Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Neighborhood Plan topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Vacaville outlines Markham‑Cowan neighborhood plan; staff calls it a community‑driven roadmap, not a rezoning action
Summary
City staff described outreach and early findings for the Markham‑Cowan neighborhood plan, funded with roughly $100,000 in ARPA funds and supported by consultant Minter Harnish; staff emphasized the plan will create a community vision and recommended actions but will not itself change zoning or general plan designations.
City planning staff presented an informational update on the Markham‑Cowan neighborhood plan (staff used variant spellings during the meeting) to the Vacaville Planning Commission, describing community engagement to date, technical work underway and the plan’s role as a community‑driven roadmap rather than a regulatory rezone.
Staff said the City Council authorized a professional services agreement with consultant Minter Harnish and that staff and the consultant initiated the plan in January 2025. The project focuses on an area northeast of downtown that includes Edwin Markham Elementary School, the Boys & Girls Club, Opportunity House, a future Brown Street Park and two neighborhood shopping centers. The neighborhood plan aims to identify a vision, strategies to improve quality of life, potential opportunity sites and actions to support social and economic mobility.
Why it matters: Staff emphasized the neighborhood’s demographic profile — higher shares of renters, a younger population and a large Hispanic community — and said residents have raised concerns about safety, aging housing stock, and a lack of youth and family amenities. Commissioners noted public safety, park access and infrastructure repair as priorities raised during outreach.
Engagement, technical work and stakeholders
Stephanie (staff member) said public outreach has included bilingual materials, pop‑ups, stakeholder interviews, a neighborhood opinion survey and working with the Markham Neighborhood Association. Staff reported ongoing meetings with community groups and a technical advisory committee that includes representatives from the city manager’s office, economic development, housing and community services, police, fire, public works and parks and recreation.
Stephanie told the commission the city had used a mix of methods to reach residents in English and Spanish and that tomorrow’s scheduled community workshop would feed into a "vision, goals and recommended actions" document to be developed this summer. Staff expect to publish a draft plan in September for public review, present it to the Planning Commission and City Council in the fall, and return to City Council for final action in late 2025 or early 2026.
Questions from commissioners and staff clarifications
Commissioner Beaumont asked how the plan would address reported gang and crime activity. Stephanie said, "We are looking at a variety of different strategies. Some are community based, such as neighborhood watch, but it can also include various efforts from the police department, such as increased patrols, and other methods. Lighting is another issue that residents have raised... youth programs, we're really trying to approach it from a multifaceted approach." She added that the plan will surface a range of strategies for further consideration rather than immediate fixes.
Commissioner Banta asked whether the plan would change zoning or carry regulatory weight. Stephanie clarified: "This is not a specific plan. This is not changing the city's general plan or zoning or any of our policies, but the final report will identify, for example, opportunity sites... and it will articulate what the neighborhood's vision for those sites is." The report can inform future city actions, rezones or partnerships, but does not itself rezone land.
Budget and scope
Staff said the neighborhood planning work has a limited budget (about $100,000 in ARPA funding) and is intentionally grassroots, emphasizing door‑to‑door outreach, evening events and direct contact with residents and small businesses. That limited budget contrasts with larger state‑funded efforts such as the Peabody Allison PDA project; staff said the neighborhood plan is intended as a starting point and a community‑validated roadmap for next steps.
Ending: Staff recommended the Planning Commission receive the informational presentation. The plan will return in draft form after summer engagement; staff said the draft will identify priority actions, opportunity sites and possible follow‑up programs for council consideration.
