DEPARTMENT: Department of Planning & Community Development
DEPARTMENT HEAD: John Dugan, AICP
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
A briefing on the current status and workplan for the City of San Antonio's three growth-related plans.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The City of San Antonio is currently in the process of creating three growth-related plans that will provide policy direction for how the City's will accommodate a projected one million additional residents twenty-five years from now, or by 2040. These plans include the Comprehensive Plan, the Strategic Multi-Modal Transportation Plan, and the Sustainability Plan.
City Council approved funding in the FY 2013, FY 2014, and FY 2015 Budgets and the FY 2016 Budget-Plan for professional services to assist in the development of the three growth-related plans. Funding for the Comprehensive Plan includes $250,000 in both the FY 2013 and FY 2014 General Fund Budgets. Funding for the Transportation Plan includes $500,000 of General Fund funding in both the FY 2015 Budget and FY 2016 Budget-Plan. In addition, the Metropolitan Planning Organization awarded the City of San Antonio $2 million for the Transportation Plan. Lastly, funding for the Sustainability Plan in amount of $200,000 was included in the FY 2015 Budget from the Sustainability Restricted Fund.
Mayor Taylor on August 1, 2014 convened the Comprehensive Planning Committee (CPC). The charge of the Committee, chaired by Councilman Nirenberg, is to establish and oversee a community-based process to guide the delivery and implementation of a Comprehensive Plan for the City of San Antonio. The City Council Comprehensive Planning Committee has held three meetings since its formation on August 28, September 25, and October 23, 2014. During this time they have discussed the roles and responsibilities of the Committee, the oversight structure for the Comprehensive Plan effort, and the progress of the established workplans.
The City Council Infrastructure and Growth Committee chaired by Councilman Saldana has received regular briefing-updates on the work of the CPC since its inception. Specifically, the Infrastructure and Growth Committee has received briefing-updates during their meetings held on October 15, and November 19, 2014. These briefing-updates will be recurring each month into the future.
Consultant Scopes of Work
Comprehensive Plan
City Council approved the contract for services from Economic and Planning Systems, Inc. (EPS) in September 2013 to produce studies on: 1) Infill Development Capacity Analysis; 2) Future Jobs and Economic Opportunity inside the City Limits; and, 3) Alternative Scenarios and Fiscal Impact. The Planning & Community Development Department has reviewed the first two of these three studies and anticipates completion of the third study by December 2014. In October 2014, City Council approved a professional services agreement with Moore, Iacofano, Goltsman, Inc. (MIG) for consultant services pertaining to development the Comprehensive Plan utilizing, in part, the work of EPS. The scope of work for this contract includes a current policy review, an existing conditions report, six policy papers, a public engagement framework, urban design illustrations, and a comprehensive plan document.
Strategic Multi-Modal Transportation Plan
In October 2014, City Council approved a contract with Parsons Brinckerhoff for creation of the City's first Strategic Multi-Modal Transportation Plan. The plan will articulate the City's transportation strategy to prepare the City for projected demographics and associated infrastructure capacity through 2040. The plan will update the City's overarching transportation policy as a component of the Comprehensive Plan. The plan will also conduct travel demand modeling and corridor analysis to create a needs assessment for the transportation system. From the needs assessment, projects will be identified and a project prioritization system developed. Also, as part of the Strategic Multi-Modal Transportation Plan, an update to the more detailed polices of the City's Major Thoroughfare Plan will be developed.
Sustainability Plan
The City of San Antonio released in November 2014 a Request for Proposals for professional services to assist in the development of the Sustainability Plan. It is anticipated that a staff recommendation for consultant services will be presented to City Council in January 2015. The San Antonio Sustainability Plan is a long-range plan and process that will address San Antonio's generational challenges around air and water quality; community health and resilience; and, climate change. The Plan will identify key sustainability indicators in social, environmental, and economic areas and establish community and municipal targets in order to track progress.
ISSUE:
This item will provide a staff briefing on the current status and future workplan for the City of San Antonio's three growth-related plans including the Comprehensive Plan, the Strategic Multi-Modal Transportation Plan, and the Sustainability Plan.
This City Council "B" Session will be the first of recurring quarterly "B" Session briefings to the entire City Council on the progress and future work associated with developing and completing the growth plans.
Significant milestones are scheduled for all three growth-related plans during the first quarter of 2015.
It is projected that the three growth-related plans will be completed by the Spring of 2016.
ALTERNATIVES:
N/A
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this briefing.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council receive briefings on the current status and workplan for the City of San Antonio's three growth-related plans.