Advanced Planning Division
About the Division
The Advanced Planning Division translates the collective vision of the community into actionable plans, through expeditious, comprehensive, and responsive long‐ range planning services. Core services include: implementation and maintenance of the General Plan and other long‐range planning documents such as the Zoning Code, Subdivision Ordinance, Housing Element, and Specific Plans, annexations, and coordination with local, regional, state, and federal agencies on land use, housing, environmental and long‐range planning initiatives.
Accomplishments
In 2015 the Division:
- Completed the 2015‐2023 Housing Element, which was praised as a model for other cities by the California Housing and Community Development Department and winner of a 2016 Award of Excellence by the California Chapter American Planning Association.
- Guided the adoption of the Reasonable Accommodation Ordinance to facilitate development that is designed for people of all abilities.
- Initiated the environmental process for the West Area Specific Plan, part of the Future Growth Area located north of Boronda Road.
- Finalized a new City/County Downtown Government Center MOU to ensure coordination of governmental facilities development.
What We're Working On
Advancement of our Economic Prosperity through:
- The entitlement and development of the North of Boronda Future Growth Area (FGA) beginning with the West Area Specific Plan.
- Implementation of funding mechanisms in the FGA for critical City infrastructure and services to be incorporated into a Development Agreement (DA).
Creation of a well-planned city with excellent infrastructure and high quality housing for all residents through:
- Collaboration with various partners to establish a Housing Trust Fund for the Region.
- Initiation of a comprehensive Farm worker Housing Study to develop regional solutions for affordable housing for farm workers.
- Removal of regulatory barriers to housing production.
Creation of a well-planned city with excellent infrastructure and a high quality of life through:
- Comprehensive update of the General Plan, which was last revised in 2002.
- Revision of the Subdivision Ordinance.
- Coordination with Public Works on traffic model and new Traffic Fee Ordinance to ensure alignment with the General Plan Update process.
Visión Salinas and the General Plan Update
Visión Salinas is a unified and coordinated effort of three Salinas Planning Initiatives (the Alisal Vibrancy Plan, the Parks, Rec, & Libraries Master Plan, and the Chinatown Revitalization Plan), the community, and between various city departments. The Visión Salinas website will offer information and an event calendar on other related projects such as the El Gabilan Library Project, the new Public Safety Center Project, the Intermodal Transit Center Project, and the Carr Lake Visioning (a Big Sur Land Trust Initiative). Visión Salinas will also collect the public feedback comments from these planning processes and synthesize it into the guiding principles of the City’s General Plan Update! Its crucial that we hear from YOU about your vision for the City’s future. You can stay up to date by adding your contact information here (Vision Salinas “Get Involved” page), or check the Vision Salinas Calendar to see events that you can come to and help translate your vision into city policy. Please use this link to see the Vision Salinas calendar.
Staff Attends 2020 United States Census Training
October 16, 2018
Community Development staff attended a training in September on the upcoming 2020 United States Census. The training prepared staff for the City's role in the upcoming census to ensure a complete count of all Salinas residents. The training informed staff of the push to hire temporary Census canvassers, and new technologies that create a seamless process for census canvassing, such as a mobile phone app that allows the canvassers to select their own hours for work. The training informed various tools for engaging community members in "hard to count areas." Hard to count areas include...
Pop-ups Provide Feedback on Guiding Principles
July 10, 2018
The Visión Salinas Team is conducting a series of pop-ups to gather community input on the Guiding Principles for the upcoming General Plan Update, which will be undertaken in 2019. The Guiding Principles are universal values and plan priorities that will guide the specific policies in our upcoming General Plan, which is the blueprint for planning and development in the City. A Pop-up was conducted at Take it Outside on May 7th, the Alisal Land Use Workshop on May 31st, at the Red Cross Blood Drive at the Salinas Rec Center on June 5th, at...
Over 200 Gather at Regional Farmworker Housing Forum
May 1, 2018
SALINAS HOSTS REGIONAL FARMWORKER HOUSING FORUM ON APRIL 19, 2018
220 people gathered in Salinas to develop an Action Plan after reviewing the results of an 18-month study of farmworker housing conditions in the Salinas Valley and Pajaro Valley on April 19, 2018 at the [email protected] City Center event facility. The consultant team of California Institute for Regional Studies presented the data from an analysis of agricultural workers in the region and surveys of 420 farmworkers, 65 employers, and 32 stakeholders during harvest 2017. The California Coalition for Rural Housing described...
