki, Instagram, Facebook, wechat)

2. COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT & POLICY DEVELOPMENT

Based on available data and initial public engagement (e.g., kickoff workshop, mobile workshops), produce an assessment of the planning area and surrounding community that addresses, at a minimum, Equity, Housing & Jobs (with an emphasis on housing affordability), Mobility, Community Assets & Infrastructure, and Resilience & Climate Adaptation. In addition to painting a picture of the community as it exists today, the assessment should uncover historic trends and identify potential policies for further investigation and potential inclusion in the Plan. Grantees are encouraged to produce a single, integrated Community Assessment, but may complete stand-alone reports if preferred.

If adequate resources are available, grantees are also encouraged to conduct assessments of other key topics relevant to the planning area.

Note on topics addressed through other planning processes: If a required topic was addressed through a previous planning process, or will be addressed through a parallel planning process, grantees should integrate key findings related to the planning area and surrounding community, as well as identify applicable policies that will be reflected in the Specific Plan and/or Zoning and General Plan amendments. Examples could include a recently completed citywide Active Transportation Plan or VMT policy that will be reflected in the Plan’s Street standards or the transportation impact review process for development projects proposed in the plan area.

2A. Equity
Assess demography, economic opportunity, housing stability, health and other life outcomes of residents and employees of businesses in the plan area and surrounding community.

Identify any existing inequities between people of different racial or ethnic backgrounds, genders, age groups, abilities, or sexual orientation, as well as the historic and recent factors and policies that contribute to these inequities. Utilize this analysis to develop policies for each of the other topics to address these inequities, as well as to shape the outreach strategy for the planning process (see task 1).

Recommended Assessment
For all analyses: Differentiate findings by demographic characteristics wherever possible, and include both residents and, to the extent available, employees of local businesses.

Compare plan area and surrounding community to jurisdiction, county, and region.  Demography: Race/ethnicity, gender, age, household size and income, physical ability, primary language spoken at home, place of birth, sexual identity, family composition, etc.
 Housing stability: Housing cost as a share of income, homelessness, type (rent or own) and length of tenure, displacement risk, homelessness, fair housing complaints, and existing policies to increase housing security for low-income households.  Opportunity and Economic stability: Unemployment rate, level of education, school performance, education level, occupation, household transportation costs, etc.

 Health: Life expectancy, asthma rates, violent crime, building code violations, access to grocery stores and other essential needs, air quality and other environmental quality indicators
 Risk Factors: Based on the analyses above and any other relevant, available data, identify risk factors in the plan area and surrounding community contributing to inequities.

How to use findings from Equity Assessment: These findings should inform all the other elements in the Community Assessment. Additional analysis should build upon identified inequities and potential policies should directly address these inequities.

Recommended Sources:

US Census American Community Survey
Urban Displacement Project (data download)
TCAC Opportunity Maps

Example assessment: Downtown Oakland Disparity Analysis (for Downtown Oakland Specific Plan)

If you are struggling to scope an equity assessment, consider drawing from the Planning for Healthy Communities Toolkit.

2B. Affordable Housing & Jobs Drawing upon the findings of the equity assessment, identify in greater detail the characteristics of the existing and planned housing stock in the planning area and surrounding area, as well as projected short- and long-term need. Identify the composition of jobs in the plan area and evaluate the affordability of housing in the area to the wages of employees in these jobs. Identify obstacles to delivering housing affordable to all income levels and responsive policies. This task should be closely coordinated with the jurisdiction’s Housing Element, if already underway.

Recommended Assessment
 Quantify Housing Need: Identify short-term (e.g., next 8-year RHNA cycle) and long-term (e.g., 20-30 year estimate in General Plan and Plan Bay Area) housing need by income level in the jurisdiction, including the likely number of new deed-restricted housing units affordable to extremely-low, very low-, low-, and moderate-income households. To the extent possible, also identify need relative to unit size (i.e., 1 bedroom, 3 bedroom, etc.). Compare projected need with historic production at all income levels.
 Establish Housing Profile: Number and share of buildings by age, size (e.g., units, square feet, stories), median rent or home value, length of time occupied by residents, construction type if available and condition. Within the overall building stock, identify the following:
o Deed-restricted affordable housing: Existing or planned sites/buildings with rents or sale prices restricted to levels affordable to qualified low and

