THE COMMUNITY GENERAL PLAN
The Community General Plan is a plan for unincorporated Monterey County. It grew out of the County Board of Supervisors' decision to set aside County General Plan Update 3 (GPU3) after five years of work and the expenditure of $5 million. In response to the Board's "start over" decision, eighteen local organizations, including the League of Women Voters of the Monterey Peninsula, came together with funding from the Planning and Conservation League Foundation to create a general plan based on community input at seven forums held throughout the county. Two of these forums were for the Latino community and were conducted totally in Spanish. Terrell Watt, a professional planning consultant, was the primary author of the Community General Plan.
The original Refinement Group was broadly based and was established by the Board of Supervisors to try to reach agreement on some of the controversial provisions of GPU3. When the various organizations were unable to come to agreement, the Board of Supervisors officially dissolved the Refinement Group. Despite the Board's official action, a spin-off subset of the Refinement Group has continued to meet and use the name "Refinement Group." The group-which includes representatives of the development community, agriculture and labor organizations, and housing advocates-has prepared a plan that amends provisions in GPU3. It is this plan that is now referred to as the Refinement Group Plan.
In the meantime, County Planning staff is preparing its own version of a General Plan to be presented to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors later in the year. An overview of the major policies of the Community General Plan and the Refinement General Plan follows.
The Community General Plan is a 261-page document that includes sections on land use, housing, agriculture, infrastructure, conservation, open space, safety, noise, area plans, administration, and enforcement. It is a concise document that includes over 300 fewer pages and 42% fewer goals and policies than GPU3, making the Community General Plan a more readily implemented document than GPU3. Reducing the size and number of policies of the 1982 General Plan was one of the goals initially established by the County over five years ago.
The Community General Plan directs growth into existing cities and five Community Areas: Pajaro, Castroville, Fort Ord, Boronda, and Chualar. The Plan provides certainty for development and for conservation. Subdivisions are prohibited in other unincorporated areas, with limited exceptions to support agricultural, grazing, and conservation objectives and where a legal commitment has been made. The designated Community Areas can accommodate the County's low-income housing allocation required by the California Department and Community Development. The estimated 3,000 legal lots of record in rural areas could continue to be developed under the Community General Plan. There are another 3,000 dwelling units in unincorporated areas that are in the pipeline and that are expected to be approved by the County. By directing development into existing urban areas at medium densities, the Plan can accommodate AMBAG's (Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments) 2020 population forecast of about 527,000 persons (2005 population is estimated at 432,600 persons) while consuming less than 2,000 acres of farmland. The Plan would permit a wine corridor in Salinas Valley consistent with a specific plan that is subject to environmental review.
The Refinement Group Plan--which uses GPU3 as its base--includes four of the five Community Areas identified above but further expands the list of Community Areas to include Rancho San Juan, Pine Canyon, and San Lucas. The Refinement Group Plan also allows development in "Rural Centers." These lack essential infrastructure but will nonetheless be able to be developed under the Refinement Group Plan. The "Rural Centers" designated by the Refinement Group include Bradley, San Ardo, Aromas, Chualar, Del Monte Forest, Las Lomas, Lockwood, Moss Landing, mouth of Carmel Valley, Pleyto, Prunedale, Carmel Highlands, Carmel Valley Village, Corral de Tierra/San Benancio, Mid-Carmel Valley, River Road Area, Spreckels, and Toro Park. References to phasing of development are replaced with a policy allowing growth to be driven by market forces.
Under the Refinement Group Plan, residential density on Rural Lands would range from one unit per acre to one unit per 160 acres and subdivisions that preserve long-term agricultural viability of the site and adjoining parcels would be allowed. Clustering of residential development would be allowed in Rural and Agricultural Lands. Three winery corridors within the Salinas Valley, which meet the General Plan criteria, would be allowed. It was estimated that GPU3 would allow for the conversion of 10,000 acres of farmland and accommodate population growth of 45,000 persons in excess of AMBAG's 2020 population forecast. The Refinement Plan would accommodate even more population growth and consume more farmland because it replaces GPU3 requirements for infrastructure and phasing with market forces.
The Community General Plan requires that infrastructure needed for new development be in place or built concurrently with the project. It supports specific roadway improvements and new roads needed to provide congestion relief primarily due to internal traffic conditions. The Plan establishes performance standards that must be met prior to new development occurring; e.g., maintenance of Level of Service C for roads in Rural Areas and D in Community Areas with narrow exceptions where planned development in Community Areas would reduce traffic trips to maintain acceptable levels of service. New water supply projects that support planned growth and that do not have significant unmitigated impacts, including inducing unplanned growth, are supported.
Overall, by concentrating development in urban areas, the Community General Plan reduces taxpayers' costs and maximizes the use of scarce funds for infrastructure improvements. This approach is consistent with the economic report prepared for the County's GPU, which found that there was not enough funding available to support roads, highways, and other public services required for low density, urban sprawl.
The Refinement Group Plan deletes or modifies many of the GPU3 policies requiring that infrastructure needed for new development be in place or built concurrently with projects; e.g., the requirement for an infrastructure plan for Community Areas is deleted with the note that phasing should be market driven. Roadway performance standards for development are reduced from Level of Service C to D in Rural Areas and D to E in Community Areas. Projects with private water supplies would not be required to prove the availability of a long-term, sustainable water supply.
The Community General Plan requires that new housing projects provide at least 25% of new units to be affordable to very low, low, and moderate income households in perpetuity. On Fort Ord, the requirement is increased to 40%. When new commercial or industrial projects with 50 or more employees are approved, employers are required to help provide directly or indirectly for housing demanded by the new jobs. The first right to rent or purchase inclusionary housing would be to those who live or work in Monterey County. The Plan establishes a housing unit allocation system to encourage production of affordable housing in Community Areas and provides for equity sharing. The Refinement Group Plan retains the 20% inclusionary housing requirement of GPU3.
The Community General Plan, by directing growth into existing urban areas, preserves agricultural land and natural resources. Permit requirements for specified on-going agricultural operations are eliminated to help maintain agricultural uses. Development on slopes 25% or greater would be prohibited without a variance and cultivation of soil on land with slopes 15% or greater would be prohibited. Under the Refinement Group Plan, development on slopes 30% and greater would be allowed with a Use Permit and conversion of uncultivated land to cultivated land on slopes in excess of 30% would be allowed with an administrative permit.
The Leagues of Salinas Valley and of the Monterey Peninsula will be submitting comments to the Board of Supervisors on the Community General Plan in April. Email us for more information.
