General Plan 2020 10-Year Report and Amendments
Our General Plan was adopted in 2004. Since then, the General Plan has been amended many times in response to changing circumstance and requirements that necessitated updates. These changes included the adoption of the Sustainability Element, update of Housing Elements for the 4th and 5th cycle RHNA, completion of Station Area Plans, loss of Redevelopment, as well as other actions taken through the course of implementing the General Plan.
In 2015, a 10-Year Status Report of the General Plan 2020 was prepared with input from members of a Working Group consisting of City staff from different departments. The General Plan 10-Year Status Report provides a summary of the progress made over the past decade to implement policy and program actions and recommended updates based on input received from the City’s department directors. The proposed program changes described in the Report have been used to prepare General Plan Amendments and Land Use Map edits, which are being brought back to Planning Commission for review and recommendation to City Council for adoption.
The 10-year status report was presented to the Planning Commission at their regular meeting on Tuesday, June 9, 2015 and was presented to the City Council on July 20, 2015. The status report has been made available, through the link below, in advance of the meetings to allow adequate time for public review. No formal action was necessary or required to be taken by the Commission or Council, aside from their acceptance of the report, which occurred at the conclusion of each meeting. If you were unable to attend either the City Council meeting or the Planning Commission meeting, you can watch them online.
Current Status:
The Community Development Department staff have completed preparing draft amendments to the San Rafael General Plan 2020, consistent with the direction given in the 10 Year Status Report (GPA15-001). These amendments were presented to the Planning Commission on August 23, 2016 for recommendation to the City Council. An EIR Addendum was also prepared to serve as the environmental clearance document required to be prepared for the project, consistent with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act.
The Planning Commission reviewed the amendments and recommended approval of the EIR Addendum and recommended adoption of the General Plan amendments to the City Council. Their recommendation for adoption included one change to the list of text amendments, specifically to have both Parking Services and Community Department listed as the responsible department for implmentation of Housing Policy H-15b.
The Planning Commission agenda, staff report, exhibits and video from the meeting are available online.
The City Council will hold a public hearing on December 5, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. to consider General Plan amendments, including the EIR addendum. The City Council agenda, staff report and exhibits will be available online by Thursday December 1st or at City Hall, Planning Division, Third Floor. The proposed General Plan amendments to the text and land use map, as well as the EIR addendum No. 4 can be accessed by the links below. If you have any questions regarding the General Plan amendments, feel free to email or call Planning Manager Raffi Boloyan at (415) 485-3095.
Key documents:
San Rafael General Plan 10-Year Status Report (Public Review Draft, May 2015)
EIR addendum for General Plan 2020 amendments based off the 10-Year Review (Public Review Draft, July 8, 2016)