Summary
The New General Plan for Redwood City would be directly impacted by the passage of Measure W.
Support the General Plan process
The General Plan is the preferred instrument for land use planning, rather than changing the city charter. It is just a matter of choosing the right tool for the task. We strongly encourage all of you to participate in the current General Plan revision process.
Legal Review by City Attorney
Source: http://www.redwoodcity.org/government/council/packets/2008/0630/7A.pdf
16. Would a two-thirds vote of the people be required to approve the New General Plan?
Response: Yes, if the new general plan permits “Non-Open Space” uses for any lands covered by the initiative designations.
It is not known at this time whether the new general plan will make any such changes. But if new general plan includes changes to the use of any “Open Space Lands” as defined by the initiative to allow “Non-Open Space Uses,” the plan would be subject to the two-thirds vote requirement.
At this time, planning staff has been working with the general plan consulting team to consider alternative adoption strategies in the event the initiative passes and the new general plan includes changes that would require two-thirds voter approval. In such an event, staff is looking into a two-step approval process. In the first step, a high quality, comprehensive general plan that does not involve any changes requiring a two-thirds vote would be proposed along with certification of the associated EIR. The public process would include development of land use alternatives which will be studied as alternatives in the EIR. In the event that City Council would wish to pursue alternatives that include lands affected by the charter amendment, a second step in the process would be considered. For the second step, only the amendments that require a two-thirds voter approval would be brought to a vote. Thus, if those changes were not approved, a general plan would remain in place.
This is one of several options that staff has considered for processing the New General Plan. It is presented here by planning staff in our continued effort to provide transparency into the public process of developing a New General Plan. It should be noted that the two step process would require additional scope of work and therefore would add costs and time to the new general plan process. The second step is not a simple change to the new general plan map. It would require incorporation of language throughout the document to insure integration and internal consistency. Knowing this now, staff is also considering alternate formats for the document to ensure that it can be amended when appropriate in as simple a manner as possible.
