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La Verne study session advances General Plan update; written DEIR comments due Sept. 23
Summary
Consultants told a joint La Verne City Council and Planning Commission study session that the city’s program-level EIR and updated General Plan are nearing the end of public review; written comments are due Sept. 23. Residents urged clearer summaries and updated numbers during public comment.
The La Verne City Council and Planning Commission met in a joint study session on Sept. 16 for an update on the city’s long-running General Plan revision and the associated program-level environmental impact report (EIR).
Mayor Hepburn opened the session and turned the presentation over to Eric Shearer, the city’s community development director, who said the update traces back to work that began in 2017. Amanda Troppiano of De Novo Planning Group described the project’s scope, public outreach and technical work, saying, “This effort started in earnest in late 2017,” and that the team had refreshed technical data, held visioning workshops and collected roughly 1,000 survey responses.
Troppiano told both bodies the draft program-level EIR is in public review and urged written comments so the team can respond in the final document. “Comments are due in writing ... by next Monday, September 23 at 05:00,” she said, and she noted the planning commission public hearing is scheduled for Oct. 9 and the council hearing for Nov. 18.
Commissioners and council members pressed the consultant on the age of early visioning work and the currency of technical inputs. A planning commissioner asked, “The visionary workshops were done 7 years ago ... how are they relevant today?” Troppiano replied that the vision statement reflects durable community values, that the GPAC last formally reviewed the policy document in late 2019, and that traffic counts and other technical data had been modernized for the EIR.
During the public-comment period residents asked for clearer, more accessible materials and flagged numerical inconsistencies in the draft documents. Sherry Best of the La Verne Historical Society thanked staff for the opportunity to provide input and asked officials to “seriously consider my suggestions for changes.” Cynthia Gabaldon said many residents found the DEIR hard to navigate and stated bluntly, “Nobody understands it,” arguing the city should add a plain-language summary or an additional public-summary meeting before adoption.
Troppiano and staff emphasized that the General Plan document is the policy guide while the existing-conditions report remains a companion that can be updated without seeking a General Plan amendment. Troppiano also reminded the public of submission instructions: deliver materials to City Hall attention Planning (Miss Bocock) or email planning@cityoflaverne.org with the subject line “general plan update project DEIR comment.”
What happens next: staff and the consultant will compile and respond to written comments in the final EIR, then present the planning commission with a recommendation on Oct. 9 and the council on Nov. 18. Written comments must be received by 5 p.m. on Sept. 23 to be part of the formal DEIR record.
