MEETING DATE:
MARCH 11, 2025
SUBJECT:
Title
RESOLUTION NO. 2025-9411 - ADOPTING A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE GENERAL PLAN ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT
Body
Recommendation
Recommendation
ADOPT a resolution approving the General Plan Annual Progress Report.
Body
Board or Commission Action
Not Applicable
Relevant Council Strategic Theme
Planning for the Future
Executive Summary
The City of San Marcos has created an Annual Progress Report (APR) to meet the requirements of State Government Code Sections 65400 and 65700 as to the 2024 calendar year. These Sections mandate that all cities within California submit an annual report to the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI) each year (formerly the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, or OPR) summarizing the city’s progress towards implementing its General Plan. Charter cities were exempt from this requirement until January 1, 2019; however, as Section 501 of the City’s Charter requires the City to comply with land use, planning, and zoning requirements applicable to general law cities, the City has previously submitted information relating to 2012 - 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Discussion
The APR is a public document that provides local legislative bodies, as well as the public, with updates and information regarding the implementation status of a city’s General Plan. The APR should provide substantial enough information for decision makers to adequately assess how effectively the General Plan programs have been implemented over the annual 12-month reporting period (2024 calendar year). The APR can also be used as a tool to identify necessary "course adjustments" or modifications to the General Plan in order to improve implementation.
APRs provide an opportunity for LCI to identify statewide trends in land use decision-making and how local planning and development activities relate to statewide planning goals and policies. The 2012 General Plan includes an Implementation Plan to ensure the overall direction provided in the General Plan is translated from general terms to specific actions. It identifies specific programs that can implement one or more policies in one or more General Plan Element areas.
Each implementation program is a measure, procedure, or task that requires additional City action. It is primarily the responsibility of City staff to carry out the programs identified in the Implementation Plan. Departments within the City may enact, implement, or maintain these programs individually, in collaboration with other departments, outside agencies, and/or private developers, as appropriate. Implementation tools include, but are not limited to the City’s Municipal Code, Zoning Ordinance, Subdivision Ordinance, development agreements, and specific plans.
The Implementation Plan may be updated with the budgeting process and whenever the City’s General Plan is amended or updated to ensure continued consistency and usefulness. The City’s General Fund is the primary source of funding for the implementation of the General Plan. Several other fees and funding sources are used to implement the General Plan. These funding sources are listed as applicable in each implementation program. Implementation of the specific programs is subject to funding constraints.
The Implementation Plan was used as a basis to prepare the APR for San Marcos. The approximate overall implementation status of all programs in the Implementation Plan are as follows:
• Ongoing (80%): programs that are intended to be ongoing efforts
• Completed (5.5%): programs that are considered complete
• Partially Completed (4.5%): programs that have been started and are partially complete
• Scheduled (1%): programs that have not yet been started but are scheduled
• Not Implemented (9%): programs that have neither been started nor scheduled
City staff also included information regarding major milestones or projects the City has made progress on over the past year in the APR.
Environmental Review
Section 15378(a) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines (California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3) defines an activity as a “project” if it has the potential to result in either a direct, or reasonably foreseeable indirect, physical change to the environment. The proposed adoption of a Resolution approving the Annual Progress Report is not a project within the meaning of CEQA because there is no potential for it to result in a physical change in the environment, either directly or indirectly.
Fiscal Impact
There is no fiscal impact associated with the APR approval process.
Attachment(s)
Resolution 2025-9411
Annual Progress Report
Prepared by: Chris Garcia, Senior Planner
Submitted by: Joseph Farace, Planning Division Director
Reviewed by: Isaac Etchamendy, Development Services Director/City Engineer
Approved by: Michelle Bender, City Manager