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Planning updates: ADU preapproved plans, CEQA changes and Transmontane environmental review delay
Summary
Acting Planning Manager Avery Stark briefed RNCC on the new IMS permitting portal, release of four preapproved ADU plan sets and toolkit, forthcoming safety/noise element updates, state CEQA changes (AB 130, SB 131) and that the Transmontane project’s initial study needs more VMT analysis before it proceeds to public review.
Avery Stark, acting planning manager for the City of Richmond, told the RNCC on July 14 that the planning division and partner departments have moved into a new permitting system (IMS) that gives residents greater access to permit materials and neighborhood reports online.
Stark said the department will release an ADU toolkit and four preapproved ADU plan sets (one‑ and two‑bedroom variants, four styles) to help homeowners reduce costs and speed accessory dwelling unit construction. The plans will be posted to the city’s ADU page and the presenter said the ADU page is being updated daily as the release is finalized.
On broader planning work, Stark said the city is updating the safety and noise element of the general plan to incorporate recent state mandates and to align with fire‑severity mapping. She also described ongoing work on the sixth‑cycle housing element and related zoning code updates required to comply with RHNA and state housing law.
Stark flagged two statewide changes: AB 130 and SB 131 (budget trailer bills signed by the governor) that revise parts of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Those bills expand CEQA exemptions for certain infill housing, advanced manufacturing, transit‑oriented development and some wildfire mitigation projects, she said, and advised residents they could ask staff for more detail.
On local projects she provided a status update: the Transmontane project remains under internal review because the draft initial study/mitigated negative declaration needs further traffic analysis under the state’s vehicle‑miles‑traveled (VMT) standard; when complete the document will be published for public review and comment. Regarding Crane Way, Stark said the current pickleball leaseholder has ceased operations at the site and that the city attorney and staff are in ongoing discussions about next steps, including any lease transfer or future operations.
Stark also announced that one planner, Christy Ellabrook, had left the department to start graduate school and that planning is operating with a vacancy.
Ending: Stark encouraged neighborhood councils to create IMS accounts to track developments in their areas and said the department will post planning commission and public‑review materials as they become available.
