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Rohnert Park council certifies EIR and adopts Rohnert Park 2040 General Plan
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Summary
The Rohnert Park City Council on April 28 certified the program-level environmental impact report and adopted the Rohnert Park 2040 General Plan, approving policies on housing, transportation and climate while noting some impacts (greenhouse gases, construction noise and vehicle miles traveled) remain significant and unavoidable.
The Rohnert Park City Council on April 28 certified the environmental impact report for the Rohnert Park 2040 General Plan and adopted the plan itself, concluding a multiyear update that staff said began in 2018.
Consultant Barry Miller and senior planner Elliot Pickett summarized the plan as a 15- to 20-year blueprint covering land use, housing, transportation, conservation, climate and public facilities. The updated document adds optional elements the council prioritized, including racial, social and environmental justice and a new economic development element, and shows focused areas for growth such as new downtown and Southwest Boulevard mixed-use designations.
The council certified the program-level EIR and adopted related CEQA findings and a mitigation-monitoring program (resolution 2026-030). Miller told the council the EIR identified impacts that remain "significant and unavoidable" even after mitigation, specifically greenhouse gas emissions, construction noise and an increase in vehicle miles traveled per capita; the resolution includes a statement of overriding considerations that balances those impacts against anticipated social and economic benefits.
Council members asked for clarifying edits and additional implementation actions before adoption; staff offered four amendments the council agreed to add by reference: (1) strengthen language to "strongly encourage" appointed boards, committees and commissions to advance racial and social equity goals; (2) direct staff to evaluate strategies to support public art, including possible restoration of public-art set‑asides in the capital improvements program; (3) add electric‑vehicle training program certification language to the plan’s EV infrastructure action; and (4) add a program to develop landscape palettes that support fire‑resistant and drought‑tolerant landscaping and continue landscape plan review during development review.
After the amendments were read into the record, the council adopted the EIR certification and the general plan by recorded vote. The clerk recorded both motions as passing 4–0–1 (Council member Rodriguez absent). The planning commission had recommended adoption at a March 12 public hearing.
The plan will guide future zoning and project findings; staff said implementation matrices in each element identify responsible parties and timelines for actions. The council did not schedule a separate final adoption ceremony, and staff said the next procedural steps are to integrate adopted programs into workplans and annual reporting.
