Item 07 - 2024 General Plan Annual Progress Report

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Land Use Focus Areas The development, use, and distribution of land are critical to achieving the City's vision and adhering to its core values. The City must plan for uses and development that create a sustainable, healthy, and livable city; ensure equitable outcomes and land use distributions; protect and enhance our cultural and community assets; and provide opportunities for growth and prosperity. Land is a finite and valuable resource, especially in Santa Ana; its use dictates the City's economic and fiscal future. Overarching Growth Strategy The City's growth strategy, documented in the General Plan, concentrates new growth opportunities into key parts of the city while maintaining and enhancing its existing neighborhoods, employment centers, and intact industrial centers. The General Plan identifies five Focus Areas suitable for new growth and development. They are as follows: • South Main Street • 55 Freeway/Dyer Road • Grand Avenue/17th Street • South Bristol Street • West Santa Ana Boulevard The Focus Areas are geographically distributed throughout the city, and each allows Santa Ana to meet its diverse needs in different ways. The purpose and intent, specific objectives, and custom land use types of urban development are to reimagine these areas, realize the community's vision, and further embody Santa Ana's core values. It is important to note that the five Focus Areas outlined in the General Plan are not the only locations slated for significant new development in Santa Ana. Existing mixed -use zoning districts like the Metro East Mixed Use (MEMU) overlay zone, Specific Plan No. 2 (Harbor Mixed Use Transit Corridor Specific Plan), Specific Plan No. 4 (MainPlace Specific Plan), Specific Development No. 43 (MacArthur Place District Center), Specific Development No. 76 (Hutton Centre Mixed Use Specific Development District), and the Specific Development No. 84 (SD-84/Transit Zoning Code) already permit substantial growth and offer diverse development opportunities throughout the city, complementing the targeted growth within the identified Focus Areas. OVComprehensive Zoning Code Update Santa Ana's Zoning Code, which defines and regulates land use, density, building characteristics, and other development aspects for specific areas, dates to the 1960s, and while many amendments have been made over the years to address emerging land use trends and ever -evolving state laws, the code remains rooted in the past, both in terms of structure and content. The General Plan includes extensive lists of implementation measures that identify specific programs, actions, and time frames the City will undertake to implement General Plan goals and policies. To effectuate many of these programs and actions, the City needs to comprehensively amend the Zoning Code. 11