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Community development director reviews land-use framework, housing progress and specific plans
Summary
Pam Johns, community development director, outlined Folsom's planning framework, specific plans, CEQA process and the city's progress toward its housing allocation during a Feb. 28 workshop.
Pam Johns, Folsom's Community Development Director, told the City Council Feb. 28 that the city's land-use framework relies on state planning law, the general plan and zoning code, and a mix of specific plans and area plans that together govern development and consistency reviews.
Johns reviewed the hierarchy of laws and plans that apply to land use: state statutes and the Government Code, the Subdivision Map Act, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Brown Act (meeting law), the Mitigation Fee Act and local implementation through Folsom's general plan and zoning code. She said specific plans apply to roughly one-third of the city's land area and that several large master-planned areas were annexed and developed under those plans.
Johns told the council the city had completed approximately half of its total unit allocation for the current housing cycle and had made progress on lower-income unit obligations, noting the city is roughly three-and-a-half years into an eight-year regional housing cycle. "From an above-moderate perspective, we've provided all the housing we were expected to provide," Johns said, noting the state will monitor progress and ask what further measures the city will take to meet allocations for lower-income units.
She also discussed how the city handles discretionary review, appeals and environmental review. Most discretionary land-use decisions are subject to public hearing; director- or commission-level decisions can be appealed to the council within 10 days, and council decisions are final unless challenged in court. The city contracts with consultants for technical CEQA work, and developers generally fund the required environmental analyses.
Johns reviewed specific-area planning in Folsom, including the River District and Central Business District vision plans, and noted that older master plans (for example, the historic district and earlier master-planned neighborhoods) sometimes contain provisions that are inconsistent with newer zoning or standards; staff said they have addressed many inconsistencies but will continue to refine rules as needed.
On deed-restricted affordable housing, Johns explained that the city can require deed restrictions when it provides financing or loan support (for example, housing trust funds) and that recent general-plan amendments included deed-restriction commitments for certain sites in the South of Highway 50 plan area. When affordable projects are privately financed without city participation, the property owner may not accept a city deed restriction unless they request city funding or the council requires it as part of an approval condition.
Ending: Johns said the department will continue to bring forward zoning-code updates, monitor housing progress, and pursue targeted area-plan and vision-plan work as directed by council.
(There were no land-use approvals or final actions recorded during the workshop; the session was informational.)
