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Council accepts 2024 General Plan annual report after debate; several councilmembers call for appendix clarifications
Summary
The council voted 5–0 to accept the 2024 General Plan Annual Report but members raised concerns about outdated implementation-status entries in appendix materials and asked staff to return with clarifications; staff and the city attorney noted changes to implementation measures would require general-plan amendments and public hearings.
The City Council voted unanimously on March 18 to accept the City of Lompoc’s 2024 General Plan Annual Report after a protracted discussion about the accuracy of implementation-status entries in the report appendices.
Several councilmembers expressed concern that appendix entries list many measures as “no progress to date” despite the general plan being in place for more than a decade. Councilmember John Bridge asked staff to correct or clarify items in Appendix B/E (implementation measures) before final acceptance; he said the appendix “needs more work” and requested staff provide amended language or status updates. Councilmember Bridge indicated he was willing to compromise but asked that inaccuracies be addressed.
City staff and the city attorney explained that the annual report is a required submission to the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and that the city must provide an annual status by April 1. The attorney cautioned that changing implementation measures constitutes a general-plan amendment and would require public hearings and a formal amendment process; staff said the next regular council meeting on April 1 could be used to finalize any corrections if the council desires.
Councilmember Patrick Ball asked what penalties could arise if the report were not submitted on time; staff said the most serious potential remedy would be HCD beginning a decertification process of the housing element if the city failed the certification timeline — a drastic outcome the attorney said was unlikely for a short delay but a risk to be avoided. Councilmember Ball ultimately moved to accept staff’s recommendation and the motion passed 5–0 with a second from Bridge.
Members asked staff to return with clarifications on appendices that list implementation statuses as “no progress” and to highlight any items that should be amended as part of a formal general-plan update. Staff agreed to bring refined status language and to coordinate any required public hearings for substantive changes to implementation measures.
The accepted annual report will be the document transmitted to HCD as the city’s annual status on general-plan implementation and housing-element matters.
