The Ukiah valley is my home and my community. When I heard, more than a year ago, that the city was going to involve the public in re-writing its General Plan, I decided I wanted to be in on that process.
What's a General Plan? It's the governmental document that sets down the vision, goals, policies and implementing language for how the city will develop over the next 20 years. It's the philosophical and legal filter through which all Planning Commission and City Council decisions are supposed to be made regarding development and growth for the city. Does that happen...well....
The Ukiah city government, and especially the City Manager Chuck Rough, have really tried to get as many citizens as possible involved in this General Plan revision process, because they would like to see a document that truly represents the vision and goals of the broadest cross-section of the community. To this end, in addition to the 180 or so people who volunteered to be involved, the Native American and Hispanic communities were specifically asked to send representatives.
City staff have assured everyone involved that this General Plan will be a strong document, with no "weasel words" such as "may," "will encourage," "can" or "will consider." Only the word "shall" will be used in the implementing language of this document resulting from a public participation process.
The city asked the MEC to send a representative to the Growth Management Steering Committee. Margine McGee and I have been sharing that job.
This Steering committee consists of 40 or so people the city chose to represent a broad cross-section of the community. This group oversees the 14 citizen action groups which are doing the actual writing of the Plan: the Findings, Goals, and Policies for each of the elements or categories of the General Plan.
The elements are: Resources elements: Energy; Noise; Open Space, and Conservation, and Safety... Infrastructure elements: Airport, Community Facilities and Services, Historic and Archaeological Resources, Parks and Recreation... Development elements: Circulation and Transportation, Community Design, Economic Development, Housing, Land Use, Fiscal Impact.
The General Plan revision program began in November 1991 and is now about half way through its two year process. The Element commitees have been meeting, discussing, and learning how to write General Plan Findings, Goals and Policies language. A special consultant has been hired by the city to oversee the process and make sure the language is in General Plan legalese, including the actual implementation language with the "shalls" that will reflect the visions of the various element committees.
The Steering committee, which oversees the Element committees, has also met monthly since the start to draft the overall Vision statement for the Plan, develop a decision-making process, and keep updated on the work of the element groups, for the time coming up when all the element language will come to them for discussion and vote on as a final General plan.
After completion by the Steering committee, the Plan goes to the Planning Commission and then the City Council for final adoption. Public meetings are taking place throughout this process.
At this half-way point, we are in the middle of public hearings on the initial drafts by the elements.
Latest Public Hearing Dates:
Resource elements: March 16
Infrastructure elements: April 27
Development elements: May 17
The element committees will take the public input, complete their final drafts and send them onto the Steering committee for discussion and final towards the end of this year.
Having been involved for a year, I see that a real attempt is being made to develop a public participation process with this General plan that works and includes as many people as possible. It has been interesting to see how city government works and all that is involved in producing this governmental road map for the future.
As for the content, this community ijvolved seems to be of one accord in their visioning and goals: maintain the quality of life and the environment, and keep in control of growth. The consultant has said that he has never seen a community so togethr in their vision...
Yet, with all this wonderful visioning, nobody has had to deal with how much it will cost yet. And as I sat in on the Resources public hearing, I got an intimation of what we face ahead when the big guns come out: the real estate and development community.
Also I see in people (and share) a lot of cynicism about city government. Has the city tried hard enough to get the input and involvement of all sides of the community? Poor people aren't represented. High school and college kids aren't represented.
And there is still the question of what the planning commission and city council will do with the community's plan once it gets to them.
It's an interesting process...
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 2004
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited