Bakersfield planning staff outlines timeline for Title 17 amendments, EIR scoping and general plan draft

Development Services Director Phil Burns told the City of Bakersfield Planning Commission on March 5 that staff will bring 12 proposed Title 17 amendments to the April 2 commission meeting as part of work promised under the city’s recently adopted housing element.

"Staff has been diligently working on our housing element that we finally adopted end of last year," Burns said, and added that the amendments relate to programs and changes tied to that housing element. He said a notice of preparation for the general plan Environmental Impact Report has been released and that an EIR scoping meeting is scheduled for March 10 at 5:30 p.m. in the chambers.

Burns gave a timeline for the next steps: staff expects to deliver a draft general plan in May, and is aiming to have the commission consider adoption of the draft by July 2026; the draft EIR is expected in late July to early August 2026. He told commissioners the Title 17 items are ‘‘in relationship to programs and changes that were promised as part of the housing element.’’

The announcement signals the beginning of a multistep public review process that will include at least one scoping meeting and subsequent hearings before the commission and other review bodies. The transcript records that the notice of preparation went out "on Saturday, September 28," but the year for that date is not specified in the meeting record.

Next procedural steps noted by staff are the March 10 EIR scoping meeting at 5:30 p.m., the April 2 Planning Commission meeting for consideration of Title 17 amendments, and the expected May delivery of a draft general plan. Additional public notices and staff reports were not detailed in the meeting record.