HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/05/2007, SS 2 - PRESENTATION BY SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS (SLOCOG) STAFF REGARDING THE COMMUNITY 2050 i
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CITY O F SAN LUIS O B I S P O
FROM: John Mandeville, Director of Community Development
Prepared By: Kim Murry, Deputy Director, Long Range Planning.
SUBJECT: PRESENTATION BY SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNCIL OF
GOVERNMENTS (SLOCOG) STAFF REGARDING THE
COMMUNITY 2050 GROWTH STUDY—CALIFORNIA REGIONAL
BLUEPRINT PLANNING PROGRAM VISIONING EFFORT
CAO RECOMMENDATION
Receive the information and direct staff to coordinate with SLOCOG as they prepare the
Community 2050 Regional Plan and during the anticipated Land Use Element update visioning
process slated to begin in 2009.
DISCUSSION
The San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) received a state grant to develop a
regional plan to address long term growth in San Luis Obispo County. The state grant was
envisioned to build collaboration on a regional level by involving the communities, critical
stakeholders, business interests, academia, builders and environmental advocates in developing
consensus on a vision and preferred land use pattern. This effort is being replicated in other .
Metropolitan Planning Organizations all over the state and is known as the Regional Blueprint
Planning.
The SLOCOG effort is called the Community 2050 Program and its focus is to provide a forum
and framework for the coordination of local planning efforts with regional and state goals and
objectives to integrate transportation, housing, land use, environmental resources, and other
infrastructure and resources. A key objective is to be able to have sufficient housing supply
developed to accommodate natural population increases and workforce needs (up to 65,000
housing units and 56,000 jobs by 2050) for the full spectrum of the population, and to provide
consumers more housing and transportation choices. The following bullet points summarize the
results of the visioning exercises and the goals of the consensus documents that are the targeted
outputs of this process:
• Optimize infill/refill and identify priority areas for transit oriented development.
• Minimize impacts on productive farmland and valuable habitat.
• Provide a foundation for improved mobility, reduced single-occupant vehicle trips
(including encouraging more walking and bicycling) and improved air quality
• Reduce sprawl and promote efficient land use in new edge development
• Promote resource use efficiency (energy, water, and materials conservation)
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SLOCOG Presentation—Community 2050 Page 2
• Work with member agencies to identify specific geographic areas within the region that
are priorities for increasing the amount and rate of needed housing development and jobs
As a means of providing analytical data to inform the planning process, SLOCOG is using
regional forecasting and analysis tools in the form of scenario models. In order to develop the
data for purposes of modeling growth scenarios, SLOCOG staff obtained each jurisdiction's
general plan, as well as environmental resource maps from a variety of sources that show
sensitive development areas. This information was fed into modeling programs to forecast
where regional growth will occur under different scenarios. One of the expected products of this
planning process is a consensus by regional leaders, local governments and stakeholders on a
preferred growth scenario or "blueprint" for future growth in the County. Steve Devencenzi,
SLOCOG staff, will present the modeling process and information regarding the status of the
proj ect.
SLOCOG is looking for the City's input and concurrence that the principles guiding the regional
model being developed reflect the vision and principles of the City. Primarily, the ten Smart
Growth principles are being used as a basis from which to grow the regional vision. These
principles are:
Create a Range of Housing Opportunities and Choices �k
Create Walkable Neighborhoods
Encourage Community and Stakeholder Collaboration
Foster Distinctive, Attractive Communities with a Strong Sense of Place
Make Development Decisions Predictable, Fair and Cost Effective
Mix Land Uses
Preserve Open Space, Farmland, Natural Beauty and Critical Environmental Areas
Provide a Variety of Transportation Choices
Strengthen and Direct Development Towards Existing Communities �k
Take Advantage of Compact Building Design
Because participants in the Community 2050 planning process are being asked to look beyond
the borders of their own communities, suggestions for how the City of San Luis Obispo should
grow will come from people who do not live in this City. This input may differ from the vision
expressed by City residents in the adopted City General Plan.
Most of the Smart Growth principles being referenced are ones that the City has endorsed
through its General Plan. The development of these principles into a regional vision will be
challenging and a process where the Council's input and concurrence will be a reiteration of the
vision of the community that has been expressed through the adopted General Plan.