moderate-income households. Identify share of residents by income level and other demographic characteristics, if available, and length of deed-restriction and potential threats to long-term affordability.
o Unsubsidized affordable housing: Buildings/sites: a) occupied by numerous (e.g., 2 or more) tenants paying all or a portion of rent with housing subsidies (e.g., Section 8 vouchers), where information is available; and/or b) with median market rents affordable to households with moderate-incomes or lower.2 Identify homes at greatest risk of conversion to units unaffordable to at moderate-income or lower households.
o Market-rate housing: Existing or planned sites/buildings rented or sold at unrestricted prices
o Informal housing: Sites occupied on an ongoing basis by individuals or families without formal homes, often referred to as “encampments”, both in the planning area, surrounding community, jurisdiction, and county. Include any recently cleared (e.g., within past 2 years) sites. o Accessibility: Sites/buildings that are accessible, adaptable, habitable, and/or visitable to persons with disabilities.
 Establish Employment/Industry Profile: Location and number of jobs and establishments by industry sector and, if available, occupation within and nearby the plan area. Based on available wage data, quantify the typical rent or home purchase price affordable to employees in the predominant industries and occupations in the area. Based on current conditions and historic data, identify industry concentrations within and nearby the planning area; among these, identify industries anticipated to contract and expand, and identify any industries that are prioritized in a local (e.g., Citywide or county) economic development strategy.
 Identify development pipeline: Development projects that are proposed, approved, permitted, or under construction in and nearby the plan area, including use, size and, for housing or mixed-use projects that include housing, tenure and share market-rate or affordable. Where available, identify asking rents or sales prices for projects nearing completion.
 Assess Real Estate Conditions & Constraints: Factors contributing to the feasibility, or lack thereof, of producing housing at all income levels, such as land cost, availability of financing and subsidies, rent levels required to meet developer and l profit targets, maximum densities, minimum parking requirements, barriers to innovative construction, etc.
 Assess Local Policy Conditions & Constraints: Policies, programs, and incentives adopted by the local jurisdiction to protect tenants at risk of eviction or displacement, preserve existing subsidized or unsubsidized affordable housing, and produce housing at all income levels; existing policies that inhibit the protection, preservation, and production of affordable homes.

2 For applicable rents, click here and select the relevant county.

 Identify Opportunity Sites: Individual, or multiple adjacent, parcels with the potential to: a) accommodate new housing (including mixed-use development with a residential component) or b) preserve existing unsubsidized affordable housing or housing with a deed-restriction that will expire in the coming years. Identify sites by ownership type—private individual, privat e entity, public agency, or non-profit.

Quantify potential number of units at different permitted density levels and levels of subsidy required to provide home affordable to extremely-, very-, low-, and moderate-income households. Identify sites eligible for subsidies, favorable financing, or other incentives (i.e., areas competitive for LIHTC funding).

Recommended Potential Policies & Investments
Based any inequities identified in the equity assessment and challenges identified in this housing assessment, create a short-list of potential policies for further investigation and potential inclusion in the Specific Plan:
 Protection: “Just Cause” evictions; Tenant right to counsel; Rent stabilization; SRO and mobile home preservation ordinance/overlay; Condominium conversion ordinance; Targeted rental assistance; Foreclosure mitigation; No net loss/one for one replacement; Tenant right-to-counsel; Tenant legal assistance; Protection or integration of locally owned businesses into new development; Preference policy prioritizing openings in deed-restricted affordable homes for existing residents, and displaced former residents and family members
 Preservation: Housing rehabilitation; Affordable housing preservation overlay zoning (for subsidized and unsubsidized buildings); Community Land Trusts; Tenant Opportunity Purchase Act (TOPA); Acquisition program to convert unsubsidized affordable housing to permanently affordable
 Production: Inclusionary Zoning; Deed-restricted permanently affordable housing on Public Land (with mix of incomes, target 100% of project); Density bonus above state law; Accessory Dwelling Units; Elimination of parking minimums; Increased density through objective development standards; Expand portfolio of public & community- owned land; Integrate universal design and enhance accessibility for persons with disabilities
 Funding: Generated through development (e.g., value capture, impact and linkage fees); Local sources (e.g., finance districts, bonds, impact fees, commercial development impact fees; etc.); State and Federal sources (e.g., HOME, CDBG, tax credits, grants, project-based Section 8, etc.); Innovative funding/finance approaches (e.g., bundle funding sources to deliver housing and provide on-site services, etc.) Recommended Sources:

