TITLE
Adopt resolution authorizing the Director of Development Services to submit amendments to the Long Beach General Plan to the California Coastal Commission for approval. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
After more than ten years of effort, the City Council voted to approve the General Plan Land Use Element PlaceType and Height Maps and directed staff to update the Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) at its March 6, 2018 meeting. Since that time, City of Long Beach (City) staff has been working to update the PEIR for the Land Use Element (LUE) and its companion Urban Design Element (UDE), as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The revised PEIR is based on the final set of maps approved by the City Council in March 2018, as well as the updated text in the LUE and UDE plans, which include technical changes to ensure consistency with the map changes and the revised CEQA analysis. On October 17, 2019, the Planning Commission held a public hearing and recommended that the City Council certify the revised PEIR and adopt the revised LUE and UDE.
The City’s General Plan is a policy document required by State law that establishes the goals and policies that will guide growth and development in the City through 2040. The LUE, one of the seven state-mandated components, has not been updated since 1989. The General Plan update aims to guide the City to a more sustainable future, improve mobility choices, expand transit access, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and accommodate growth projections in accordance with State law. The proposed LUE and UDE (Plan) accommodates the City’s population and employment projections through 2040, while also advancing goals for open space, active living, improved urban design, sustainability, and overall quality of life.
The Plan would replace the existing LUE and Scenic Routes Element (Attachments A, B). The proposed LUE would introduce the concept of PlaceTypes, which would replace the app...
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