Santa Rosa planning commission forwards 2024 general plan annual report to City Council

The Santa Rosa City Planning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend the city—s 2024 general plan annual report be forwarded to the City Council as written.

The report, presented by planning staff, summarizes work across the general plan elements in 2024 and, if accepted by council, will be submitted to the state Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, the presenter said. "Following council review and acceptance of the report, it will be submitted to the state office of Land Use and Climate Innovation," Planning staff member Sheila Eswalski told commissioners.

Why it matters: the annual report compiles the city—s progress on housing, economic vitality, transportation, public safety and parks and serves as the basis for state reporting, tracking of Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) progress and elements of the general plan the city is updating.

Key housing highlights: the housing element (adopted February 2023) covers the eight-year cycle through 2031. Staff listed multiple affordable and market-rate projects under construction or completed in 2024, including Mahonia Glen (99 units, including farmworker units, processed under SB 35), South Park Commons (62 units, affordable, SB 35), the Cannery (129 affordable units, SB 35), Fountain Grove Apartments (239 units across six buildings) and the 420 Mendocino project (eight stories, nearing completion and marketed as "the Felix"). Other approved projects noted in the report include Cornerstone (114 units), Cherry Ranch (67 units) and Lance Drive (described by staff as a project with 672 multifamily units, 98 small-lot single-family dwellings and 4,800 square feet of retail).

The report shows 297 residential building permits were issued in 2024. Staff said 156 were Reserve A allotments and 141 were Reserve B. The city—s growth management ordinance, adopted in 1992, caps residential allotments at 800 per year (two reserves of 400 each); staff told commissioners the general plan update proposes removing the growth management element because it can conflict with RHNA objectives. The commission asked staff to clarify the interaction between growth management allotments and RHNA in future reports.

Affordable housing revenue and funding constraints: staff said all 297 permits issued in 2024 were for market-rate units; $1,520,000 in in-lieu fees from the inclusionary housing program were collected in 2024 to support affordable development and rehabilitation. Commissioners and staff discussed the practical challenge that affordable housing developers often must assemble multiple state and federal financing sources, which increases cost and complexity.

Economic vitality and downtown: the report notes the city adopted an economic development strategy in April 2024 and has piloted a business concierge program and a work cafe at City Hall intended as a one-stop service for business permitting and advising. Staff reported ongoing engagement with the owners of Montgomery Village Shopping Center on permit processing and preliminary discussions with the United Soccer League about professional teams. Downtown activations described in the report include pop-up retail in empty storefronts, one-hour free parking in city garages, a free-holiday-weekends parking pilot, permanent wayfinding signage in Railroad Square and installation of Tivoli-style string lights on Fourth Street.

Transportation and transit: the report highlights bicycle and pedestrian improvements (Class 2 and Class 4 bike lanes and added rectangular rapid flashing beacons) and regional coordination through the Marin-Sonoma Coordinated Transit Service Plan (Mascots). The Youth Unlimited Rides program, which offers free CityBus service to youth, grew from about 198,000 rides per year before 2021 to 456,867 rides in the most recent reporting period, staff said.

Public safety and services: staff reported 28,358 fire calls in 2024 (69% medical) and approximately $10.5 million in fire losses from 135 fires. Police responded to 117,848 calls for service in 2024; staff said more than 390 firearms were recovered in criminal investigations, including 124 personally manufactured "ghost" guns, a 125% increase over the prior year.

Water, open space and parks: the city—s water supply is primarily provided by Sonoma Water (Russian River). Staff noted the city—s Urban Water Management Plan (last adopted by the state Department of Water Resources in 2021) and an existing water shortage contingency plan. Parks work cited in the report includes the completed acquisition for the Southeast Greenway (sale closed in 2024) and improvements at Findlay Aquatic Center, where a new spray ground with 15 interactive features and shaded picnic areas is expected to open in summer 2025. The Creek Stewardship Program logged 9,968 resident volunteer participants and removal of roughly 1,160 cubic yards of debris in the last fiscal year.

Climate and waste: staff said the city prepared a draft community-wide greenhouse gas reduction strategy that will replace the municipal and prior community climate action plans and will be the primary document measuring progress toward Santa Rosa—s 2045 climate neutrality objective. On waste reduction, Recology Sonoma Marin—s zero-waste team conducted 104 site visits, provided 187 trainings, initiated recycling at 40 new establishments and launched composting programs for 166 accounts in 2024; commissioners asked staff to report compliance status on state short-lived climate pollutant requirements (SB 1383) at a future meeting.

Parks and cultural items: staff reported the Roseland Community Park environmental review is complete and that first-phase street-frontage and pathway work may begin this calendar year. The city also has scanned the Azawa fountain panels digitally and plans 3-D printing of bronze panels this summer; contractor Hugh Futrell has submitted building permit designs, staff said. The report also notes the city sent a street-performer survey and that 285 performers had applied for permits over recent years.

Program pilots and administration: staff said the business concierge program is in a pilot phase with a small-business ombudsman identified. The Youth Unlimited Rides program is funded through June 2025 and staff said it may continue with Go Sonoma funding; commissioners discussed the program—s potential role in reducing transportation emissions.

Commission discussion and follow-up requests: commissioners asked staff for additional year-over-year comparisons (for police response times, climate action items and other metrics), updates on whether growth management rules will limit large dense projects downtown, more detail on low-income and very low-income production barriers, and follow-up data on SB 1383 compliance.

Vote and next step: the motion was made by Vice Chair Duggan and seconded by Commissioner Sanders to recommend the report be forwarded to the City Council "as written." The commission recorded seven ayes (Commissioners Carter, Sisco, Horton, Pardo, Sanders, Vice Chair Duggan and Chair Weeks); the motion passed and staff will transmit the report to the City Council for consideration.

Ending note: staff asked commissioners to submit any written comments on the report; Eswalski provided a contact email for follow-up questions (Eswalski@srcity.org).