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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/22/1994, 4 & 5 - 1993-1994 GENERAL PLAN ANNUAL REPORT & INVITATION FOR BIDS LANDSCAPING MAINTENANCE SERVICES 11-wAZ*f ^y� p�III Iy� MEETING DATE �/ : Q���11�71���IIIIIIIIII�= Il city of Sal ! Luis OB�SPO ITEM NUMBER: COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT From: Arnold Jonas, Community Development Director �• Prepared By:John Mandeville, Long-Range Planning Manager Subject: 1993-1994 General Plan Annual Report CAO RECONIiVIENDATION: 1) Review the general plan annual report; 2) Direct staff to submit a copy of the annual report to the State Office of Planning and Research and Department of Housing and Community Development; 3) Direct staff to initiate any General Plan amendments the Council deems necessary and appropriate. REPORT-IN-BRIEF State law requires cities and counties to prepare annual reports on their general plans. These annual reports can respond to the minimum described in the law, or be used as a tool to monitor the general plan and update it as needed to keep it current with the needs and desires of the community. Incremental amendments to the general plan, initiated by the City to keep the plan current, may reduce the frequency or scope of future comprehensive element updates. This annual report discusses the State requirements, recent activity in the City which may signal the need for the City to proactively amend the general plan, and progress being made to implement the general plan. No pattern of applicant initiated amendments or difficulties in interpretation were apparent during the last twelve months that prompt staff to recommend a city initiated amendment. This may be due to the number of elements currently being comprehensively updated. Once the current group of updates are completed, the annual report will become more important in keeping the elements up-to-date between revisions. DISCUSSION General Plan Annual Reoort Legal Requirements The State Government Code requires every city or county responsible for maintaining a general plan to prepare and submit to their legislative bodies an annual report on the status of their plans, including progress being made to implement them (GC 65400(b)). These annual reports must also be submitted to the State Office of Planning and Research. Although there are no penalities for not preparing general plan annual reports, they can serve a a good tool for reviewing incremental changes to the general plan. This review can facilitate proactive revisions initiated by the City to maintain the general plan as a current and clear statement of the City's vision and development policy. The annual report is specifically required to address progress being made on meeting the City's share of regionar housing needs and local efforts to remove governmental restraints to the maintenance, improvements, and development of housing. A subsequent section of the Government Code, Section 65588.5, addressing housing element law, requires the City to�+/ submit a copy of the annual report to the State Department of Housing and Community Development within 30 days after receipt by the legislative body. State law requires each city and county to adopt a general plan including at least seven mandatory topic elements. A city or county may combine elements or include additional elements as appropriate and desired. All general plan elements must be internally consistent with all other elements. State law requires the housing element to be updated according to a schedule contained in the Government.Code. Other elements are to be updated as necessary to keep them relevant. Status of General Plan Elements The City's General Plan currently consists of 12 individual elements. A list of these elements and the date of their adoption (or most recent revision) is provided in Attachment 1. The City's adopted General Plan addresses all of the State mandated topics. A matrix comparing the State required topics and the City's General Plan elements that address the required topics is provided as Attachment 2. The City's General Plan elements are internally consistent. At the time each element is updated or amended, it is evaluated for consistency with the other elements. Each time an update or amendment is adopted, a finding is made that the General Plan as a whole remains internally consistent. Certain elements are required to conform to requirements set forth in State law. The Housing Element update, adopted in September 1994, must conform to many statutory requirements. The adopted Housing Element update has been sent to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), which will determine if it complies with the requirements of State law. General Plan Amendments During 12 Month Period Between 10/93 & 10/94 Seven elements were in the process of being comprehensively