Riverside staff lay out Riverside 2050 general-plan update and climate action work to Cultural Heritage Board

City planning staff presented the Riverside 2050 comprehensive general plan update and its companion Climate Action and Adaptation Plan to the Cultural Heritage Board on Dec. 17, outlining the project scope, early findings from a 2023 greenhouse-gas inventory and the public-engagement approach ahead of draft maps and policies set for public review next spring.

Matthew Taylor, principal planner, said the general-plan update will be a 20–25 year blueprint that includes required elements under California law — housing, land use, public safety, circulation and noise — plus optional elements Riverside plans to include such as arts, culture and historic preservation. "This is our comprehensive general plan update and climate action and adaptation plan project," Taylor said, explaining the city will rewrite zoning, review about 20 specific plans and identify 14 special focus areas (two in each council ward) for tailored policy work.

Fortino Morales, the city’s sustainability manager and co-project manager for the climate plan, reviewed the greenhouse-gas inventory and methodology used. Morales said the inventory used 2023 as the baseline…