General Plan Update

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UPDATE PROCESS

RHNA and COVID. In 2020, two events unfolded that greatly impacted the update process. First, Fountain Valley received an unprecedented mandate from state and regional bodies to adjust its land use and zoning to accommodate almost 5,000 housing unit allocation (aka RHNA). For a city like Fountain Valley that has been relatively built out since the 1980s, planning for such dramatic growth, even if just in terms of theoretical capacity, necessitated a complete overhaul of the draft land use plan and focus. The project team spent the beginning of 2020 contemplating land use strategies that could accommodate this amount of housing while maintaining the goal of achieving fiscal sustainability. Unfortunately, COVID-19 brought progress to a standstill for many months as the pandemic first began to unfold. Undeterred, the project team persisted, albeit virtually, and focused their efforts for the remainder of 2020 on drafting a land use plan that both satisfied the RHNA requirement and was economically/fiscally sustainable. 

Planning and Technical Analysis. The project team entered 2021 with renewed vigor and a second draft land use plan for review. Between February and April, the City led four additional GPAC working group sessions, and two Planning Commission and City Council joint briefings, culminating in the City Council’s approval of the draft land use plan for technical analysis. The months that followed were spent drafting the City’s 6^th Cycle Housing Element and preparing for a series of five virtual community workshops that focused on other important topics addressed by the General Plan. In the fall of 2021, after public outreach had concluded, the project team focused their attention on drafting the element goals and policies that would help guide the City’s decision-making process, as it pertains to physical change. Simultaneously, other members of the project team began preparing the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that would accompany the updated General Plan. 

Drafting the General Plan goals and policies carried into the first quarter of 2022, alongside finishing touches to the City’s 6^th Cycle Housing Element. At the ninth GPAC meeting (March 2022), the project team presented the final Housing Element and draft General Plan goals and policies. The successful meeting allowed the project team to turn their attention to drafting the remainder of the General Plan, including the Implementation Plan, which is intended to jumpstart actions that will help reach the General Plan goals and overall vision. Following a final round of revisions, the Housing Element was adopted by the City Council in September 2022 and certified by HCD in October. As 2022 came to a close, the project team regrouped to complete all analyses for the EIR and General Plan documents.  

Entering the Home Stretch. The first part of 2023 was an all-hands-on-deck effort to produce the complete Draft 2045 General Plan and EIR suitable for public review and comment. A final GPAC meeting will be held in June along with study sessions with the Planning Commission. In the second half of 2023, the City will bring the General Plan, EIR, and associated implementation items through the rest of the public review and public hearing processes, with current estimates for adoption hearings to occur in late summer and early fall of 2023.