US Census American Community Survey
US Census Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) (data website) California Housing Partnership (CHPC)
Enterprise Community Partners Policy Development & Research Center ABAG Housing Policy & Data Explorer

California Air Resources Board (CARB) White Paper on Anti-Displacement Strategy Effectiveness
ABAG Housing Element Site Selection (HESS) Tool (release forthcoming)

2C. Mobility
Assess trip patterns, the quality and relative safety of travel by active modes and for persons with disabilities, access to transit and essential services, and vehicle miles traveled for residents and employees of local businesses within and adjacent to the plan area. Identify a preliminary set of policies and investments to enhance reduce VMT multi-modal mobility to integrate into the Plan.

Recommended Assessment
 Trip Patterns: Share of trips by mode, purpose, and length; Commute distance, mode, and travel time for residents and employees of local businesses;  Vehicle Miles Traveled: Median vehicle miles traveled in the Transportation Analysis Zones within and adjacent to the plan area; compare with figures from jurisdiction, county, and region
 Safety: Collision data, including environmental factors (e.g., roadway infrastructure, traffic volumes, community, demographics, land use, health, education) and crash/injury data (e.g., time, severity, collision factors, sobriety, age, gender, type of vehicle, movement) (Note: MTC is developing a regional safety data system that will include these data, with an expected release in late 2021); Identification of high-risk locations and collision patterns; Identification and prioritization of countermeasures.  Pedestrian Access & Circulation: Pedestrian routes between station/terminal, local transit, neighborhood amenities and activity nodes in the planning area, including pedestrian opportunities & challenges, vehicle speed and volume on the routes.  Bicycle Access & Circulation: Bicycle/micromobility3 routes to adjacent activity centers, nodes, and regional routes including class and current opportunities & challenges, vehicle speed and volume on the routes.
 Carshare Access: carshare availability and locations on- or off-street.  Transit: Location, frequency, capacity and reliability of transit serving the plan area, including location and regional service and privately operated shuttles available to the public; Connectivity of services to major transit hubs and ease of transfer. Identify historic trends in transit provision and ridership.
 Parking and Curb Use: Existing parking, transportation demand management, and other relevant policy assessment; Parking and curb use inventory (on- and off-street); Existing parking and curb use regulations; Parking and curb use utilization and duration; Parking supply and demand analysis
 Local policies and constraints: Policies, programs, and incentives adopted by the local jurisdiction or implemented by local employers that impact VMT, active transportation, and transit service. (e.g., free or subsidized parking, transit subsidies,

3 For MTC, micromobility encompasses all small, fully or partially human-powered vehicles (both personal and shared-use fleets), which typically do not exceed 15 mph, such as bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters, as well as specialized vehicle types such as cargo bikes, wheeled mobility-assistance devices, and wheelchairs.

VMT-based or LOS-based impact review, basis for, and use of, transportation impact fees)

