General Plan
Purpose of the General Plan
Every city and county in California must create a General Plan to guide its future development. A General Plan is a long-range policy document that expresses a city’s development goals, policies, and objectives relative to the distribution of future land uses, both public and private, as well as a number of other topics.
State Law
Section 65300 et seq. of the California Government Code requires that each planning jurisdiction (i.e. city or county) shall prepare, and the legislative body shall adopt, a comprehensive, long-term, general plan for the physical development of the city. Section 65302 requires that each general plan shall consist of a statement of development policies and shall include a diagram or diagrams and text setting forth objectives, principles, standards and plan proposals.
About the General Plan
The General Plan is a comprehensive document that covers many aspects of the community including development, preservation of the community and safety. The General Plan is a long-term document that is intended to guide the growth of the City over the next ten years.
The City of Coachella's General Plan is divided into nine elements. Each element contains background information that has been collected and analyzed to establish goals and policies that are intended to guide development and City actions in a particular manner. Community involvement plays a major role in establishing the goals and policies of the General Plan because the goals and policies reflect the views and concerns of the citizens and attempt to achieve their vision of the City.
General Plan Elements
There are seven mandatory topics that must be covered in every General Plan:
1. Land Use and Urban Design: the general location and intensity of housing, business, industry, open space, education, public buildings and grounds, and other land uses in Coachella.
2.Circulation and Mobility: the planned road systems in our community, as well as other ways that people and goods move around Coachella-by foot, by bicycle, by ship, and by rail.
3. Parks, Recreation, and Open Space: how the City will preserve open space for future generations and enhance our community’s health today by providing space for outdoor recreation.
4. Housing: strategies for providing adequate housing to meet the current and future housing needs of everyone in our community.
5. Public Safety: the City’s policies and programs for keeping our community safe from both manmade and natural hazards like earthquakes and floods.
6. Noise: a description of existing and future noise sources and the City’s standards for protecting residents from excessive noise.
7. Conservation: policies for conserving natural resources in Coachella such as water and soils.
Community Health and Wellness Element
General Plan will also include a stand-alone healthy community element that will include a detailed analysis of existing health conditions in and around Coachella that can serve as the basis for the creating of a stand-alone public health element for the General Plan. The analysis will include topics such as physical activity, respiratory health, access to parks and open space, access to healthy foods, topics related to social and environmental justice, transportation safety and other relevant topics. The optional task also includes the development of policies and implementation actions for health in the General Plan. While there would be a stand-alone element, some of the policies relating to land use, transportation and parks would be included in other elements.
Climate Action Plan
The purpose of the Climate Action Plan will be to comply with the AB 32 framework and requirements of SB 97, serving to help reduce the potential greenhouse gas emissions and climate change impacts that might occur with implementation of the General Plan Update.
Goals, Policies and Programs
Goals, policies and programs are used to implement the issues identified in each element of the General Plan. Policies and goals are formulated based on the existing conditions in the City and the publics vision of the future of the City. Public participation, data and information gathered are used to formulate the goals and policies in the General Plan. Policies and programs are established to make the goals a reality for the community. Goals, policies and programs are used to guide the development and growth of the City and are used to achieve the community's vision of the future. Definitions of goals, policies, and programs are contained below:
- A goal is a general direction-setter used to direct future implementation measures. A goal is a general expression of a
community value, as obtained frrom public input. An example of a goal is "to have a safe community." A goal is not an
action, instead it states what the communities end result is (i.e. a safe community).
- A policy is a specific statement that is used to guide the decision making process. Policies are used to implement the
city's goals. An example of a policy is "provide police services necessary to maintain public safety."
- A program is a specific activity that a department will undertake that is necessary to follow a policy statement and make
the community's vision of the future (a goal) a reality. An example of a program is "provide adequate training for police
personnel."
Revision of the General Plan
In order to revise the General Plan, the City of Coachella must first undertake the following steps:
- The planning staff must begin to gather data on the existing conditions in the City and the region (eg. traffic conditions)
and analyze them.
- After the planning staff has evaluated the preliminary data and current conditions, the City must then define the general
issues facing the community. The Planning Commission will be holding Workshops over the next several months to
gather information on the current conditions in Coachella.
- A simultaneous step in the planning process is to obtain public input regarding what the community needs are and what
their vision of the City is in the next ten years. The planning Commission will be holding Neighborhood Workshops to
gather public input for the General Plan Update.
- Public participation and data that has been collected will be used to formulate the Draft General Plan, including goals,
policies, and programs identified in the General Plan. Public participation is important so that the goals and policies
reflect the values and visions of the community.
