Santa Fe planning commission reviews 500-page assessment for 'Santa Fe Forward' and begins visioning

The Santa Fe Planning Commission received a presentation on the final assessment report for the Santa Fe Forward general plan update and moved into a visioning charrette at a study session, with consultants from WSP and Leland Consulting Group outlining key findings and next steps. Janice Biletnikoff of the Planning and Land Use Department told commissioners, “this is a a major milestone to be celebrated that we are closing out stage gate 1 and entering into phase 2 of this process, which is the visioning phase of the general plan update.”

The assessment report, the consultants said, is an existing-conditions analysis of more than 500 pages that will inform scenario planning and the update of the city’s general plan — the first substantive rewrite since the plan adopted in 1999. “One third of Santa Fe households spend more than 30% of their income on housing,” task lead Amy DeCarantonio told the commission, summarizing a central affordability finding from the housing chapter.

Consultants described eight cross-cutting themes in the assessment: nature/climate/resilience; community services and governance; utilities and stormwater; housing and economic opportunity; multimodal transportation; history/culture/arts; the…