Background and Current Status of the Creation of Redwood City's New General Plan

Background:

• 2004 - The City began updating the General Plan. Initial meetings with neighborhood groups and community organizations resulted in five updated draft Elements or topics.
• 2006 - the General Plan update was put on hold as the City focused on completing the Downtown Precise Plan.
• Early 2008 - the City refocused on the General Plan, but instead of an update, the City is now doing a complete overhaul, calling it a New General Plan.
• Spring, 2008 - the City convened a series of “affinity group” meetings to bring together members of groups sharing common interests to discuss issues and opportunities in the New General Plan. At the same time, the City staff/consultant team began to meet with various City Boards, Committees, and Commissions to discuss issues and gather comments on technical background reports.
• September, 2008 - the City held a New General Plan Community Forum at Courthouse Square. Approximately 300 people participated in valuable discussions and comments, at a series of staffed stations/displays.This was the largest single outreach community event we’ve done for the New General Plan, and its purpose was to gain substantial public dialogue on various General Plan concepts and ideas, such as transit corridors, neighborhoods, Bayfront land use alternatives, and other topics such as sustainability and mobility.
• September, 2008 to November, 2009 – City consultants prepared the draft copy of the new General Plan, and held numerous meetings before the Planning Commission and City Council
• November, 2009 Both the City Council and Planning Commission confirmed that the draft New General Plan was adequate as a project for the California Environmental Quality Act and that staff could move forward with the preparation of the Environmental Impact Report.  The City Council and Planning Commission also directed revisions to the Draft General Plan. 

Current Status (as of May, 2010):

• The Draft EIR will be available for public review as of May 11, 2010.
• The 45 day public review period for public comment and discussion on the DEIR will be from May 11 to June 24.
• The Planning Commission is expected to certify the EIR and recommend adoption of the New General Plan in the summer of 2010.
• It is anticipated that the City Council will then adopt the New General Plan in summer of 2010