Recommended Potential Policies & Investments
Based on any inequities identified in the equity assessment and challenges identified in this mobility assessment, create a short-list of potential policies for further investigation and potential inclusion in the Specific Plan:
 VMT Reduction: If not completed already, utilize VMT for transportation review processes, including General Plan analyses required for projects in the Plan area; utilize VMT, not LOS, as the basis for identifying any impact fees - create list of mitigations developers can contribute to through impact fees. Mitigations can include transportation demand management measures (e.g., transit passes included in each residential unit), and pedestrian, bicycle and transit access and utilization improvements listed below; Estimate the combined quantitative impact of the transportation-related policies selected for further analysis, such as those below.  Active Transportation (pedestrian and bike): Redesign intersections to optimize the use and safety of active modes; Limit block sizes for new development and establish mid-block crossings for large existing blocks; Consolidate and minimize driveways; Establish =bike parking standards for development and grow bike/scooter parking; Prioritize and add connections to city, countywide and MTC’s Active Transportation Plans, once adopted.
 Transit Access & Utilization: Redesign streets and intersections to improve bus travel and reduce delay; For bus rapid transit routes, dedicate lanes, provide necessary space for ticketing and boarding areas, and provide signal preemption; Create new, or enhance existing, feeder shuttles (public and employer-based); Provide bus bulb outs and shelter at all stops; Improve intermodal access, including way-finding signage, accessible transit information, real-time technology, schedule coordination, fare coordination and last-mile connecting services; designate mobility hubs  Parking and Demand Management: Reduce or eliminate minimum auto parking ratios*; Establish minimum bicycle parking ratio; Establish parking development standards to manage demand, which could include establishing maximum parking ratios and provisions for shared parking, bicycle parking, car share stations, vanpool parking, Electric Vehicle (EV) parking, or other demand management strategies; Establish unbundling requirements; Examine establishing trip caps for commercial development and masterplans; Develop a parking management or curb management plan, including an assessment of a parking pricing program*; Enforce employer programs, including the Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program and State parking cash-out requirements (SB 728)
 Greenhouse Gas Reduction: Provide pathway for electrification of transportation fleets by planning for publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) chargers, requiring new developments to be EV-ready, and enabling micromobility and carshare charging at key locations in the plan areas, such as mobility hubs

* Priority policy supporting Plan Bay Area 2050 strategy implementation

Recommended Sources:

Census Transportation Planning Package (data available here) US Census American Community Survey
Vehicle Miles Traveled: consult your County Transportation Agency (CTA) MTC/ABAG Parking Policy Playbook
MTC Parking Toolbox
Mobility Hubs Implementation Playbook

2D. Community Assets, Services and Infrastructure
Identify the availability of essential services and physical infrastructure relative to current and potential future need in the planning area and surrounding community, as well as key assets identified by community members. Assess the stability of these community assets:

How are community/neighborhood serving businesses and cultural institutions performing, what is their risk of 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.

Recommended Assessment
 Essential Services & Social Infrastructure: Services essential to meeting residents’ basic needs located inside, or within walking distance (e.g., ¼ mile), of the planning area, such as:
o Health care: Clinics, hospitals, and other physical and mental health services; Pharmacies
o Food and sundries: Full-service grocery stores, convenience stores selling produce, flea markets, farmer’s markets, food banks
o Childcare & Education: Preschools, K-12, Community Colleges, Training Centers
o Open Space & Recreation: Parks, playgrounds, trails
o Community facilities: Libraries, community centers, places of worship and other community institutions.
 Physical Infrastructure: Adequacy of current and planned provision of utilities, including at a minimum:
o Energy (including any existing or planned local generation networks and community choice aggregation programs)
o Waste (including any waste recycling facilities or dual piping policies) o Water
o ZEV Fueling/Charing Infrastructure
o Broadband
 Community Assets: Informed by public engagement, identify community assets— formal and informal gathering spaces, local businesses, parks, community institutions, and other places viewed by residents as important to personal and community vitality. Identify desired assets currently missing from the planning area.

List any essential services or unmet current needs or services that will require additional capacity at various levels of household growth and commercial development.

Recommended Potential Policies & Investments
Based on any inequities identified in the equity assessment and challenges identified in this Community Assets, Services, and Infrastructure assessment, create a short-list of potential policies for further investigation and potential inclusion in the Specific Plan, such as:
 Essential services: Policies, incentives, and funding strategies to sustain and, where needed, fill gaps, in provision of essential services tailored to the specific characteristics of the community
 Infrastructure: Resource conservation and energy efficiency programs and policies—citywide and specific to the plan area, including the integration of green infrastructure into street upgrades as well as potential opportunities to incentivize the use of innovative technology in new development or public works projects (e.g., Silva cell street trees, microgrids, grey water recycling).  Community Asset Preservation & Enhancement: Strategies to preserve at-risk community assets and enhance existing assets, including land use policies and funding opportunities.
 Placemaking/Place keeping: Process for integrating community-led placemaking (e.g., cultural plazas, community centers, public art) into future public works and development projects; New public spaces (parks, paseos, plazas, community centers) designed to acknowledge community presence and contributions by amplifying community history and culture, meeting community needs and supporting community aspirations.
2E. Resilience & Climate Adaptation
Assess the relative vulnerability of the plan area and surrounding communities to natural hazards, taking into account anticipated climate change and seismic impacts. Identify potential investments, policies or programs to better adapt the community to these vulnerabilities and poise the community to respond to future conditions and events.