updated in the 12 month period between October 1993 to October 1994. The update of three elements, Open Space, Land Use, and Housing, was completed in that time. The update of the other four elements, Circulation, Scenic Highways, Parks and Recreation, and Water & Wastewater Management, is expected to be completed in the next 12 months. Several other less comprehensive General Plan amendments were processed during the last 12 months. Attachment 1 shows which elements are currently being updated. Table 1 lists the general plan amendments and updates acted on during the last twelve months. State law allows each element of the general plan to be amended up to four times in one calendar year. During the last 12 months, the Land Use Element was amended three times and the Housing Element and Open Space Element were each amended once. No additional amendments are scheduled to be adopted this calendar year that would exceed the four amendment limit for any of the City's General Plan elements. 2 6U TABLE 1 - GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT SUMMARY (10/93-94) General Plan Amendment Action Land Use Element. Emmerson School Site - Change Action deferred 11/17/93 land use from Public Facility to Medium High Density Residential. Land Use Element Soda Works - Change land use Adopted 12/7/93 from Medium High Residential to Retail Commercial. Land Use Element French Hospital - Change land Adopted 12/7/93 use from Medium Density Residential to Office. Open Space Element update. Adopted 1/18/94 Land Use Element T.K Business Park - Change Denied 3/1/94 land use from Rural Industrial to Service Commercial/Light Industrial. Land Use Element update. Adopted 8/23/94 Housing Element update. Adopted 9/20/94 Indications That Additional Amendments are Necessary to Keep General Plan Current Approval of several general plan amendments to accommodate similar development proposals may be an indicator that a more comprehensive amendment is appropriate, especially if a pattern or issue is common among the individual amendment requests. In addition, difficulty in interpreting general plan text or applying the goals and policies consistently may be another sign that an amendment is necessary to maintain the document as a clear, consise and current statement of City development policy. The past twelve months saw no consistent interpretation difficulties regarding general plan goals, policies, or programs. Two Land Use Map amendments were approved during the last 12 months. They were similar in that both involved a change from a residential land use designation to the Retail Commercial or Office designations. The amendments were requested to allow for an expansion of existing adjacent uses. The area involved totaled about 2.6 acres. Capacity for about 19 housing units was replaced by changing the allowable land uses. This represents .1% of the City's existing housing stock. The two Land Use Map amendments could be interpreted as an indication that the need for additional non-residential land is increasing and that residential capacity is slightly decreasing. The Land Use Element update provides capacity for additional residential and non-reisdential uses. Attachment 3 describes the development capacity provided for by the Land Use Element update. It provides capacity for about 5,100 more housing units than currently exist, about a 27% increase. The 1994 Land Use Element will now become the baseline for evaluating future Land Use Map changes and their cumulative effects for the purposes of the general plan annual report. 3 6-3 As previously noted, seven general plans elements were in the process of being updated in the last twelve months. The updates involve a comprehensive revision of the elements, intended to address changes that have occurred since the elements were adopted. The group of updates in progress during the last twelve months reduces the need for individual amendments to those elements to keep them current. Once the current group of amendments are completed, the general plan annual reports will become more important in keeping the elements current between updates. By annually monitoring and amending the general plan to keep it current, the City may be able to reduce the frequency or scope of the comprehensive updates. Progress Made in Imnlementina the General Plan In a broad sense, each approval of a development project that is consistent with the general plan is an act of implementation. In addition to individual development projects, many City departments are responsible for implementing General Plan policies and programs on a day to day basis. The City has implemented many general plan programs during the last twelve months. Some programs are on-going, others are one-time projects. Attachment 4 lists many of the implementation activities City staff worked on in the last twelve months. On- going implementation