The State of Arizona has been working for nearly a decade to actively manage growth and preserve open space. Since 1973, most cities, towns and counties have been required to develop plans for communities looking at issues such as land use, circulation, housing, public services and facilities, and conservation, rehabilitation and redevelopment. In 1998, the Arizona Legislature passed the Growing Smarter Act, which clarified and strengthened planning elements in the required plans of municipalities and counties and added four new elements, namely: Open Space, Growth Areas, Environmental Planning and Cost of Development.
The General Plan is a public document that guides future land use decisions in the City of Prescott. Rezoning and new development must be consistent with, and conform to, the adopted General Plan, and must be re-adopted or amended every 10 years.
The Growing Smarter legislation requires voters of each municipality to ratify (approve at an election) the updated General Plan. Registered voters of Prescott will have the General Plan on the Aug. 25, 2015 ballot, which will be mailed to all registered voters the week of Aug. 3, 2015. If voters approve the plan, it will go into effect immediately. If the voters do not approve the plan, the city must continue to operate under the plan adopted in 2003.
What’s in the General Plan?
Land Use. This element must explain the general distribution and types of residential, business, industrial, recreation, open spaces and other land uses in the city. A map indicating the locations of each of these uses must accompany this element. Allowable development densities (such as the number of units per acre) must be included for each general land use category. This element must also set out goals and policies for promoting in-fill development (filling up existing subdivisions before starting new ones) and other compact development patterns. This element must address air quality issues and solar energy interests. This element must also contain goals and policies for maintaining a broad variety of land uses in the city.
Circulation. This element must address traffic circulation routes. It must indicate the location and extent of existing and proposed streets and highways, as well as bicycle routes, pedestrian walkways and even mass transit, if appropriate. This element will have a map displaying existing and proposed streets and may incorporate previous traffic or transportation studies. It will also include information from other agencies, such as Yavapai County and ADOT, relating to their planned transportation projects.
Open Space. This element must include an inventory of open space and recreation resources in the city. It must contain an analysis of the future needs for such resources and goals and policies for managing and protecting these resources. It must contain strategies for additional open space acquisition and for establishing new recreational resources. It must promote the integration of open spaces and recreational resources with regional systems.
Growth Areas. This element must identify areas suitable for infrastructure expansion, multi-modal transportation and other improvements intended to support a variety of land uses, including tourism. This element must contain goals and policies to make circulation more efficient and economical in these growth areas, conserve natural resources and to require the coordination of development activity with the construction of appropriate public and private infrastructure. Specific Area Plans can and should be integrated within this element to provide more specific controls over development in the targeted areas.
Environmental Planning. This element must address the impacts of the other plan elements on air and water quality and natural resources. Demands placed on these resources by new development, new infrastructure and new circulation patterns must be identified. Where negative impacts occur, alternative strategies should be offered. This element also serves as a check and balance opportunity prior to adoption of the final General Plan allowing the city to address any recognized negative impacts by modification of the various elements, if possible.
Cost of Development. This element must address the strategies and policies that the city has or will need to assure that development pays its fair share of public service and infrastructure needs. It must identify the mechanisms established or to be established to collect these fees, including impact fees, special tax districts, development fees, etc., and installation and dedication of required infrastructure improvements. Policies must be included to ensure that such fees reasonably allocate the costs of services to the development.
Water Resources. This element must address the current availability of surface, ground and effluent water supplies. It must include an analysis of how the anticipated growth of the various land uses will be adequately served by the available water supply or it must identify the means by which any additional water supply can be obtained. This will be a significant Element for the City of Prescott. QCBN
To learn more about the General Plan, contact the City of Prescott Planning Staff at 928-777-1207, or visit the City of Prescott website at www.prescott-az.gov.
George Worley is the planning manager for the City of Prescott.
Leave a Reply