City of San Diego's General Plan and a prototypical Community Plan (San Ysidro) which have strong policies for sustainability and environmental justice

1. Advancing
Sustainability in
Discretionary Review
Nancy Bragado, City of San Diego, General Plan
Sara Lyons, City of San Diego, San Ysidro Community Plan
Sachin Kalbag, Centre City Green
Kathleen Garcia, Former San Diego Planning Commissioner
November 3, 2010

2. Planning for Sustainability
APA California
November 3, 2010
Nancy Bragado
Sara Lyons

3. • City of San Diego
General Plan
– Comprehensive plan for
growth and development
unanimously adopted by the
City Council in March 2008
– Smart growth approach
tailored for San Diego
– Relies on infill development
to meet City’s needs
– Sustainability policies
integrated throughout plan

4. General Plan Overview
– Guided by 10 Principles and City of Villages
Strategy
– Represents a shift in focus from how we
develop vacant land to how we invest in
our existing communities
– Emphasis on combining housing,
employment, schools, civic uses at different
scales, in village centers
– Strategy works to preserve established
residential neighborhoods and open spaces
– Achieve high quality of life, address mobility
and facilities needs, and manage the City’s
continued growth

5. New Requirement: AB 32 -
Address Climate Change

6. ON-ROAD
TRANSPORTATI
ON
46%
ELECTRICITY
25%
NATURAL GAS
END USES
9%
CIVIL AVIATION
5%
INDUSTRIAL
PROCESSES
AND PRODUCTS
5%
OTHER
FUELS/OTHER
4%
OFF-ROAD
EQUIPMENT
AND VEHICLES
4% WASTE
2%
AGRICULTURE/F
ORESTRY/LAND
USE
2% RAIL
1%
WATER-BORNE
NAVIGATION
0.4%
San Diego Regional GHG
Inventory Project Results
Source: www.sandiego.edu/epic
GHG Emissions
for San Diego
County (2006)

7. GHG Inventory Project Results
www.sandiego.edu/epic
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
2006 Levels 2020 BAU Projections AB 32 Target Executive Order S-3-05
Target (2050)
MMTCO2E
Hypothetical GHG Emissions Reduction Targets
San Diego County

8. San Diego 2050 Impacts
• Climate will be hotter and drier
• Sea level 12-18 inches higher
• Severe water shortage
• More intense and frequent wildfires
• Public health at risk
• Loss of native plant and animal species
• Energy needs
Source: San Diego Foundation Focus 2050 Study

9. Climate Change Addressed
Throughout the General Plan

10. General Plan: Land Use as a
Sustainability Strategy
• Population is growing
– How to plan for growth
responsibly and to achieve
sustainability goals?
• City of Villages strategy
– Links land use and transit
planning
– Distinctive, mixed use villages
– Pedestrian oriented
– Interconnected streets
– Local destinations (stores,
services, parks, schools)
– Connected to transit
– Distinctive public places

11. Village Propensity Map
Village Propensity Map

12. Mobility Strategies
Cars and trucks produce 46% of GHG
emissions in San Diego County
• Transit/Land Use Coordination
• Multi-modal solutions
– Walkable communities
– Bicycle facilities
– Streets and freeways
– Transit and transit-orientation
– Parking management
– Transportation management
• Toolboxes allow for tailored
solutions
• Regional Collaboration

13. Walkability
– General Plan addresses:
• Safety and accessibility
– Safe Routes to Schools
• Street Connectivity
• Walkability
• Lively, attractive streets
– Toolbox of Solutions
• Pedestrian Improvement
Toolbox
• Traffic Calming Toolbox
• Parking Toolbox

15. Parking Toolbox:
Supply and Demand
Strategies
Supply
– Re-stripe streets for
diagonal parking
– Community parking
facilities
– Adjust regulations
– Car lifts and
mechanized garages
– Code enforcement
Demand
– Parking meter districts
– Residential permit parking
districts
– Transit upgrades
– Car sharing
– Parking pricing
– Safe pedestrian and bicycle
routes
– Employee parking
programs

16. Urban Design
Historic Preservation
• Create diverse, walkable, mixed-use villages
• Design vibrant public spaces and prominent civic
architecture
• Public health co-benefits
• Conserve resources and reduce construction debris

17. – Open space to define and link communities
– Complement the environment and respect natural
features

18. Sustainability Through Open Space
Protections
• Watershed, river parks,
creek restoration, urban
canyon lands
– Ground water infiltration
– Carbon sequestration
– Biodiversity
– Urban heat island
• San Diego Multiple
Species Conservation
Program
– Comprehensive habitat
conservation planning
– 49,230 acres (93% of
City’s goal) are
conserved or are
obligated to be
conserved.

