’Santa Fe Forward’ general plan rollout emphasizes broad bilingual engagement, microgrants for community partners

City planning staff and consultants from WSP presented the public-launch materials for the Santa Fe general plan update — branded “Santa Fe Forward” — at the Planning Commission meeting Jan. 16, 2025. Staff characterized the effort as a three-year planning process to update the city’s long-range policy framework and said the process will prioritize broad, bilingual and equity-centered public engagement.

Janice Biletnikoff, strategic planner in the Land Use Department, introduced the general plan update and said the last comprehensive update took place about 25 years ago. She said the plan will set long-term policy goals for housing, transportation, economic development, infrastructure and climate preparedness and that staff expects the process to produce a policy roadmap linking vision, goals and implementation strategies.

WSP’s Nick Fazio and national planning lead Manjeet (Majid) Renu described the public engagement approach: a community partner program that compensates local organizations through microgrants, a technical working group of roughly 15 locally knowledgeable advisors, public open houses and digital engagement, bilingual materials and a strategy to align the general plan outreach with the city’s concurrent land development code update. Fazio emphasized “broad engagement” and “equitable engagement,” saying the outreach will actively seek voices that historically have not participated in planning processes.

Staff said the first public deliverable will be an assessment report compiling existing conditions, public input, and policy needs. The timeline presented shows staff are currently in a mobilization and understanding phase and plan a public website launch on Feb. 3 (soft launch Jan. 29). Biletnikoff said the assessment report will include interactive maps, an executive summary and scenario planning tools to test neighborhood-scale concepts.

The community partner idea includes a voluntary roster of nonprofit organizations that will be compensated to help convene and gather input. The technical working group will advise staff and the project team on analysis, gaps and local expertise. Staff said all engagement materials and many participation options will be available in English and Spanish; staff also acknowledged there may be other community language needs and pledged to provide accessibility options.

Commissioners asked about the Planning Commission’s formal role; staff said the commission will receive frequent check-backs, text drafts and proposed policies and will make a recommendation before the plan is forwarded to the governing body. Staff and consultants said they will coordinate closely with the land development code update team to avoid confusion for the public.

Ending: Staff said the project website will go live Feb. 3 at santafeforward.org and that commissioners and the public can request briefings; no formal action or vote occurred at the Jan. 16 meeting.