HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-06-11 City Council (7)City of Palo Alto
¯City Manager’s Report
TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: PLANNING AND
COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT
DATE:
SUBJECT:
JUNE 11, 2001 CMR:278:01
REvIEw OF COMPREHENSIVE PLAN STATUS REPORT
This is an informational report and no Council action is required.
BACKGROUND
With City Council adoption of the 1998-2010 Comprehensive Plan, staff committed to
ensuring that the Comprehensive Plan remained a dynamic document that shaped the
future of Palo Alto. To accomplish this, a number of steps have been taken, including
integrating the Comprehensive Plan into the budget process and budget documents
through the use of the Comprehensive Plan Implementation Plan Status Report.
Throughout the integration process, departments worked with the Comprehensive Plan
Implementation Plan, which summarizes all Comprehensive Plan policies and programs,
including lead department or fund, timing of the implementation and general financial
implications. Departments used the Implementation Plan as-a guide as they developed
their operating and capital budget requests for 2001-02. This resulted in the integration
of the Comprehensive Plan into the operating budget.. The capital budget already
references itself to the Comprehensive Plan. Thefinal version of the Implementation
Plan Status Report will be included in the 2001-02 budget document scheduled to be
considered by the City Council on June 11, 2001.
DISCUSSION
The Status Report highlights the City’s progress in implementing the Comprehensive
Plan. The Status Report is organized by Comprehensive Plan element. The timing of
items assumes that the 1998-99 is year zero of the Comprehensive Plan, and is broken
down into the following categories:
a)
b)
Ongoing;
0 to 12 years, which indicates that activities will periodically occur over the life of
the Comprehensive Plan;
CMR:278:01 Page 1 of 3
c)
d)
e)
0
0 to 2 years~ which applies only to the Planning Division and indicates that
implementation of the program would begin in the 1999-01 budget cycle (unless
otherwise indicated)~,
3 to 7 years, which again applies only to the Planning Division and indicates that a
program will be initiated in years 3 to 7 of the Comprehensive Plan;
0 to 7 years, which indicates that the program will be initiated within the next 7
years; and
8 to 12 years, which indicates that the program will not be initiated until year 8 or
later.
The Status Report identifies the timing of each policy or program, with an update on the
status of the project and the funding for the accomplishment of the programs. To make
the report easier to use, each program and policy number is listed in color, which
corresponds to the timing of the item. An ongoing item is dark blue, 0 to 12 years is
lime, 0 to 2 years is gold, 3 to 7 years is aqua, 0 to7 years is magenta, and 8 to 12 years is
purple.
PLANNING AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION REVIEW
The Planning and Transportation Commission (Commission) reviewed the
Implementation Plan Status Report on April 11, 2001. The primary focus of the
Commission discussion at that time centered on the organization and content of the status
report. The Commission recommended inclusion of an introduction to future status
reports similar to what is in the Comprehensive Plan. The introduction should summarize
the general accomplishments that relate to ongoing programs with special emphasis on
the City’s identified priorities. The Commission also recommended including more
detailed information regarding the timing of program completion and the concomitant
budget allocation necessary, since this information should be more accurate as the plan
progresses. A fiscal summary of individual program costs was recommended to be
included. The Commission requested that future status reports reconcile the City Council
priorities with the Implementation Plan.
The Commission acknowledged the importance of development of area plans as part of
implementation of the Comprehensive Plan. The Commission recognized, however, that
it is very unlikely that the three remaining area plans identified in the Comprehensive
Plan would be completed within the horizon year of the Plan.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The Status Report and Implementation Plan are not considered projects subject to
environmental review by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). As
individual projects associated with specific policies and programs in the Plan are planned
and implemented, the appropriate environmentalreview will be conducted for the
projects.
CMR:278:01 Page 2 of 3
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A:Comprehensive Plan Implementation Status Report
PREPARED BY:
Advance Planning Manager
DEPARTMENT HEAD REVIEW:
Director of Planning and Community Environment
EMILY--HARRISON -
Assistant City Manager
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