activities are identified where applicable. Progress Made on Meeting the Agency's Share of Regional Housing Needs Residential permit activity in 1994 continues to reflect California's sluggish economic recovery. Consequently, progress toward meeting regional housing needs has been slow. In the City of San Luis Obispo, from October 1993 through September 1994, construction permits for 50 new dwellings were issued, representing a housing stock increase of about two- tenths of one percent in 1994. By contrast, the City's General Plan and housing policies call for an annual residential growth rate during the 1990s of about one percent, or 180 dwellings/year. Between January 1991 and July 1994, the City's housing stock grew by 161 dwelling units. From July 1994 through June 1999, general plan policies will allow the construction of about 925 dwelling units, plus an estimated 136 dwelling units of replacement housing, plus an estimated 200 units qualifying as affordable housing. This will total about 1,420 new dwellings during the 8 1/2 year period covered by the current Regional Housing Needs Allocation Plan (RHNA) -- about 3,700 fewer dwellings than the regional housing need assessment of 5,128 allocated to the City. This housing growth projection is based on the following assumptions: limited growth projection which reflects the General Plan policy target of one percent annual average population growth, a vacancy rate of five percent, and an average household size of 2.429 persons. It also assumes that housing production will be constrained during the period due to limited water resources, but that market forces will result in 'the construction of as many housing units as possible with resources available. 4 6-� Local Efforts to Remove Governmental Constraints to the Maintenance Improvement and Development of Housing The City's Housing Element was updated to include additional programs to remove governmental constraints to the maintenance and production of new housing. Attachment 5 lists these programs. The strategy to remove constraints combines requirements and incentives to increase production of both affordable and market-rate housing in the next five years. Now that the Housing Element update has been adopted, the City will begin to implement many new programs designed to promote housing. For example, for the first time, a portion of new residential projects must be affordable to very low- and low-income households. Most new commercial development, since it contributes to housing demand, would be required to include affordable housing or pay an in-lieu fee toward the development of affordable housing citywide. The Housing Element update is designed to assist the City fulfill a larger role_in promoting affordable housing. San Luis Obispo became part of an "Urban County" in 1994, and will now be eligible to receive Community Development Block Grant funds annually for assisting the development of affordable housing for very-low, low- and moderate income households, as well as other community development needs. In August 1994 San Luis Obispo was awarded a Community Development Block Grant of$857,500, of which about $470,000 is designated for housing programs. FISCAL IMPACTS No fiscal impacts associated with this annual report. Should the Council direct staff to initiate and process any amendments to the General Plan, a fiscal impact will result corresponding to the staff time and materials necessary to process the amendment. ATTACHMENTS: 1. List of City General Plan Elements 2. Comparison Matrix of State Requirements and City General Plan Elements 3. Additional Buildout Capacity Provided by the 1994 Land Use Element update 4. General Plan Implementation Activity During Last Twelve Months 5. Housing Programs to Remove Governmental Constraints to the Maintenance and Production of Housing c:\winword\gp_94rpt.doc/JM 5 r O-� ATTACHMENT 1 CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO GENERAL PLAN ELEMENTS AND DATE OF ADOPTION OR LAST MAJOR REVISION Title Adoption or Last Major Revision Date Land Use 1994 Housing 1994 Circulation* 1982 Open Space 1994 Conservation 1973 Parks and Recreation* 1982 Noise* 1975 Seismic Safety* 1975 Safety* 1978 Senic Highway*' 1983 Energy Consesrvation 1981 Water & Wastewater 1987 Management* * The City is updating its General Plan. Revisions to these elements are under consideration. t This element will be superseded by a new section in the Circulation Element update. 6� ATTACHMENT 2 X XX x !X X! W I � Ii ililllil I IX Z -L W J ml I i LU LU X1 I ix; c X; o CL! zz 0 uj 0 ui i t -j x Ix ui uj 0 Ix I LU 1.2 LU LU r 0, X Z uj LU LU x la, LU ui wlQ4, x LU X. I I l l l i l I I c z CC LLS Huj cc o ft> W LLJ .0 . �i M> LU -1 20. LU 1 1 -a I W 0 z03: 0111 ! C 91 01 a) ol CM! M =I CL U >; —i m =�U, D u JI Dim. Uw)! w ED: 0 a 21 = c 0 w .2 LA.