TO:Andrew P. Powers, City Manager
FROM:Kelvin Parker, Community Development Director
DATE:July 11, 2023
SUBJECT: Overview of Draft General Plan 2045 (2019-70760 GPA) RECOMMENDATION:
1. Receive presentation on the Draft General Plan 2045.
2. Find that the presentation does not constitute a project pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The adoption of a General Plan is considered a project under CEQA and an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) will be released for this project prior to adoption. No action is being taken at this time.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
No Additional Funding Requested. Minimal staff time required to prepare the report is included in the Adopted FY 2023-24 General Fund Budget.
BACKGROUND:
On June 2, 2023, the City released the Draft General Plan 2045 (Attachment #1) for public review, representing the first time in 50 years that the City has considered a comprehensive update of its General Plan. The General Plan is a long-range planning and policy document that guides decision-making for the future social, economic, and physical development of the City. Its purpose is to capture the community’s vision for how the City will evolve in the years to come and put tools in place to implement the vision. California Government Code Section 65300 et seq. requires every city and county to adopt a comprehensive, long-term General Plan and sets forth requirements a local agency must meet.
General Plans must include, at a minimum, the following mandatory elements: land use, circulation (i.e., mobility), housing, conservation, open space, noise, and safety. General Plans must also address the topics of environmental justice, climate change, and resiliency planning, either as a separate element or as part of
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6 other required elements. At the discretion of each jurisdiction, the General Plan may combine these elements and may add optional elements relevant to the physical features of the jurisdiction. These topics are addressed throughout the different elements of the Draft General Plan and optional elements for governance and arts and culture are included.
General Plan Update Process
After much consideration and discussion on the various options for updating the City’s General Plan, the City Council chose to conduct a comprehensive update.
In February 2019, City Council approved a professional services agreement with Raimi and Associates to guide the City in the update process.
The Thousand Oaks General Plan update process was divided into five phases.
The first phase of the process, “Existing Conditions,” occurred from April 2019 to August 2019. This phase focused on assessing current conditions and policies in the City to gain an understanding of key issues and opportunities, community assets, and future trends. A series of Existing Conditions Technical Background Reports were prepared.
The second phase, “Listening and Visioning,” gathered input from the community from August 2019 to December 2019, through stakeholders’ interviews and focus groups, community forums, a public workshop, committee meetings, and online interactive surveys, which informed the development of a long-term vision and guiding principles for the General Plan.
For the third phase, “Policy Development and Plan Alternatives,” the General Plan Advisory Committee held topic-specific meetings beginning in December 2019 and provided high-level direction on goals and policies for elements of the General Plan. This phase also involved a series of community meetings from January 2021 to May 2021 to evaluate three land use map alternatives. Community input on the alternatives helped to produce a new preferred land use map, which depicts the future intended use of every parcel in the City and was endorsed by City Council on May 25, 2021.
For the fourth phase, “Plan Development,” the new General Plan language was drafted to reflect the information obtained from the community throughout the process. Additionally, dozens of meetings between City departments, outside agencies, and the consultant team were also held to refine the draft. This phase also involved the preparation of the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR).
The General Plan update process has reached an important milestone with the release of the Draft General Plan for public review and is now in the fifth and final phase, “Review and Adopt.” The review phase will allow for the public to comment Overview of Draft General Plan
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6 on the Draft. This phase will also include release of the DEIR for public review, community workshops to solicit feedback, City Council and Planning Commission study sessions, and public hearings. The final product will be the Final General Plan and Final EIR.
Draft General Plan 2045
The Draft General Plan 2045 is available for public review on the project website at www.toaks2045.org. Notification of the Draft General Plan’s release and initial opportunities for engagement were posted on the project website, shared via social media (Twitter and Instagram) and through the City’s CityScene and Economic Development Newsletters, and a half-page ad was printed in The Acorn newspaper. A copy of the Draft General Plan document is available to review at the City Hall public counter and both City libraries. A Spanish translation of the document is currently underway and will be shared on the project website soon.