Recommended Approach
 Plan Integration:
o Reference Other Resilience Plans and Initiatives: Include a summary of existing analysis and actions that overlap with the plan area. Include a review for relevant elements of the Climate Adaptation Plan, Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, General Plan Safety Element and other hazard specific plans (e.g., shoreline adaptation plan, community wildfire protection plan). When available the approach should leverage any vulnerable community, mapping completed to meet the requirements of SB 379 or SB 1000.  Natural Hazard Vulnerability:
o Sea Level Rise & Flooding: Susceptibility to flooding today and under multiple future scenarios, including different levels of sea level rise. Use the best available science to consider future sea level rise levels – in 2021 the best

available guidance is from the Ocean Protection Council’s Strategic Plan.

Identify any portions of the plan area at high risk due to topographic conditions or proximity to the waterline and note policies or adaptations to date intended to address this risk (e.g., raised buildings or development sites). o Wildfire: Exposure to wildfire hazard, accounting for both most recently updated CalFire maps and the potential impacts of climate change. Identify any adopted policies intended to address this risk.
o Earthquake/Seismic: Levels of ground shaking, fault rupture and liquefaction risk. Drawing upon available records, identify the relative seismic vulnerability of the building stock in the plan area, noting buildings likely to require seismic upgrades. Identify any adopted policies intended to address this risk.
 Environmental Quality:
o Air Quality: Identify areas of poor air quality and existing and potential future hot weather events, particularly in locations with concentrations of sensitive populations such as children and elders.
o Tree canopy/Greenspace: Tree canopy in various parts of the plan area; percent of surface impermeable, etc.
o Water Quality: Areas with currently or potentially compromised water quality, including potentially elevated hazards that may result from climate change.
o Environmental Contamination: Sites with known environmental contamination identified by the US EPA or California DTSC. In all areas, identify locations with land use restrictions or open cases; in areas predicted to experience inundation due to Sea Level rise, identify locations with land use restrictions, open cases, or closed cases.

Recommended Potential Policies and Investments:
 Adaptation: Policies to adapt the area’s buildings and infrastructure, such as requiring higher finished floor elevations, retrofitting existing infrastructure, financing for new flood protection infrastructure and integrating resilient design features into public works projects. Investments to respond more resiliently to events such as flooding and wildfires, such as parks designed to detain stormwater, microgrids, and buffer zones. Identify necessary adaptation investments within or adjacent to the Plan area.  Mitigation: Policies and investments to improve air quality, reduce ambient temperatures, and stem potential flooding and wildfire in the plan area. Depending upon the specific vulnerability profile of the plan area, this may include actions such as expanding the tree canopy, requiring structural hardening of buildings, constructing levees, or establishing wildfire buffer zones.  Increased Community Preparedness: Programs to educate and engage community members and businesses in preparing for, and responding to, a natural disaster, such

as Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training; Integration of community hubs into new development.

Recommended Sources
 Mapping Tools
o MTC/ABAG Hazard Viewer and Open Data
o BCDC SLR Flood Explorer
o NOAA or COSMOS SLR
o CalAdapt
o BCDC’s Community Vulnerability Maps
 Resilience Planning Guides
o BCDC Adaptation Roadmap
o CA Adaptation Planning Guide 2.0
o OPR Vulnerable Communities Guidance

Additional Topics
Provided that the topics above have been addressed, grantees are encouraged to assess and develop policy options for additional topics such as:
 Development standards (evaluate current standards and options for revised standards, including approaches such as a form-based code)
 Economic development (assess composition of businesses within and adjacent to the plan area, identify clusters, recommend potential approaches to enhancing emerging clusters and/or supporting middle-wage jobs, etc.)

3. ADOPTED PLAN DOCUMENTS
Drawing upon input from public engagement and investigation of the potential policies and investments included in the community assessment, create a draft and final Specific Plan that is adopted by the City Council or County Board of Supervisors along with an accompany Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and amendments to the Zoning ordinance, General Plan, and any other local policies. As noted below,

3A. Specific Plan
Building upon Engagement and the Community Assessment & Potential Policies, produce a user-friendly Draft and Final Specific Plan with a coherent set of policies and programs that facilitate short- and long-term implementation.

