On Monday, July 16th, City Council will receive an overview of the initial steps of the City’s 2021 General Plan Update from the Community Development Department covering state legislative mandates, background data collection, and the identification of opportunities and constraints.
The general plan is the city’s comprehensive development framework guiding policies on land use, housing, roads, recreation, historical and natural resources, balance of adequate water supply infrastructure, safety and noise and serves as a basis for decisions that affect all aspects of our everyday lives from where we live and work to how we move about. It is implemented by decisions that direct the allocation of public resources and that shape private development. In short, the general plan is the embodiment of the community’s vision for the future of Ventura. Iain Holt, Principal Planner, will be managing the General Plan Update which was last revised in 2005.
Under California State Planning Law, each city and county in the state is required to update their general plan every 10 years which consists of an interrelated public process of informing the community, development of the plan and environmental review. It must address both existing conditions of the community and State legal requirements associated with general plan preparation.
As part of the initial stages of the civic engagement process, staff would solicit input on the current community vision and General Plan format which will either reaffirm or further develop the Community Vision, Goals, Policies and Actions for the next 20 years and lay out how the city may meet its growth demand and future needs sustainably with adequate water supply and infrastructure while responding to state mandates regarding housing, Climate Action Planning and Environmental Justice as well as our rapidly changing local market for housing and jobs. An interested parties list is being established by city staff, please contact the main planning line at (805) 654-7893 or 7894 to be included.