19. Conservation
Electricity use accounts for 25%
of San Diego County GHG
emissions
• Specifically addresses climate change
– Reduce carbon footprint
– Green buildings/sustainable development
• Conserve and manage resources
– Water conservation
– Energy efficiency and renewables
– Waste management
– Wastewater collection and treatment
– Urban forestry
• Open space preservation
– Ecosystem role

20. General Plan Water Policies
• Water Supply and
Infrastructure
– Increase alternative water
sources
– Provide and maintain
infrastructure
– Expand recycled water
distribution system
– Recognize water/energy nexus
• Sustainable Development
– Green buildings
– Landscape design and
maintenance
Public Facilities and Conservation Elements

21. General Plan Water Policies
Public Facilities and Conservation Elements
• Water Conservation and
management
– Water conservation measures
– Watershed protection
– Groundwater and surface water
resources management
– Manage floodplains
• Coordinated Planning
– State and regional water
resource planning
– Water and land use planning
– Development project review
– Plan for emergencies and climate
change impacts
• Public Education

22. Water/Energy/Carbon Nexus

23. Economic Prosperity Element:
Align Environmental Protection and
Economic Competitiveness
• Innovation Challenge
• Business Incubator
• Biomimicry
Partnership
• Green Workforce
Training
• Clean Enterprise
Program

24. The General Plan Action Plan
– Identifies actions
(implementation measures)
derived from General Plan
goals and policies
– Organized by GP Element
and timeframe
– Sets key implementation
priorities
– Helps to inform the budget
process
– Will be used for annual
monitoring of the General
Plan
– Adopted July 2009

25. Climate MAP
• Climate Mitigation & Adaptation Plan
• Includes updated GHG inventory for City
operations and community-at -large
• Will incorporate prior city actions and new
strategies
• Prepared as a part of the City’s Sustainable
Community Program
• Environmental document to be prepared

26. 26
Regional Collaboration
SANDAG
• 2004 – Regional Comprehensive Plan
(RCP)
• 2006 – Smart Growth Concept Map
• 2007 – Smart Growth Tool Box
• 2010 – Climate Action Strategy
• 2010 – Urban Area Transit Strategy
• 2011 – Regional Transportation Plan
– Sustainable Communities Strategy
– Environmental review will address
greenhouse gas emissions

27. Sustainability Tool:
Land Development Code
• Commercial/Mixed-Use zones
• Pedestrian-Oriented Design
standards
• Parking reductions for mixed-
use, transit proximity
• Tandem parking in some areas
• Bicycle parking & amenities
• Small lot and townhouse zones
• Landscape Standards
– Street trees required
– Turf limited
– Water conservation mandates
• Local Food - Community
Gardens issues

28. Discretionary Project Review
Affordable Housing and Sustainable
Development Incentive Program

29. • Climate Protection
• Land Use, Housing,
Open Space
• Mobility
• Clean Tech and the
Economy
• Energy
• Water
• Waste Management
• Storm Water

30. Implementation:
Community Plans
• Implement GP and SB 375
– Reduce GHG through land use
and transportation planning
– Reduce GHG through
sustainable buildings and
practices
• Urban forestry
• GHG analysis in CEQA
documents
• Vulnerability analysis
• Adaptation
• Public education role – Local
Government Partnership

31. San Ysidro
Community Planning
Area
City of San Diego
Communities

32. San Ysidro Community

33. San Ysidro COMMUNITY PLAN UPDATE

34. Planning Considerations
• Proximity to Land Port of Entry
• Excellent trolley access
• Intermodal Transit Center
• Improve connectivity throughout community
• Pilot Village location
• Environmental Justice

35. Key Objectives
• An attractive international border destination
• Leverage bicultural and historic traditions and diversity
• Mix of land uses that serves residents and generates prosperity
• Increase mobility through a border intermodal center and create a strong
pedestrian focus
• Identify urban parks, plazas, and promenade
• Identify trail options and joint use opportunities; promote a healthy , active
community
• Incorporate sustainability, address environmental justice, and contribute to a
strong economy
• Provide a lively, pedestrian-friendly, healthy environment
• Facilitate the development of the Mi Pueblo Village
• Craft a clear and practical implementation strategy

36. San Ysidro Open Space and Parks
“…a full and varied range of recreational opportunities
accessible to all San Ysidro residents…” (San Ysidro
Community Plan page 93.)
Open Space
• Dairy Mart Ponds
• Floodplains
• Tijuana River Valley
• Steep hillsides
Parks
• Mini Parks and Plazas
• Joint Use opportunities
• Open areas at gateways
• Beyer Park

37. Village Propensity

38. Community Plan Level:
San Ysidro
Village designations to
occur in community plan
Mi Pueblo Pilot Village
Housing
Pathways to
Knowledge
Plazas
Restaurant,
Mercado, kiosks,
and offices

40. Intermodal Transportation Center
Concept

41. San Ysidro
Local topics related to Mobility
The Border and Port of Entry
Congestion within the community
Barriers: Rail, Freeways
Sidewalk improvements
Connectivity
We are not starting from scratch:
San Ysidro Port of Entry Reconfiguration
Mobility Study - January 2010
San Ysidro Mobility Strategy - January 2009
City’s Bicycle Master Plan
City’s Pedestrian Master Plan

42. Mobility - Pedestrians

43. Mobility - Transit

44. • New inspection protocols in
Mexico and the U.S. are
causing southbound delays at
the border.
• Southbound inspections are a
new reality of border for both
U.S. and Mexico alike.
• Drivers trying to minimize
their time in queue, creating
traffic congestion on on-
ramps, off-ramps, and city
streets around the port of
entry
• Quality of life and
Environmental Justice issues
San Ysidro
Land Port of Entry

45. Border Crossing Concept
Images created by The Miller Hull Partnership

46. San Ysidro Land Port of Entry
Master Plan

47. General Plan:
http://www.sandiego.gov/planning/genplan/index.shtml
General Plan Action Plan:
http://www.sandiego.gov/planning/genplan/index.shtml
San Ysidro Community Plan Update Website
http://www.sandiego.gov/planning/community/cpu/sanysidro/