City of Oakdale : Process & Schedule

PROCESS & SCHEDULE

The current General Plan for the City of Oakdale was adopted in January 1994 and has not been comprehensively updated since its adoption. Some of the data, analyses, and policies in the 1994 plan do not fully reflect the current conditions in the City. As a result, an update of the General Plan is necessary to reflect the community's current vision for accommodating future growth and providing services within Oakdale through 2030.

The City of Oakdale initiated its General Plan Update process in spring 2009. This process will lead to a vision and series of findings that form a framework for updating the plan and directing future City planning efforts.

The General Plan Update process includes the following 4 major steps. Oakdale intends to promote an interactive process that engages the public throughout the General Plan Update process.

1. Discovery: Establishing the baseline conditions and trends from which the General Plan goals, policies, and implementation programs will be developed. This step includes preparation of:

a. the Technical Background Report; and

b. a Planning Issues Report, which includes a

compilation of opportunities and constraints

to be considered.

2. Visioning: Defining a commonly shared vision that articulates your fundamental values and aspirations for the future of Oakdale. This step includes Planning Commission/City Council study sessions and community workshops where the City's General Plan vision will emerge from the engagement of residents, elected officials, business persons, and other stakeholders. The preparation of a "vision statement" and corresponding "guiding principles" will provide the underlying influence and set of "rules" by which land use alternatives will be developed and updated plan policies will be written.

3. Alternatives & Policy Making: Defining the alternatives and the updated General Plan policies involves four basic steps:

1) specification of a growth and

conservation strategy in consideration of

the defined issues, Vision Statement, and

Guiding Principles;

2) testing of these according to their

impacts and acceptability;

3) selection of a preferred growth and

conservation strategy; and

4) formulation of policies and programs that

comprehensively address community

development, infrastructure, services, social,

environmental, and public health and

community safety issues and values.

4. Documentation: Preparing, reviewing, and approving the planning and environmental documents for the updated General Plan. This step includes preparation and approval of the City General Plan as well as certification of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR).