Strategic Growth
The purpose of Strategic Growth principles and policies is to better define and focus the county's pro-active planning approach and balance environmental, economic, and social equity concerns. Strategic growth is an efficient and environmentally sensitive pattern of development that provides people with additional travel, housing and employment choices. It focuses future growth away from rural areas with limited resources, closer to existing and planned job centers and public facilities, where resources necessary for development are already available.
More specifically, strategically planned communities are urban or village areas with the following characteristics:
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Adequate resources, services and facilities for long-term growth (20 years),
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Inter-connected street systems, bicycle and pedestrian ways,
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Neighborhood areas that can accommodate a variety of housing types that are affordable
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to all income groups, which are located close to focal points serving daily needs,
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Adequate areas for commerce, employment, education, recreation, civic and social life.
Read all of the principles, policies and implementation measures contained the County's General Plan relative to Strategic Growth.
Find out about the proposed strategies in a brief overview.
Watch two videos about strategic growth planning by Cal Poly graduate students:
To learn more about Strategic (or Smart) Growth, visit these websites:
Priority Processing for Strategic Growth Projects
Strategic growth is a version of the national movement called “smart growth.” Good news for "Smart Growth" development projects! We've initiated priority processing for land development or subdivisions that include features attributed to Smart Growth principles. Projects that score a certain amount of points on a checklist of criteria could qualify for quicker review and save months in the time it takes to process applications. Download the Strategic Growth Criteria for Development Projects Checklist. If you have questions or would like to have your proposed project reviewed for possible priority processing, please contact Nancy Orton at 781-5008.
Sustainable Communities Planning Grant
The California Strategic Growth Council (SGC) has awarded a $399,000 Sustainable Communities Planning Grant to the County. The grant allocates funds for six technical studies and planning projects related to strategic growth. Read more about each of the Sustainable Communities Grant Projects.
Resource Management System
The Resource Management System (RMS) focuses on collecting data in order to avoid and correct resource deficiencies with regard to five essential resources: water supply, sewage disposal, schools, roads, and air quality. This information is compiled in an Annual Resource Summary Report (ASR) that guides decisions about balancing development with the resources necessary to sustan such development. It focuses on collecting data, identifying resource problems, and recommending solutions. The 2010 Resource Management System Annual Summary Report is now available. The RMS contains “triggers” to implement certain actions such as conservation or construction measures to avoid or correct resource deficiencies. These triggers are designated as Levels of Severity I, II and III, and are tied to generalized time frames to construct improvements or to enhance declining resources. The Resource Management System is explained in more detail in the Land Use Element – Framework for Planning, Chapter 3 .
In April 2009, the Board of Supervisors authorized staff to prepare several amendments to the Land Use Element, Framework for Planning, and the to the Growth Management Ordinance (GMO) in order to improve the RMS and link it more effectively to growth management. Read this April 21, 2009 staff report to the Board of Supervisors for more information on the RMS/GMO amendments being prepared.
The Department has prepared a Resource Capacity Study (RCS) for the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin. The Board of Supervisors directed the preparation of this study of water supply in the North County in response to declining groundwater levels in the basin.
Growth Management Ordinance
The County adopted a Growth Management Ordinance (GMO) in 1990 to set appropriate rates of residential growth within unincorporated communities and rural areas that can be supported by resources and facilities. The GMO works with the Resource Management System (RMS), which determines the ‘lead time’ needed to avoid resource shortages and improve streets and infrastructure. Read about growth management and how it affects you
Energy Stimulus Funding (EECBG)
The County has been awarded an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block grant (EECBG) though the US Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The total grant amount of $2,053,600 will be used in a variety of ways to increase energy efficiency in the county.
The General Services Agency will use approximately half the award to retrofit HVAC, and indoor and outdoor lighting at County facilities. The Public Works Department will complete the key link in the Templeton-Paso Robles bike lane system and will also replace streetlights with low-energy- using LED lighting.
The Department of Planning and Building will complete a Climate Action Plan (CAP), the County’s blueprint for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Department will also prepare a Green Building Ordinance to improve energy efficiency in new and existing development.
Both the construction-related projects and the planning efforts will commence in 2010 and will be completed within 36 months.
For more information, read the June 9, 2009 staff report to the Board of Supervisors on the EECBG application. The report describes the projects to be funded by the grant.
Climate Action Plan
In response to state legislation, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, California cities and counties have been preparing Climate Action Plans (CAP’s) that will act as blueprints to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that contribute to global climate change. The County’s CAP, funded by an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant, will focus on local actions to reduce GHG emissions through energy efficiencies. Examples of local actions are:
- Retrofitting existing buildings
- Reversing rural sprawl
- Increasing use of non-fossil fuels such as solar and wind energy
These energy efficiency measures will have an economic return as utility bills are lowered.
Land Use and Circulation Elements Update
As the county continues to grow and attract new residents, a new regional and comprehensive planning approach is needed now to meet the challenges of providing for future growth. The key challenges are to provide major infrastructure such as water and transportation systems; identify least constrained areas to accommodate future growth; and sustain for future generations resources such as water, clean air and important habitats for plants and animals.
Preliminary planning is underway for a major consolidation and update of the Land Use and Circulation Elements (documents) of the County General Plan for the unincorporated, rural areas of the county. This update is scheduled to formally began in January, 2010.
The update will focus on planning at a regional level in order to protect agriculture and other important resources, encourage growth within and in expanded urban areas, promote economic development and a wider range of housing opportunities, and better link land use and transportation. It will not change community plans for the urban and village areas.