The City of Pacifica restarts its work on Plan Pacifica, beginning with a Planning Commission discussion on July 20, 2020.
City Concludes Consultation with Coastal Commission Staff
LCP Consultation Draft
On November 22, the City has concluded its consultation period with California Coastal Commission (CCC) staff on the Consultation Draft of the Local Coastal Program (LCP). During the consultation period, City staff traveled to the CCC’s San Francisco office at 45 Fremont Street to meet with staff from the North Central Coast District and to talk through different aspects of the Consultation Draft. We also had several conference calls to continue the conversation on various chapters of the document.
The result of the consultation period was written comments from CCC staff received by the City on November 22. The comments are divided into two parts - a Comment Letter with attachments, and a Marked-up Version of the Consultation Draft with comments and suggested edits to text included throughout the document.a and provided by the CCC staff to the City on November 22.
The CCC staff’s comments on the LCP Consultation Draft are available for public review and comment until January 3. Submit your comments to Bonny O’Connor who is the Plan Pacifica team member leading the City’s work on the LCP update.
City staff is reviewing the CCC staff’s comments and needs to know what you think. We encourage you to review and comment on the changes to the Consultation Draft requested by the CCC staff. The City’s next step is to prepare recommended responses to the comments it has received and proceed to a public hearing with the Planning Commission on January 20. The Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the City Council on whether to adopt the LCP as presented by City staff at the hearing. A City Council hearing to adopt the LCP could occur as early as February. We will announce the meeting date once it is set.
Other Public Input Opportunities
You may have heard that the City has ramped up its work on the Sharp Park Specific Plan (SPSP). There are two exciting public input opportunities on the SPSP which will be ongoing through December 8. We encourage you to participate in both, as follows:
Review and Comment on the Existing Conditions Report
Participate in the SPSP Existing Conditions Report Online Survey
The Existing Conditions Report is an important tool which will guide the creation of potential policies in the next stage of the SPSP process. We hope you will share your input.
Thanks to those of you who attended the Planning Commission meeting on November 18 to discuss the Existing Conditions Report. Your feedback was valuable to the Plan Pacifica team. We will also announce additional public input opportunities soon including community meetings and hearings in early-2020. Be sure to sign-up for email updates so you don’t miss anything!
Plan Pacifica Process
We are excited to continue our work to improve the Pacifica community. If there is anything on your mind related to the Plan Pacifica process, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Christian
LCP Consultation Draft sent to the Coastal Commission
The progress continues on Plan Pacifica! On October 4, we sent the Local Coastal Program (LCP) Consultation Draft to the Coastal Commission staff for their review. This started a consultation period between the City and the Coastal Commission staff on the contents of the LCP.
Here is a summary of what has happened recently with the LCP:
On September 16, the redline version of the LCP Consultation Draft was made available to the public.
On September 30, the City Council held a special meeting to provide input on the LCP Consultation Draft. At this meeting, the Council requested minor modifications to the document, and directed the City Manager to submit the LCP Consultation Draft to the Coastal Commission staff for review.
On October 4, the City sent the LCP Consultation Draft (without redlines) to the Coastal Commission staff. The Coastal Commission staff will review the document and we expect to receive their feedback by the end of November.
What’s Next
Once the City receives the Coastal Commission staff’s feedback, we will begin a public comment period for at least 30 days during which the public can provide comments on the Draft LCP and/or Coastal Commission review letter. The City will then carefully consider all feedback received from the public and the Coastal Commission staff, and determine if any changes to the Consultation Draft are needed. City staff will then take the revised Draft LCP to public hearings at the Planning Commission and City Council in early 2020 to seek approval of the document.
We won’t be sitting idle waiting for Coastal Commission staff to review the Draft LCP. Over the next several months, we will be continuing our work on the Draft General Plan and new Sharp Park Specific Plan. We are close to releasing the Existing Conditions Report for the Sharp Park Specific Plan which will describe various aspects of the current Sharp Park neighborhood, and will be seeking public input on this document.
As always, if you have any questions, please send me an email at murdockc@ci.pacifica.ca.us.
Sincerely,
Christian
LCP Consultation Draft Released!
The work on Plan Pacifica continues… I’m pleased to announce release of a Consultation Draft of the Local Coastal Program (LCP) for public review and comment. The draft released today is a “redline” version of the March 2014 version of the draft LCP which incorporates public input the City has received as well as feedback from the City Council and Planning Commission. It also includes a new Chapter 6 “Coastal Resilience” which incorporates the sea level rise planning work the City Council endorsed for inclusion in the LCP in December 2018. The City Council will discuss this Consultation Draft at a special City Council meeting at 6 PM on Monday, September 30. I hope you can join us then.
