General Plan Update

Background:

The City Council firmly believes that the current General Plan, created and adopted in 1975, is a masterpiece of visionary planning that has served the City well over the past 31 years. However, the Council also acknowledges that certain portions of the General Plan are either outdated or factually incorrect and need a fresh look. Some portions of the Plan that need to be reviewed and updated include traffic, geology and open space from the aspect of existing conditions as well as a vision for the future.

Included in the 1975 General Plan is a list of 28 Goals and 190 policies. These goals and policies were generated by a “grass-roots” organization of over 200 City residents who formed themselves into thirteen committees to look at different elements of the General Plan including land use, recreation and parks, safety and fiscal policy and offer their ideas to guide the future of the City.

Update and Schedule (As of January 22, 2010):

As a first step toward updating the General Plan the City Council created a 15-member General Plan Update Steering Committee. The purpose of the committee was to review the existing Goals and Policies of the General Plan and determine which Goals and Policies need to be eliminated, revised or maintained, and if any new Goals and Policies should be proposed, and what technical areas of the General Plan need updating. After over two years of work, on November 4, 2004, the General Plan Update Steering Committee completed their task of reviewing all of the existing goals and policies of the 1975 General Plan. The Steering Committee’s recommendations, along with a General Plan Update Program, were presented to the City Council on December 21, 2004. To find out exactly what changes have been proposed by the Steering Committee, you can access the most recent copy of the "General Plan Goals and Policies - As modified by the General Plan Steering Committee" by clicking below.

At the December 21, 2004 meeting, the City Council (1) Directed Staff to proceed with drafting proposed amendments to the General Plan Goals and Policies as recommended by the General Plan Update Steering Committee for future review by the Planning Commission and City Council; (2) Directed Staff to proceed with an update of the factual information within the General Plan for future review by the Planning Commission and City Council; (3) Directed Staff to proceed with the proposed improvements to the general format of the General Plan and the mandatory elements for future review by the Planning Commission and City Council in order to make the Plan more user friendly; (4) Directed Staff to release an RFQ to obtain consultant assistance with updating portions of the General Plan; and (5) Disbanded the General Plan Update Steering Committee.

Progress on the General Plan Update had been delayed since the December 21, 2004 Council meeting while Staff focused its attention on a variety of high profile development projects and other issues. In April 2006, Staff sent out a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to obtain consultant assistance with updating the General Plan, and on February 20, 2007, the City Council entered into an agreement with three consulting firms to assist Staff with the update. 

Since 2007, Staff has been working with the consultants on revising the document.   Staff has now reached a point where it will be releasing to the public various “Draft” Updated General Plan Elements that will initially be reviewed by the Planning Commission through public meetings, and eventually reviewed by the City Council through public hearings.

On September 29, 2009, the City Council and Planning Commission held a Workshop with the main purpose of providing a “Kick-off” to the General Plan Update process.  At the Workshop, the Council provided direction to Staff on various items regarding the update process including providing direction on the schedule of the process by posing a date to complete the General Plan Update prior to December 2010.  Click here to view a copy of the “Draft” Schedule.

On November 10, 2009, the Planning Commission held their first meeting regarding the General Plan Update and reviewed the draft “Introduction” section of the General Plan. At the meeting, the Commission provided comments to Staff and formed a sub-committee to conduct additional review.  On December 8, 2009, the Planning Commission held another meeting to review the Final Housing Element as well as the proposed “Introduction” section.  At that meeting the Planning Commission approved the Draft “Introduction” section (Click here to view a copy), and recommended City Council approval of the Housing Element.  The City Council adopted the Housing Element on January 19, 2010.  Staff has forwarded a copy of the final adopted Housing Element to the State Department of Housing and Community Development for final certification.  To view a copy of the adopted Housing Element, please click here.

On January 26, 2010, the Planning Commission will hold a public meeting to review the “Draft” copy of the Conservation and Open Space Element, which was prepared by Staff (Click here to view a copy).  The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at Hesse Park Community Building, 29301 Hawthorne Boulevard, Rancho Palos Verdes. 

At the January 26th meeting, Staff is recommending that the Planning Commission receive a presentation by Staff on the “Draft” Conservation and Open Space Element, and provide general direction to Staff and the Planning Commission Sub-committee (Chairman Lewis, Commissioner Knight and Commissioner Tetreault) on proposed revisions.  Then, during the remainder of January and into the first few weeks of February, the Planning Commission Sub-committee and Staff will work on revisions to the “Draft” Element with a revised version being brought back to the Commission at their February 23, 2010 meeting.

More Information:

If you would like to be placed on an "interested parties" list to receive any future notices related to the General Plan Update project via e-mail, you may subscribe by joining the list server group here.

Click here to view a copy of the current Rancho Palos Verdes General Plan.

Click here to view a list of all of the Goals and Policies contained within the General Plan.

Click here to view the “General Plan Goals and Policies - As modified by the General Plan Steering Committee"