January 2018 to Summer 2018: Baseline Conditions and Future Trends
The first phase of the project will be devoted to researching and documenting baseline conditions in Los Banos. This effort will result in three memoranda covering the following topics:
- land use
- traffic and circulation
- employment
- housing
- demographics
- economic trends
These existing conditions memoranda will inform the subsequent vision, key issues, and policy choices task.
Summer 2018 to Fall 2018: Vision, Key Issues, and Policy Choices
The next phase of the project will be to establish an overall vision for Los Banos’s future and to examine the key unresolved policy issues that need to be addressed to achieve that vision, with a special focus on economic development and land use. Through a public process, including a community outreach event and City Council and Planning Commission study session, the Los Banos community will decide what the main focus of the General Plan Update should be.
Summer 2018 to Fall 2019: Draft Documents
The General Plan Update team will begin developing and reviewing draft versions of the General Plan and Implementation Plans (i.e. Economic Development Strategy, Downtown Strategic Plan, and Business Park Master Plan).
Public feedback will be an important component of drafting and refining these documents. There will be opportunities for public engagement through the LosBanos2040.org website, stakeholder interviews, and numerous City Council and Planning Commission meetings. Feedback we hear from local leaders and citizens will shape the final plans.
During this same time period, the General Plan Update team will also prepare the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) as required by the California Environmental Quality Act. The EIR will evaluate the Draft General Plan and Implementation Plans (i.e. Economic Development Strategy, Downtown Strategic Plan, and Business Park Master Plan). Preparing the EIR concurrently with the preparation of the General Plan and Implementation Plans will help ensure that these plans avoid or mitigate potential impacts to the physical environment.
Fall 2019 to Spring 2020: Public Review and Adoption
In the final tasks of the General Plan update process, the City’s appointed and elected officials will review and adopt the final documents. This phase includes the required public review period for the EIR. Once the Final EIR is complete, a series of Planning Commission and City Council hearings will be held to adopt the General Plan, Economic Development Strategy, Business Park Master Plan, and the Downtown Strategic Plan.