The process of modeling and evaluating potential growth patterns under the current rules in place
has great value. SLOCOG's development of a regional plan and conclusion of what will be
required of the cities in the region in response to this information and how funding may be tied
to this conclusion is where careful consideration of SLOCOG efforts and the City's adopted
General Plan will need to occur. Two areas of potential differences (starred above *) between
the principles guiding development of a regional vision and the vision that was developed by the
City's citizens relate to the goals of creating housing opportunities and directing development
towards existing communities. In considering housing opportunities, the input that SLOCOG
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SLOCOG Presentation-Community 2050 Page 3
has received to date is that the City of San Luis Obispo should accommodate substantially more
housing that what is envisioned in the Housing Element or Land Use Element of the General
Plan. With respect to directing growth toward existing communities, there is a concern that
implementation of this principle will result in County zoning that directs additional development
to the City's edges. Staff's goal in working with SLOCOG will be to ensure the local vision is
incorporated within the regional plan without creating consistency issues.
CONCURRENCES
Public Works has reviewed the SLOCOG traffic model and growth assumptions and does not
have major concerns with the accuracy of the model.
FISCAL IMPACT
Grant funding may be influenced in the future by a City's compliance with the Community 2050:
Regional Vision Plan. There may be differences between local plans and the regional plan
which may create problems as grant funding becomes dependent on conformity with the regional
plan. Therefore, participation and collaboration in this process is essential.
ATTACHMENT
SLOCOG Newsletter, February 2007
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Attachment 1
S A N L u is O B is P 0 REG 10 14
NUMMUM20501
PROGRESSUPDATE A BLUEPRINT FOR TOMORROWS GROWTH
oft *61 to
Recent Events: Community 2050 Earns State Grant Support
Sept 2006 At the recent Blueprint Learning Network Workshop in Anaheim, Community 2050 was
Blueprint Learning awarded $325,000 to continue its study of growth for the San Luis Obispo Region as part
Network-Oakland of the Califomia Regional Blueprint Planning Program -for more information, see p. 4. This
Natural Resource grant will allow Community 2050 to continue to develop regional forecasting and analysis
Manager's Workshop tools. Such tools can support local efforts including general plan and specific plan updates,
redevelopment plans, capital improvement programs, traffic studies, environmental impact
analyses, and public involvement efforts.
Nov 2006
Blueprint learning Impacts of Regional Buildout
Network -Anaheim - '
Calculated by Urban Growth
Model
Dec 2006 nM i
Focus Group Meetings
with each of the Community 2050 is utilizing a growth mod-
Seven Cities& the el known as UPLAN.This model comes from
County for the the Information Center for the Environment
Growth Model at UC Davis and was developed as a tool - - - - - -
to improve the capacity for greater analysis Natural Resource Manager's Workshop in September 2006.
of resources and development constraints
in urban planning. With UPLAN, a range of programmed with local data and input.
environmental resources can be considered Using each of the local general plans as
Upcoming alongside other constraints such as infra- the foundation, the model also incorporates
Events: structure capacities to predict what the future resource information such as the location
may look like. Through UPLAN,we can find of important farmland, oak woodlands and
February 22 out where development would be helpful and other critical environmental resources.This
Promoting Public where it would be harmful to the public data was refined with input from natural
Health Through interest.As we all understand, environmental resource managers as well as local
Community Design resource areas are often highly localized planning staff members at one day-long
Forum and can often be accommodated early in the workshop and a series of focus group
planning process. Postponing consideration meetings.
Spring 2007 of these sensitive resources until late in the Once complete, the model will
Community-Wide development process, on the other hand, reveal to all of us-community members,
Workshops leads to increased conflicts, higher costs and government officials, and other
Base-Case and poor environmental results. stakeholders- how some of our natural
Alternative Future In order to model growth for the San Luis resource, financial, and other finite
Scenarios Obispo Region, UPLAN has been resources will be impacted.