Thank you to all of those who participated in the neighborhood outreach meetings in June and July, and also those who attended the two joint study sessions of the City Council and Planning Commission on August 26 and September 3. The turnout at the joint study sessions was incredible and I am excited at the continued interest in Plan Pacifica on the part of residents and business owners across the City. I appreciate the many comments and feedback that have been provided, and the Plan Pacifica team is now considering that input as we continue work on the General Plan.
To recap what’s happened so far and what is coming up, please read on…
Five outreach meetings to meet with and hear the community happened earlier in the summer in locations across Pacifica. From June 27 – July 10, we met with over 200 community members and stakeholders in different neighborhoods.
If you were unable to make it, I invite you to read the meeting summary and also subscribe to receive project updates and meeting notices for future events.
Two joint-study sessions of the City Council and Planning Commission were held recently. On August 26, the first study session kicked-off Council/Commission discussion of key sites and proposed changes to the General Plan and LCP. However, there was significant public interest in the Calson Field site and sea level adaptation policies. The Council and Commission decided to hold a second study session, and continued the meeting to September 3. The agenda packets from the study sessions can be found by clicking on either of the following meeting links:
Agenda & Packet from the First Study Session on August 26
Agenda & Packet from the Second Study Session on September 3
A video recording of the two meetings can be found on Pacific Coast TV’s YouTube channel.
As of today, I am pleased to announce that we’ve reached a critical moment in the Plan Pacifica process! Our Local Coastal Program (LCP) Consultation Draft is available for public review and comment. The LCP update process first began in 2009. And in 2017-2018, the City reengaged with residents and stakeholders through a significant public outreach process. After the various Plan Pacifica meetings held in 2019, we have come a long way to produce this document. Members of the community are welcomed to provide comment on the document ahead of the City Council’s special meeting on September 30 (more information to come), at which the Council will give further direction on the Consultation Draft of the LCP.
Please save the date, and hope to see you at the special meeting on September 30.
Sincerely,
Christian
Three Down, Two to Go
More than 130 Pacificans have attended one of the three neighborhood meetings already held to discuss the Plan Pacifica process in the Linda Mar/Park Pacifica, Vallemar/Rockaway Beach, and Pedro Point neighborhoods. The turnout has been terrific and I appreciate everybody finding time in their busy schedules to participate in this important process. I have enjoyed my discussions with the passionate residents and business owners who care so much about their community.
A few questions have come up which I want to answer…
Where can I find descriptions of the land use classifications shown on the draft Land Use Map?
Descriptions of the land use classifications proposed for each parcel in the City can be found in Section 4.2 of the Draft General Plan (pages 4-5 through 4-10). You can find the entire Draft General Plan and Draft Local Coastal Program under the References section of our Resources page. For your immediate convenience, I have made an excerpt of Pages 4-5 through 4-10.
Why is a proposed land use classification missing from the legend in one of the Land Use Maps in the Draft General Plan?
I acknowledge there are some missing land use classifications in certain Land Use Maps in the Draft General Plan. I am gathering a list of these omissions and will correct them in the final document or in future releases of the draft document (if any). Until then, please send me any discrepancies you have noted to murdockc@ci.pacifica.ca.us.
What is the difference between the land use classification in the draft Land Use Map and the zoning for a piece of property?
The land use classifications in the draft Land Use Map indicate the intended uses for various properties in Pacifica as described under each classification in Section 4.2 of the draft General Plan (see above). These classifications contain broad outlines of the uses which may occur, but do not typically contain sufficient detail on the full range of uses which may be allowed nor do they typically contain physical development standards for these areas. The zoning applied to a property serves these purposes, and is most often updated after a General Plan update. One example of a zoning classification is C-R (Commercial Recreation) which implements the Commercial land use designation in the City’s existing 1980 General Plan.
The City intends to undertake a comprehensive update of the zoning map and zoning regulations following adoption of the draft General Plan and draft Local Coastal Program (LCP) to ensure all zoning regulations in Pacifica are consistent with the General Plan and LCP as required by state law.
As a reminder, we have two neighborhood meetings remaining on July 9 and 10. Learn more and RSVP at cityofpacifica.eventbrite.com. See you soon.
Sincerely,
Christian