The Draft General Plan 2045 consists of 14 chapters. Each chapter begins with a brief overview of the contents, followed by a summary of the State requirements.
Some chapters provide background information, often by summarizing existing conditions in the City at the time that the General Plan was developed, followed by a list of key issues and opportunities. Each chapter concludes with goals and policies that direct action by the City to implement the vision and follow the guiding principles of the City. A summary of the Draft General Plan contents is provided below:
•Chapter 1: Introduction – This chapter outlines the regulatory requirements of the General Plan, provides background information about Thousand Oaks, describes the organization of the General Plan, and provides information on how to use the General Plan.
•Chapter 2: Process – This chapter describes the process that led to the development of the Draft General Plan, including the five major phases of the update process, and a summary of the community outreach and engagement activities.
•Chapter 3: Vision and Guiding Principles – This chapter describes the driving factors and recurring themes within the General Plan, including the vision statement, community values and major strategies to achieve the vision.
•Chapter 4: Land Use – This element designates the general distribution, location, and extent of residential, commercial, industrial, public facility, and other public or private land uses. It creates citywide policies around the topics of neighborhood preservation, employment areas, commercial and Overview of Draft General Plan
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6 retail areas, and sustainable buildings. This element also addresses State requirements for environmental justice, including the identification of disadvantaged communities and policies designed to address these issues. •Chapter 5: Mobility – This element meets the State requirements for the Circulation Element, is closely correlated to the Land Use Element, and describes the citywide multi-modal transportation system, including the functional roadway classification system, and pedestrian, bicycle, and public transit networks.
•Chapter 6: Parks and Open Space – This element provides an overview of the City’s open space, parks, and recreation systems. It addresses facilities, partnerships, management, and maintenance and plans for how to preserve, enhance, and expand Thousand Oaks’ natural open spaces. •Chapter 7: Conservation – This element addresses the preservation and conservation of natural resources, including scenic landforms, geology and paleontology, water resources, biological resources, air quality, cultural and historic resources, and climate change and resilience.
•Chapter 8: Community Facilities and Services – This element describes the condition, accessibility, and level of service of the City’s facilities and services, including water supply and distribution system, solid waste disposal, and other public, civic, and service facilities, including libraries, schools, public safety, city hall, the civic center and health care facilities.
This element also covers some topics required in other elements including infrastructure (Mobility) and water conservation (Conservation). •Chapter 9: Arts and Culture – This element addresses the City’s arts and culture system and includes goals and policies to support and enhance the vibrant cultural environment and creative economy of the City. •Chapter 10: Safety – This element establishes policies to protect the community from risks associated with natural and man-made hazards, including seismic hazards, landslides, soil hazards, flooding, urban and wildfires, terrorism, disease, and building resilience against climate change risks.
•Chapter 11: Noise – This element identifies current and potential future sources of noise and provides goals and strategies necessary to protect the community from excessive noise levels.
•Chapter 12: Governance – This element outlines how the City government functions and is organized. It also describes the goals and commitments Overview of Draft General Plan
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6 related to fiscal sustainability, transparency and accountability, equity, and community engagement.
•Chapter 13: Implementation – This chapter is the workplan of actions that the City must undertake to execute the goals and policies within the General Plan. These actions are included in a matrix and are organized by chapter, specifying the description of the action, timing, and parties responsible for carrying out the implementation.
•Chapter 14: Glossary – This chapter includes definitions of terms used in the General Plan.
•Housing Element – The City’s Housing Element was adopted on January 25, 2022, and was prepared separately due to State requirements. The Housing Element has been submitted to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for certification. Additional revisions are necessary to secure HCD certification. The Housing Element is currently being reviewed by HCD and will be re-adopted with the rest of the General Plan.