Suggested Specific Plan Sections/Topics
The sections below represent one way to organize the Specific Plan. Plans may be organized differently but should address each topic.
 Introduction: Intent, organization and summary of Plan  Vision: Plan goals, concepts and desired outcomes. Include key findings from the engagement and community assessment/policy development processes and describe how they inform the Plan
 Development Standards: Zoning Districts (land uses, density, height); Urban & Architectural Design (setbacks, building façades, solar orientation, groundfloor transparency); Parking (maximum parking ratios, shared parking, adaptability to autonomous vehicles and reduced car ownership); Conservation (energy, water, and waste reduction standards; green building strategies exceeding Title 24 if applicable); Community Benefits (e.g. affordable housing, public spaces, community facilities, or other amenities that can be provided in exchange for higher densities or other developer benefit); Broadband/Fiber Optic connectivity (last mile or conduit to curb fiber optic requirements, rights to locate wireless sensors for public network, “stub out”, etc.).
 Open Space: Parks and public spaces; Off-street trails; Habitat conservation and enhancement areas; Public and private open space standards.  Mobility: Street designations (identifying streets in plan area by designation); Complete streets design standards (standard cross-sections, including provisions for pedestrians, bicycles, transit, parking, and green infrastructure where applicable— should be at appropriate level of detail to guide future projects); Accessibility  Community Assets & Infrastructure: Schools/job training centers; Health care and social services; Community centers; Water supply (including water recycling/reuse); Stormwater/Green Infrastructure; Sewage and Solid Waste; Energy (including renewable energy generation and distribution). Integrate area with jurisdiction’s Broadband/Fiber Optic Master Plan; “Future-proof” development by requiring or incentivizing the integration of ZEV Fueling/Charging Infrastructure, dual piping, etc. into development projects.
 Implementation & Financing: Project administration; Implementation actions and programs—identifying responsible partie s, timelines, and costs; Capital improvements (specific street segments, trails, community facilities, etc. required to complete plan—including cost estima tes, funding sources and timelines.)

 Optional implementation sections: Trip Caps, Healthy Infill development standards, Infrastructure Finance, opportunities for contribution to Fiber Optic infrastructure, innovative proposals by applicants
 Appendices: General Plan Amendments; Zoning Amendments; Additional policies/regulations (e.g., design guidelines)

3B. Environmental Impact Report (EIR)
Produce a certified environmental document that meets the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and provides adequate analysis of potential impacts resulting from implementation of the Specific Plan, and mitigations to address these potential impacts, to minimize the need for additional review of future projects consistent with the Plan, and to facilitate the use of CEQA streamlining provisions for infill development.

Typically, a programmatic EIR is necessary to facilitate this outcome.

Exceptions to completing the full EIR will be allowed if applicant can demonstrate that a programmatic environmental analysis that includes the entire planning area and the level of growth anticipated in the plan has been certified within the past 5 years, eliminating the need for substantial additional environmental analysis for projects consistent with the Plan.

EIR Components:
 Notice of Preparation (NOP)/Initial Study: Brief description of the Draft Plan, its location, and probable environmental effects
 Scoping Meeting(s) & Report: Public meeting(s) to receive feedback on NOP/initial study and to identify additional issues pertinent to the Draft Plan; following the meeting(s), report documenting feedback.
 Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR): Document analyzing the potential environmental impacts identified in the Initial Study and wherever possible identifying mitigations to minimize impacts. Refer to the California Office of Planning and Research (OPR) Guide for additional guidance.  Notice of Completion: Document indicating that a DEIR has been prepared for the Draft Plan
 Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR): Copy of, or revision to, the Draft EIR; comments on the Draft EIR and response to these comments; and any additional information
 Notice of Determination: Brief notice indicating approval of EIR All environmental documents must incorporate provisions of SB375, SB743 and any recent CEQA-related legislation.

3C. Plan Adoption, Zoning Code Update, & General Plan Amendment:

Outcome: City Council or Board of Supervisors Resolutions and Ordinance adopting Plan and amending General Plan, Zoning Code, Zoning Map, and any other relevant policies and regulatory documents