To: Board of Supervisors
From: John Kopchik, Director, Conservation and Development
Report Title: Discussion of Draft Contra Costa County 2045 General Plan and Draft Contra Costa County Climate Action and Adaptation Plan 2024 Update
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
PROVIDE direction to prepare the final drafts of the Contra Costa County 2045 General Plan and Contra Costa County Climate Action and Adaptation Plan 2024 Update and bring these plans back to the Board of Supervisors for adoption, as recommended by the County Planning Commission and Director of the Department of Conservation and Development.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The costs associated with developing the updates to the County’s General Plan and CAAP have been previously allocated.
BACKGROUND:
I. Envision Contra Costa Overview
Envision Contra Costa is the County’s program to update its General Plan, Zoning Code, and Climate Action Plan (CAP). These planning documents were adopted in 1991, 1947, and 2015, respectively. Piecemeal amendments to the General Plan and Zoning Code have been adopted over the years, but neither has ever been comprehensively updated. The CAP, while adopted more recently, was originally intended as a five-year plan and has become dated because of changes in State law, continued growth in our understanding of climate change and its consequences, and technological advancements that have provided new tools for addressing the challenge. The Board of Supervisors in December 2017 directed the Department of Conservation and Development (DCD) to comprehensively update all three documents.
Substantive work on Envision Contra Costa began in September 2018. Public outreach began in February 2019 and has continued throughout the entire process. Staff from DCD and the County’s Envision Contra Costa consultant, PlaceWorks, have since conducted or attended over 150 public and quasi-public meetings where community members, advocates, stakeholders, and public officials had an opportunity to provide comments. Numerous letters and emails have also been received. The public’s robust participation has greatly influenced the process.
II. Discussion of Recommended Edits to the Draft General Plan and Draft Climate Action and Adaptation Plan
On October 17, 2023, DCD published the Draft Contra Costa County 2045 General Plan and Draft Contra Costa County Climate Action Plan 2024 Update (the latter has since been renamed the Contra Costa County Climate Action and Adaptation Plan 2024 Update, or CAAP). The six-month public comment period ended on April 22, 2024. Extensive public outreach was conducted, as described in Attachment A. DCD received 81 comment letters and emails, and 63 comments through an online commenting platform, Konveio, that was linked to both documents (Attachments D, E, and F). Since April, staff of DCD and other County departments, particularly Public Works and Health Services, have been working with PlaceWorks to review the public comments and prepare edits to the Draft General Plan and Draft CAAP.
The purpose of this meeting is to provide the Board of Supervisors with an opportunity to review and comment on DCD’s recommended edits to the Draft General Plan and Draft CAAP and provide direction on final revisions to the plans. The recommended edits are presented in detail in Attachment A and three of its attachments (Attachment A.1 Draft 2045 General Plan Revised Glossary, A.2 Draft 2045 General Plan Revised Maps, and A.3 Public Review Draft #2 Climate Action and Adaptation Plan 2024 Update). Within Attachment A are links to a 2-page General Plan and CAAP user guide, 12-page overview of both plans, and Spanish language PowerPoint slides describing both plans. These are presented as Attachments A.4, A.5, and A.6, respectively.
Regarding the attached General Plan maps, only the revised versions are provided. To identify changes, one must compare the Attachment A.2 maps to those in the October 2023 Draft 2045 General Plan found at envisioncontracosta2040.org/documents/ <http://envisioncontracosta2040.org/documents/>. Most recommended changes to the maps are refinements in response to public comments or were initiated by staff to clarify content. The Land Use Map (Figure LU-1) has been revised to address various anomalies and inconsistencies, reflect significant changes in ownership or use since October 2023 (such as East Bay Regional Park District land acquisitions and recording of conservation easements), and further support the Draft General Plan’s policy goals, such as environmental protection and promotion of infill development. The existing General Plan Land Use Map, October 2023 Draft Land Use Map, and September 2024 Draft Land Use Map can be viewed at CCMap <https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=92d542bcb39247e8b558021bd0446d18> by opening the Layers List and selecting the desired version(s) of the map.
On August 28, 2024, the County Planning Commission held a public meeting to review staff’s recommended edits to the Draft General Plan and Draft CAAP. Following public testimony, the Commission voted unanimously (7-0) to recommend that the Board of Supervisors accept staff’s recommended edits with the following additions:
1. Include the Franklin Canyon area along State Route 4 east of Hercules in the Alhambra Valley, Reliez Valley, and Briones Community Profile and revise the text of the Profile to further emphasize the importance of emergency response services and evacuation planning in that part of the county.
2. Include a provision for development of a comprehensive funding strategy for the CAAP. Staff notes that CAAP Implementation Strategy 3 (see Attachment A.3, page 147 [PDF page 171]) already addresses the issue of securing funding for CAAP implementation.
3. Include provisions aimed at incentivizing and increasing participation in public-private partnerships to facilitate CAAP implementation.
Staff agrees with these recommendations and will make the necessary changes in the final drafts of the General Plan and CAAP if the Board concurs.
Not reflected in the Commission’s recommendation are suggestions by a public speaker that the El Sobrante Community Profile be revised to include additional policy language promoting bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure improvements, particularly along San Pablo Dam Road. Staff has since been in contact with the speaker, who provided more detailed comments that must be reviewed by the Public Works Department prior to making a recommendation for inclusion in the final General Plan.
III. Next Steps
Staff will revise the Draft General Plan and Draft CAAP per the Board’s direction. State law requires the County Planning Commission to conduct a public hearing on the proposed General Plan and provide a recommendation to the Board prior to adoption. Staff anticipates scheduling a hearing before the CPC in early Fall to consider recommending adoption of the final General Plan and CAAP, and certification of the final environmental impact report covering both plans. An adoption hearing before the Board would be scheduled shortly thereafter.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Without the Board’s final direction on edits to the Draft Contra Costa County 2045 General Plan and Draft Contra Costa County Climate Action and Adaptation Plan 2024 Update, the two plans will not be completed.