Presentations
1970 2000 2030 1 NUM.INCREASE PCTANCREASE
CENSUS CENSUS FORECAST~ �—
70-'00 00=30 70-00 '00-'30
PEOPLE 105,690 246,681 335,470 140,991 88,789 133% 36%
HOMES 37,612 102,275 136,370 64,663 34,095 172% 33%
OBS 30,213 96,754 157,800 66,541 61,046 220% 63%
Sources: 1970&2000 U.S. Census,:ERA Reporl SLOCOG
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Attachment 1
Excellent Feedback from included information about wet- information. They were asked ques-
Natural Resource Managers lands, oak woodlands, conservation tions regarding issues such as the
easements and other protected quality of the data and the sensitivity
One of the driving forces of lands, flood zones and rare plant of various resources to the impacts
Community 2050 is to take a and animal species areas. Once of development. These questions
proactive approach to environmen- collected, the datasets were over- provoked discussion and debate
tal planning in the San Luis Obispo laid and examined to see the com- amongst those present. In addi-
Region. In a sense, it is an effort to posite mosaic of resource areas. tion, the participants identified areas
give the"green infrastructure"of In an attempt to refine this where information is lacking or needs
agricultural lands and open spaces process, Community 2050 hosted to be improved. In the end, all com-
the same level of attention and a day-long workshop for natural ments were carefully documented
concern as the"gray infrastructure" resource managers and technical and organized into a to-do list for the
of roads, sewers, and utilities.The stakeholders to review and com- Community 2050 Working Group to
term "green infrastructure" has ment on this collection of datas- take action on.
become more widely used because ets used in UPLAN. Participants This collaborative exercise pro-
it carries the implicit message that included representatives from the duces more benefits than improved
these open spaces are necessi- U.S. Bureau of Land Management, mapping of resources. It provides
ties that play important functional County Agricultural Commissioner, the San Luis Obispo Region with a
roles (e.g. filtration of water, wildlife Morro Bay National Estuary cooperative basis for establishing
habitat, production of food, etc.)and Program,Air Pollution Control regional priorities for protection and
thus are deserving of serious public District, Homebuilder's Association, developing green infrastructure pro-
planning and investment. CA State Parks, U.S. Fish &Wild- tection plans with performance goals
The green infrastructure of the life, ECOSLO, Caltrans, U.S. Forest and measures. Ultimately though, our
San Luis Obispo Region is being Service, and the Association of ability to protect our natural resource
catalogued through computerized Environmental Professionals. communities depends on our ability
mapping. Sources such as the Cali- County and local planning offices to create liveable and healthy com-
fornia Department of Conservation, were also represented. Through a munities for people.
Division of Land Resource Protec- series of presentations, the
tion were consulted for the most resource managers and stake-
recent data on important farmland holders were asked to apply their
designations. Other data compiled knowledge of natural resources
Overview of Natural Resource Managers' Workshop gr
Purpose of the Workshop `
•Review/refine conservation targets
•Identify populations/occurances of targets '
•Gather information on viability/integrity of target occurances
•Gather opinions on conservation goals for targets '�. 'k'4'
•Identify data gaps and inventory needs for targets and conservation areas .
Examples of Workshop Participants Products From Workshop
•Federa'Agancy Staff&Managers •Refined conservation targets list - -
•State Agency Staff&r0ar.agers •Preliminary conservation areas
•Academic Ecologists •List of data gaps for the region
•P annirg&Env. Cons0arts
•E-v &Co^servato^ Organizations
Workshop Follow Up
GIS staff incorporated improved information from all the data gathered at the z �r
workshop for further analysis �I
Check back soon for our updated website at 1vwiitcofmrnunity2O5O.org
Attachment 1
� CoDlmDn�� 7��� ��8��� �l�
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� With Local Partners provided many helpful suggestions
� onhow tobetter incorporate cur-
In aneMbrttosolicitinputfrum rent and future planning and devel-
| |ooa}partnems. theComnnunib/2O5O oponenttrends into the model such
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working group arranged two group aeincorporating the population
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sessions~one with the North County capacity ofland use elements and
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and one with the South County. improving distracters togrowth
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Community Development staff from suchauairport safety zones. growthmodel. Comments from '
the Paso Robles,Ataaomdero. San Inaseparate session,the this group included refining the �
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Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, Pismo Community 2O5OWorking Group C/\Natural Diversity Database �
