General Plan Ready for Public Review
A draft of the city’s most comprehensive, long-term planning document, the General Plan, is available for public review and input until May 18.
Within the 550 pages of the General Plan is an in-depth roadmap outlining high-level visions, actions, and policies to shape Petaluma’s next few decades.
Also up for public scrutiny is a draft environmental impact report that discloses the potential environmental impacts of actions included in the General Plan and possible mitigation measures to lessen these impacts under the California Environmental Quality Act review process.
The plan itself is required under state law, which also stipulates that the city’s version must remain consistent with its capital improvements and planning policies. The document was prepared by Petaluma city staff (including several M-Group consulting planners) and 11 consultants led by Berkeley urban planning and design firm Raimi + Associates.
The plan is organized into five “thematic” chapters: Preservation and Protection; Growth and Development; Public Services; Prosperity and Quality of Life; and – the final chapter – Implementation, which outlines the practical steps to make it all happen.
Distributed across these chapters are a total of 15 “elements” addressing subtopics such as economic development (chapter six), flood resilience (chapter three), housing (chapter four), and infrastructure and utilities (chapter five). These elements are further broken down to identify specific policies and actions for achieving stated goals.
For example, chapter four addresses growth and development. Within it is the Land Use element, which strategizes around the city’s “physical development.” Some of the aims of that element include reducing development near the river, increasing development in the city core near transit, and enhancing residents’ access to daily needs within walking distance via “15-minute activity centers.”
Also among the Land Use element’s 29 stated aims is Goal LU-10: “Strong identity and sense of place.” To achieve this, the plan outlines three specific approaches: maintain heritage sites, be flexible with land uses of heritage sites, and steward the Petaluma Fairgrounds.
After the plan’s approval, changes are allowed in the form of General Plan amendments, “to conform to state or federal law passed since adoption” or “to eliminate or modify policies that may have become obsolete or unrealistic,” according to the document's introductory chapter.
City staff want to hear your feedback on this plan. Here’s how you can participate:
- Email planpetaluma@cityofpetaluma.org
- Fill out a comment form on the city’s General Plan website at planpetaluma.org
- Talk to a planner at one of their designated office hours either in person or virtually on April 27, May 12, and May 13. To do so, sign up at planpetaluma.org/officehrs
- Attend an upcoming public hearing. The Planning Commission meets on April 28, and the City Council meets on May 18, both at 6 p.m. at 11 English St.
To see the plan, visit https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ea880f6d9a2075c7b7f54af/t/69ca9d328f25ed35f3d5d9b2/1774886194854/PetalumaGP_PublicDraft_PlanOnly_032726_Compressed.pdf