-:5: 0! V) 1 0 0 a ED 4;: cc! u a; Ma Lo Uji 67 ATTACHMENT 3 COMPARISON OF DEVELOPMENT CAPACITIES San Luis Obispo Urban Reserve Area Land Use Tvpe Existing (1994) Adopted 1994 1\'et Development LUE Update Chance Residential (number of 19,200 24,300 +5,100 dwellines Retail Commercial (sq. ft. 2,730,000 5,191,000 +2,461,000 floor area Office (sq. ftfloor area) 2,210,000 3,644,000 +1,434,000 Services & Manufacturincr 2,700,000 5,068,000 +2,368,000 (sq. ft. floor area) . Motel Rooms (number) 11900 2.700 +800 LUE-COMP.TBL ATTACHMENT 4 93-94 General Plan Implementation Activity: Capital Improvement Program Resource Maps/Geographic Information System Community Development Block Grant Program Land Use Element - zoning consistency Margarita Area specific plan Open Space acquisition Adding properties to the inventory of historic resources Cultural Heritage Committee preparing archaeological resource protection guidelines Provided special assistance to affordable housing projects Laguna Lake Master Plan Assisted Parks and Recreation Department with update of Parks and Recreation Element Assisting Utilities Department with update Water Management Plan Worked with Airport Area property owners on plan for annexing the Airport Area Conducted environmental review for city projects Coordinated land use planning with the County Begin to develop non-general fund options to implement open space programs Work to preserve hillside areas (Rosemont/Ferrini project) Long-range planning coordination with regional planning agencies Water allocation retrofit program administration 6- g ATTACHMENT 5 1994 HOUSING ELEMENT PROGRAMS TO REATOVE CONS'T'RAINTS TO THE MAINTENANCE AND PRODUCTION OF HOUSING. • permit streamlining and exempting new housing which is affordable to very-low and low-income households from residential growth controls; • establishing a program that requires the construction of affordable housing or payment of in-lieu fees as a condition of most new development; • setting up a housing trust fund to provide first-time homebuyer assistance, housing rehabilitation assistance, and development incentives for affordable housing; • waiving or deferring certain fees for affordable housing projects; and by • planning for the annexation of land within San Luis Obispo's urban reserve to accommodate the needed housing as resources are available to serve new residents. MEETIN ATE: VCity Of Sail Luis OBispo COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT mmftuMe FROM: Michael D. McCluskey, Public Works Directori3yV1 PREPARED BY: David Elliott, Administrative Analyst Larry Tolson, Parks Maintenance S pe SUBJECT: Invitation for Bids to Furnish Landscape Maintenance Services CAO RECOMMENDATIONS: 1) Approve the "Invitation for Bids to Furnish Landscape Maintenance Services, Specification No. 95-21" 2) Authorize the City Administrative Officer to award the agreement if the lowest responsible, responsive bid is below the cost estimate of$174,000($6,000 per month or$72,000 per year over 29 months) DISCUSSION: The City currently contracts with a landscape maintenance service to maintain three types of landscape area within the City: 1) small landscape areas outside of major parks 2) street median islands and soundwalls and 3) parking lot landscape areas. Maintenance work includes litter control, walkway maintenance, manual irrigation, pest control, turf maintenance, groundcover maintenance, shrub and shrub bed maintenance, tree maintenance, miscellaneous weed control, and drinking fountain maintenance. The current agreement will expire on December 31, 1994. . Specification No. 95-21 calls for a 29 month agreement to run from February 1, 1995 to June 30, 1997. When the current agreement expires on December 31, the previous contractor will continue working at previous prices until a new agreement takes effect. The 29-month term will align the agreement with the City's two-year financial plan period and should allow accurate budgeting for these services. If service is satisfactory, the City may extend the term through June 30, 1999. Any compensation adjustment required throughout the agreement term will be based on percentage increases in the consumer price index. Specification No. 95-21 also adds landscape maintenance for the recently completed water reclamation facilities. FISCAL IMPACT: The contract cost estimate is $174,000 over the initial 29 month term of the agreement. This estimate is based on a $2,000 per month cost for the water reclamation facilities and a $4,000 per month cost for the remaining areas. For these landscape maintenance services the 1994/95 budget includes $2,100 per month in the water reclamation program budget and $3,700 per month in the parks and landscape maintenance budget. Depending on bids, minor budget adjustments may be required for the remainder of the 1994/95 budget. f. Bid documents are available for review in the Council office. GAWP5MMD5CP2