Item 41 - EIR No. 2020-03 and GPA No.2020-06 Santa Ana General Plan Update

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EIR No. 2020-03 and GPA No.2020-06 Santa Ana General Plan Update December 7, 2021 Page 2 DISCUSSION At the direction of the Mayor and City Council in late 2015, the Planning Division began efforts to complete a comprehensive update to the City's General Plan. The General Plan is a state mandated document that includes goals, policies, implementation measures and maps that will guide Santa Ana's physical growth for the next 25 years. The State of California requires every city to prepare and adopt "a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the city, and any land outside its boundaries which is in the planning agency's judgement bears relation to its planning." The role of the General Plan is often referred to as the "Constitution of the City" as it serves as the guiding document by which all land use related decisions must be derived. The City's current General Plan (with the exception of the Housing Element) was last comprehensively adopted in 1982 and is now 39 years old. The General Plan establishes a community vision and strategies to guide growth, change and community preservation within the City, providing goals and policies to enhance, preserve and protect the unique qualities that the Santa Ana community values. The General Plan is the single -most important tool used to guide communities achieve their vision. As the General Plan is a policy document, it differs from the Zoning Code in that the Zoning Code is a regulatory implementation document which will identify specific development standards (setbacks, parking, open space etc.) for each parcel in the City. Upon adoption of the General Plan, staff will begin the process to complete a comprehensive update to the Zoning Code to implement the land use policies of the General Plan and to ensure consistency between the General Plan and Zoning Code. The comprehensive update to the General Plan document, known as "Golden City Beyond A Shared Vision for Santa Ana," is comprised of two separate documents: The General Plan (comprised of three Sections and 12 Elements) Final Recirculated Program Environmental Impact Report At the Planning Commission public hearing on November 9, 2020, concern was voiced regarding the City's need to address existing and future need for park and recreation resources, environmental health concerns, and broadening the community outreach to environmental justice (EJ) communities. Through the 2021 EJ community outreach described below, and collaboration with community serving organizations, neighborhood leaders, and interests parties; a number of Draft General Plan (August 2021) policies and programs were modified. These modifications, minor corrections to text and maps, and refinement to better align general plan land use density/ intensity with existing zoning were provided at the November 8, 2021 Planning Commission public hearing, and incorporated into the December 2021 Draft General Plan. Exhibit 4 provides additional Clarifications to the General Plan to align general plan land use intensity with the existing zoning. City Council 41 — 2 12/21/2021