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Beach, Grover Beach & SL«] County met with afocus group of data for our region and improving |
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met torefine the parameters used in Resource Managers boreceive the application ofstream data to )
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our preliminary trials ofthe regional feedback and refine our regional include stream bank area. |
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Blueprint Learning Regional Blueprint Planning. For BLN
Network Hosts more information on the Blueprint
Statewide Workshops Learning Network, visit the Califor_
nia Center for Regional Leadership
(CCRL)website at:
The CA Business,Transportation www.calregions.org
and Housing Agency, Caltrans and
the CA Center for Regional September 13, 2006 Oakland - November 29 & 30 Anaheim -
Leadership joined to host three Transportation & Land Use Plan- Air, Water, Land and Regional
statewide workshops.These work- ning Blueprint Planning
shops brought together partners from
across the state to discuss regional - Panelists from CA Center for Panelists from CA Resources
priorities, strategies for improving Regional Leadership (CCRL), UC Agency,Air Resources Board, US
regional analysis, and maintaining Davis, San Diego Association of EPA, Federal Highway Administra-
a comprehensive perspective of the Governments, Sacramento Area tion,American Farmland Trust,
issues. Many state agencies and a Council of Governments, Southern The Nature Conservancy, CA
diverse array of stakeholder groups California Association of Govern- Dept of Conservation, CA Dept of
were well represented and shared ments, and the Sierra Club Agriculture, CA Dept of Water Re-
their interest in and support for sources, State Water Resources
Control Board
Interestinc, Websites: UPCOMING COMMUNITY 2050 :K'
America 2060 ARM EVENT
!i A look at America's 10 emerging Megaregions
February 22:
Promoting Public Health
i: American Farmland Trust
KN
Through Community Design
lit www.farmiand.org/programs/states/futureisnow/rancheftes.asp
Featuring Keynote Speaker: Dr. Richard
i An analysis of ranchettes;and other rural development
Jackson,M.D.
1:30-4:30 pm
Local Government Commission
French Hospital Auditorium
KN
Latest info on energy issues, green building &smart growth 1911 Johnson Ave, SLO
Attachment 1
Planning for a Region become what is known as Regional Scenario planning.utilizes.com-
Through Regional Blueprint Planning. Regional Blue- prehensive computer-modelsto'. ^ -
print Planning efforts are taking examine alternative scenarios for
Blueprint Planning place all across the state from San the future.This brings an unprec-
Diego to Shasta County and are edented ability to view and analyze
In 2005, Governor Schwarzeneg- attempting to better address trans- the effects of our decisions. For
ger made$5 million available to portation, land use, and environmen- example,through scenario plan-
Metropolitan Planning Organiza- tal planning from a broad regional ning, we can look at how alterna-
tions, such as the San Luis Obispo scale. tive growth patterns will impact our
Council of Governments, to build One of the unique aspects of roadways, open spaces, and other
the capacity for regional collab- Regional Blueprint Planning is the performance measures.
orative planning. This effort would incorporation of scenario planning.
Scenario Planning Steps
• Research the driving forces: different strategies in different The devised scenarios are mea-
Define the major sources of change future environments. What are the cured against each other by
that impact the future. Some are community's priorities and what comparing indicators that measure.
relatively predictable (i.e.trends in trade-offs is the community willing progress toward community defined
local land use consumption),some to make? priorities.
are less predictable(i.e.the world • Analyze the implications: • Monitor indicators:
economy). Specialized computer software As the future unfolds,reality needs j
• Determine patterns of interaction: visually represents the interaction to be assessed and compared to
Consider how the driving forces among the driving forces in each the preferred growth scenarios.
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could combine to determine future scenario illustrating the financial, New scenarios must be developed
conditions. social, and environmental and new decisions or policies need
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• Create scenarios: consequences of potential actions. to be mode to address changing
Think through the implications of • Evaluate Scenarios: conditions.
S AN Luis O B I s v o REGION
® W5_0
A BLUEPRINT FOR TOMORROW'S GROWTH
Is
I ISO Osos St,Ste 202
San Luis Obispo,to 93401
(805)781-4219
To receive project updates
and to participate in the
process please contact:
Steve Devencenzi
sdevencenzi@slocog.org
or
Richard Rojas
rrojas@slocog.org
Community 2050 is a partnership between:
AIR POLLUTION San Luis Obispo / # .
CONTROL DISTRICT Local Agency
CWNiT(Y HN:U6001W1 b'• a.I.al n<)I.i n la.. i,p,GlWddM ,.
Formation Commission
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