.
Every city and county in California must create a General Plan to guide its future development. A General Plan is a long-range policy document that expresses a city’s development goals, policies, and objectives relative to the distribution of future land uses, both public and private, as well as a number of other topics.
State Law
Section 65300 et seq. of the California Government Code requires that each planning jurisdiction (i.e. city or county) shall prepare, and the legislative body shall adopt, a comprehensive, long-term, general plan for the physical development of the city. Section 65302 requires that each general plan shall consist of a statement of development policies and shall include a diagram or diagrams and text setting forth objectives, principles, standards and plan proposals.
About the General Plan
The General Plan is a comprehensive document that covers many aspects of the community including development, preservation of the community and safety. The General Plan is a long-term document that is intended to guide the growth of the City over the next ten years.
The City of Coachella's General Plan is divided into nine elements. Each element contains background information that has been collected and analyzed to establish goals and policies that are intended to guide development and City actions in a particular manner. Community involvement plays a major role in establishing the goals and policies of the General Plan because the goals and policies reflect the views and concerns of the citizens and attempt to achieve their vision of the City.
General Plan Elements
There are seven mandatory topics that must be covered in every General Plan:
1. Land Use and Urban Design: the general location and intensity of housing, business, industry, open space, education, public buildings and grounds, and other land uses in Coachella.
2.Circulation and Mobility: the planned road systems in our community, as well as other ways that people and goods move around Coachella-by foot, by bicycle, by ship, and by rail.
3. Parks, Recreation, and Open Space: how the City will preserve open space for future generations and enhance our community’s health today by providing space for outdoor recreation.
4. Housing: strategies for providing adequate housing to meet the current and future housing needs of everyone in our community.
5. Public Safety: the City’s policies and programs for keeping our community safe from both manmade and natural hazards like earthquakes and floods.
6. Noise: a description of existing and future noise sources and the City’s standards for protecting residents from excessive noise.
7. Conservation: policies for conserving natural resources in Coachella such as water and soils.
Community Health and Wellness Element
General Plan will also include a stand-alone healthy community element that will include a detailed analysis of existing health conditions in and around Coachella that can serve as the basis for the creating of a stand-alone public health element for the General Plan. The analysis will include topics such as physical activity, respiratory health, access to parks and open space, access to healthy foods, topics related to social and environmental justice, transportation safety and other relevant topics. The optional task also includes the development of policies and implementation actions for health in the General Plan. While there would be a stand-alone element, some of the policies relating to land use, transportation and parks would be included in other elements.
Climate Action Plan
The purpose of the Climate Action Plan will be to comply with the AB 32 framework and requirements of SB 97, serving to help reduce the potential greenhouse gas emissions and climate change impacts that might occur with implementation of the General Plan Update.
Goals, Policies and Programs
Goals, policies and programs are used to implement the issues identified in each element of the General Plan. Policies and goals are formulated based on the existing conditions in the City and the publics vision of the future of the City. Public participation, data and information gathered are used to formulate the goals and policies in the General Plan. Policies and programs are established to make the goals a reality for the community. Goals, policies and programs are used to guide the development and growth of the City and are used to achieve the community's vision of the future. Definitions of goals, policies, and programs are contained below:
- A goal is a general direction-setter used to direct future implementation measures. A goal is a general expression of a
community value, as obtained frrom public input. An example of a goal is "to have a safe community." A goal is not an
action, instead it states what the communities end result is (i.e. a safe community).
- A policy is a specific statement that is used to guide the decision making process. Policies are used to implement the
city's goals. An example of a policy is "provide police services necessary to maintain public safety."
- A program is a specific activity that a department will undertake that is necessary to follow a policy statement and make
the community's vision of the future (a goal) a reality. An example of a program is "provide adequate training for police
personnel."
Revision of the General Plan
In order to revise the General Plan, the City of Coachella must first undertake the following steps:
- The planning staff must begin to gather data on the existing conditions in the City and the region (eg. traffic conditions)
and analyze them.
- After the planning staff has evaluated the preliminary data and current conditions, the City must then define the general
issues facing the community. The Planning Commission will be holding Workshops over the next several months to
gather information on the current conditions in Coachella.
- A simultaneous step in the planning process is to obtain public input regarding what the community needs are and what
their vision of the City is in the next ten years. The planning Commission will be holding Neighborhood Workshops to
gather public input for the General Plan Update.
- Public participation and data that has been collected will be used to formulate the Draft General Plan, including goals,
policies, and programs identified in the General Plan. Public participation is important so that the goals and policies
reflect the values and visions of the community.
.