Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the General Plan topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Atascadero Council reviews draft 2045 general plan; asks staff to soften rezones near existing single‑family neighborhoods
Summary
Council members and residents pressed staff to scale back proposed multifamily rezones in parts of the El Camino Real/San Benito corridor and to return with options that preserve neighborhood transitions, while staff said the plan seeks to concentrate housing where infrastructure already exists and that an EIR and fiscal analysis will follow.
The Atascadero City Council on the evening reviewed the city’s draft 2045 General Plan — branded "Authentic Atascadero" by staff — and signaled support for the plan’s overarching goals while asking staff to pull back some proposed higher‑density designations that abut long‑standing single‑family neighborhoods.
Community Development Director Phil Dunsmore presented the draft plan, describing it as a high‑level policy document that "is really generalized goals for the future of the city," not a zoning ordinance. He told the council the draft contains nine required and discretionary chapters — land use, economic development, mobility, parks and recreation, infrastructure, and a safety element — and includes new "place types" such as an "innovation and flex" zone intended to capture light‑industrial, office, and low‑intensity manufacturing uses.
The most contested proposal was a series of place‑type changes along El Camino Real and adjacent streets, where staff proposed higher densities on parcels closest to arterial streets and a stepped transition to lower density behind them. Several residents who live on Sia Road, Pino Solo and nearby streets urged the council to preserve the existing single‑family character and not to reclassify parcels to medium‑ or high‑density multifamily. "Please scale this back to ensure the future very soon project here brings growth that's authentic to this neighborhood and to Atascadero," resident Jeff Snyder told the council.
Dunsmore said some parcels were mapped for increased density because sewer and other utilities already serve those locations. "We are trying to get ahead of what the state's already allowing," he said, noting state laws such as SB 9 and recent ADU reforms influence local options. Staff repeatedly emphasized the difference between the general plan’s broad place types and the later zoning ordinance that will set exact densities, heights and design standards.
Council members asked staff to return with refined options. Several council members supported keeping higher densities on lots immediately adjacent to El Camino while converting the second tier of lots farther into the interior to single‑family residential (with smaller minimum lot sizes as an option) rather than multifamily. They also asked staff to draft explicit transition standards — including height limits and setbacks — to protect established homes.
Other topics the council asked staff to refine or add to the draft plan included: a clearer statement recognizing childcare as infrastructure and an economic mobility strategy; a short, exploratory policy on how to address non‑city‑maintained roads; an option to pursue limited downtown intensification with taller buildings allowed in core downtown; and aspirational language about undergrounding utilities and possible civic interest in the armory/Fine Arts Academy site if it becomes available.
Staff said the environmental impact report and a fiscal analysis are under way; an administrative EIR draft is expected in coming months and public review early next year. Phil Dunsmore said repeated community outreach over the last two years informed the draft and that the council still has time to ask for map and policy changes before the plan is finalized.
Votes at a glance
- Consent calendar: approved unanimously (motion by Council member Funk; second by Mayor Pro Tem DeRoz). No other formal ordinances or resolutions were voted on at this meeting.
Why it matters
The general plan sets long‑range priorities and directs future zoning and capital improvements. The council’s requested map and policy changes — particularly around neighborhood transitions, childcare and infrastructure funding — will shape later zoning updates and the EIR analysis.
What’s next
Staff will prepare revised map options and policy language to reflect council guidance, complete the fiscal analysis and release the EIR public‑review draft early next year. Community input will continue to be accepted through those processes.
