City of Vacaville General Plan Update

Update Process

The City of Vacaville General Plan Update process, including the Climate Action Plan (CAP) and Environmental Impact Report (EIR), will take approximately two years to complete. It is anticipated that formal adoption of the General Plan will occur in 2012.

The General Plan Update will occur as a series of discrete tasks. These tasks will be informed by public feedback collected during community workshops and through various education and outreach efforts, as well as Steering Committee and City Council meetings, all of which will occur throughout the two-year effort. A general outline of this schedule is presented below. Please note that the schedule is subject to change, so check back often for updates.

Spring to Fall 2010: Existing Conditions

The first phase of the project will be devoted to researching and documenting baseline environmental conditions in Vacaville. This effort will result in a series of technical memoranda covering the following topics: land use, agriculture, demographics, economic development, parks and recreation, public services, utilities and infrastructure, biological resources, cultural and paleontological resources, transportation, greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, and noise. These memoranda will inform the upcoming issues identification phase and the development of land use alternatives, and they will provide the foundation of baseline conditions for the EIR.

Summer to Fall 2010: Issues Identification

The existing conditions information documented in the initial task will inform a public process to identify issues and opportunities for the General Plan Update. This task includes a community workshop, two Steering Committee meetings, and a City Council meeting, during which participants will be asked to provide input on issues and opportunities.

Fall 2010 to Fall 2011: Alternatives Development and Finalization

With existing conditions documented and issues identified, the project team will begin the highly interactive and participatory phase of crafting alternative land use scenarios in response to the identified issues. This process will involve both community and stakeholder workshops. The land use alternatives will be evaluated and compared in relation to market and financing feasibility, utilities and transportation infrastructure needs, public service needs, and impacts on environmental resources. This evaluation will inform the process to select a Preferred Land Use Alternative. The Preferred Land Use Alternative will ultimately inform the General Plan Land Use Map and guide the nature, pattern and location of land development and conservation in the city.  Click here to read a handout explaining the land use alternatives process.

Summer to Fall 2011: Policy Development

Following selection of the Preferred Land Use Alternative, the project team will begin the process of developing the goals, policies, and actions for each Element of the General Plan. The policy structure of the existing General Plan will be revised and amended through this process, based on the input of the Steering Committee and community members. During this phase, an outline of the updated General Plan will be prepared.

Fall 2011 to Spring 2012: Draft Documents

Beginning Fall 2011, the General Plan Update team will begin developing and reviewing draft versions of the General Plan, CAP, and associated EIR. The Draft General Plan will be built upon the Preferred Land Use Alternative and goals, policies, and actions developed through the prior phases, and will integrate feedback collected during community participation processes. The Draft CAP will contain greenhouse gas reduction targets and a series of measures to achieve those targets. The Draft CAP will also be developed in close consultation with the Steering Committee and with Vacaville residents during a targeted community workshop.
The EIR will evaluate both the Draft General Plan and CAP. Preparing the EIR concurrently with the General Plan and CAP will allow necessary mitigation measures to be incorporated directly into the Plans themselves, thus ensuring that they are “self mitigating.”

Spring to Summer 2012: Public Review and Adoption

The final tasks of the General Plan Update process are associated with review and adoption of final documents and certification of the EIR. Included in this phase is the 45-day public review period of the EIR, followed by revision of the Draft EIR based on public comments received, and completion of the Final EIR. In addition, a series of City Council and Planning Commission hearings will be held to certify and adopt the Final EIR, General Plan and CAP. Once adopted, the final documents will be printed, distributed, and archived.