Consultants present draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan; council asks for more outreach and clarity on implementation

Kathy Warren and consultant Chris Sinclair briefed the council on Oct. 14 on the near-final draft of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, describing the plan as a high-level, implementation-oriented update that focuses on redevelopment and preservation of the city's green and blue lines.

Sinclair said the plan is grounded in two years of public engagement including ten focus-group meetings, two public workshops, an online survey and more than 90 meetings with boards, commissions and community groups. He summarized consistent themes from the outreach: environmental protection and connected open spaces, multimodal travel options and walkable centers, neighborhood well-being and safety, and housing attainment and diversity.

The plan organizes the city into four context areas (rural south of the blue line; a green-line context area; inland; and a coastal area) and identifies multimodal quarters and a network of centers (regional, city, local) intended to accommodate future redevelopment and mixed-use growth without encroaching on stable single-family neighborhoods. Sinclair described a large-scale environmental and open-space framework and proposed linear-park concepts tied to the city's active-transportation priorities. The plan also points to strategic growth areas and special economic growth areas as focal points for economic development.

Consultants said the most actionable short-term implementation item is a zoning ordinance update to align regulations with the plan's center/quar- ter approach. They noted the plan should be used to inform capital investments and subsidiary master plans such as the ITA update.

Many councilors sought additional outreach and clarification. Questions included requests for more district-specific engagement, clearer population-forecast assumptions, definitions and limits for industrial uses ("light industrial" vs. "heavy industrial"), the plan's relationship to the zoning code (the plan is the policy framework; zoning is the regulatory tool), and whether the plan prioritized economic development enough relative to council's stated strategic objectives. Several council members asked staff to provide more opportunities for public input in their districts and to revisit the naming of context areas (one councilor asked the staff to consider alternatives to the —green line' label, which some found unclear).

Sinclair said staff will continue refining the draft and accept public comments through Oct. 31; the planning commission will review the final draft in December and the council could consider adoption in early 2026. Staff told council members that the council can request additional time or district-specific town-hall briefings if members feel the draft needs more public input before adoption.

No adoption vote occurred Oct. 14; the presentation was a briefing and the council asked staff to return with revisions and additional outreach options.