•Appendix A: Public Health and Equity – This appendix includes background data and information related to environmental justice, as required by Senate Bill (SB) 1000.
•Appendix B: Emergency Evacuation Analysis – This appendix provides a broad planning level assessment of the capacity of the City’s transportation system during a citywide evacuation event, as required by SB 99 and Assembly Bill 747.
Community Outreach and Participation
Gathering public and community input was of paramount importance to the City during the development of the Draft General Plan. Engagement was intentionally inclusive of the diversity of persons and groups that make up the City’s population, including but not limited to its longtime residents, new residents, seniors, youth, neighborhood groups, and businesses. A variety of engagement activities were conducted including General Plan Advisory Committee meetings, community workshops, online surveys, interactive mapping exercises, stakeholder interviews and focus groups. Additionally, whenever possible, meetings included live Spanish translation and materials were provided in both English and Spanish. A detailed list of the community outreach, engagement activities, and summary notes of the engagement activities is provided in the Engagement Summary and Reference Materials document (Attachment #2).
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6 Since the release of the Draft General Plan, informational tables were provided at the June 23 Pop-up Arts and Music Festival at the Thousand Oaks Community Park and at Conejo Valley Days on June 24. The General Plan Advisory Committee held a meeting at City Hall on June 28 and a Public Workshop was held on June 29 at Los Robles Greens. Additional engagement opportunities will be listed on the project website through mid-September, as well as conducting additional outreach to capture the Spanish-speaking community within the City.
Next Steps
The Draft General Plan will be available for public review and comment through mid-September. All comments must be submitted through the online comment form on the project website at www.toaks2045.org/draft-general-plan. Each comment must be submitted separately by general comment, chapter, goal, and/or policy, etc., and the form may be completed as many times as needed.
An Administrative DEIR has been prepared and will be forthcoming for the required 45-day public review period in early August. Additional engagement opportunities will be provided during that time, specific to the EIR. The public comment period for the General Plan and EIR is anticipated to close in mid-September. Public hearings to consider the adoption of the General Plan are scheduled to start in mid-November.
COUNCIL GOAL COMPLIANCE:
Meets the following City Council goals:
A. Create a more equitable, accessible, safe, welcoming, and inclusive government and community regardless of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, physical or mental ability, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, language, education, and/or socio-economic status.
B. Provide municipal government leadership which is open and responsive to residents, and is characterized by ethical behavior, stability, promoting public trust, transparency, confidence in the future, and cooperative interaction among civic leaders, residents, business representatives, and staff, while recognizing and respecting legitimate differences of opinion on critical issues facing the City.
C. Operate City government in a fiscally and managerially responsible and prudent manner to ensure that the City of Thousand Oaks remains one of California's most desirable places to live, work, visit, recreate, and raise a family.
D. Maintain strong commitment to public safety (including Police, Fire, Emergency Medical Services, and Emergency Management) to ensure City remains one of the Overview of Draft General Plan
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6 safest Cities in the United States with a population over 100,000.
E. Complete ring of open space around the City; Protect and preserve ridgelines, natural habitat, and designated open space areas.
G. Continue the City’s commitment to community and cultural programs and services (such as Performing Arts/Theatres, Libraries, TOTV, Visual Arts, Youth and Senior Programs).
H. Participate in public-private and multi-jurisdictional opportunities to ensure residents have access to high levels of parks, recreation, education and leisure programs and services.
I. Maintain a strong local employment base geared toward retaining high quality businesses; Sustain a healthy business community; and, Diversify the local economy, with a specific emphasis on small businesses and high technology/biomedical jobs.
PREPARED BY: Krystin Rice, Interim Planning Division Manager Iain Holt, AICP, Senior Planner
Attachments:
Attachment #1 – Draft General Plan 2045
Attachment #2 – Engagement Summary and Reference Material CDD: 420-20\kr\H:\COMMON\City Council\CC Agenda Items\2023\07112023\Draft GP Overview