The guiding goals of the Reedley Specific Plan:
1. New development (residential, commercial and public) in the planning area shall be designed in a way that creates fully integrated neighborhoods with a variety of land uses arranged so that access by walking or bicycling is possible and encouraged.
2. New development in the planning area shall be designed on a pedestrian scale, as opposed to the automobile scale.
3. Urban growth shall be planned and executed in a manner that minimizes impacts on agriculture and the consumption of agricultural land.
4. Development in the planning area shall occur in a fashion that protects and enhances air quality and water quality.
5. New development shall be designed to focus activity in the public realm of the street, as opposed to the private realm.
6. Public open space shall be made an integral part of new development in the planning area.
7. Development in the planing area shall be designed in a fashion that maximizes energy efficiency.
8. Development in the planning area shall follow the concepts presented in the Ahwahnee Principles and the Landscape of Choice document.
Determined to maintain its identity as a "nice valley town," the City of Reedley has adopted a specific plan that contains many of the precepts of traditional neighborhood design. The plan, adopted in January, covers Reedley's future growth areas — about 1,200 acres outside the city limits but inside the sphere of influence.
The largest development project ever approved in Amador County might also become the first project in the county to be decided by voters in a referendum.
With 1,334 housing units, 300 time-share units, a golf course resort and a commercial area, Gold Rush Ranch would approximately double the size of the City of Sutter Creek. Project opponents say the project is simply too big, and they fear Gold Rush Ranch could mark the start of extensive suburban-style development in an area that has been relatively slow to grow.
After two decades of false starts, public and private planning efforts, litigation and ballot measures, development in South Sutter County appears ready to commence – just as soon as the economy rebounds.
Ten years ago, Suisun City was one of the nation's great redevelopment success stories. Plagued by violent, drug-dealing gangs, it literally bulldozed their strongholds to make room for a fancy civic center. The city reclaimed its neglected waterfront and approved the construction of hundreds of homes in a traditional neighborhood development.
The Solano County city became a case study for planners, new urbanists and journalists. But all the success and awards have not lessened a feeling that Suisun City's redevelopment still has a long ways to go.
The City of Ontario is on the verge of adopting a general plan unlike any in California. Its goal of transforming Ontario into a bustling urban place of 350,000 residents with the state's most elaborate transit hub is not what sets the plan apart. Instead, it is how the plan is being developed on the Internet and in conjunction with other city plans and policies.
In a budget-cutting move, the City of Petaluma is disbanding its Community Development Department. After slashing the department from 23 to 11 employees in September 2008, the City Council more recently voted 4-2 to lay off all remaining planners, including the community development director.
Downtown San Leandro is clearly in transition. A working-class city with a large industrial base located just south of Oakland, San Leandro's suburban past and its more urban future are present at the same time. Now, the city has big plans to transform its downtown into a truly urban, pedestrian-oriented place that takes full advantage of the BART station and a planned bus rapid transit line.
Opponents of a proposed development on the Santa Margarita Ranch outside of San Luis Obispo have sued the county, arguing it violated numerous state laws when it approved the project during a special meeting two days before Christmas. The lawsuit is only the latest in the long-running controversy regarding the fate of the 13,800-acre ranch.
The City of Concord has chosen a preferred alternative plan for reuse of the shuttered Concord Naval Weapon Station that emphasizes transit-oriented development and job growth while designating 65% of the 5,000-acre site for open space and parks.
In combination with the housing market crash, a water shortage has brought construction nearly to a halt in the Antelope Valley. Even if the market were to bounce back in the next year or two, it's unclear that water providers could serve a substantial number of new homes and businesses.
Despite high gasoline prices, concern over greenhouse gas emissions, a dismal housing market and a renowned "smart growth" regional planning blueprint, a whole new phase of exurbs is being planned north of Sacramento.
Plans to build the first new, large-scale ski resort in California in four decades — and the largest project in Lassen County history — appear to be in serious jeopardy.
The developers of the proposed Dyer Mountain Resort, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains west of Susanville, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late March. News of the filing has caused environmentalists to celebrate, and Lassen County officials to wait even longer on what supporters have called an important economic development opportunity.
