One of the useful aspects of this new general plans is it gives the city an opportunity to discuss and implement long term solutions to its current municipal troubles.
One example of the new approach to municipal land planning is the acres of industrial land. In the past, the county had tried to prevent the industrially zoned acres from being converted into residential. But powerful interests insisted the conversions continued, and they did. However, creating housing with no jobs is problematic, so the new plan “states loud and clear… that we need to manage land use differently.”
The new development strategy will create denser, taller housing and commercial areas, which prompts greater tax revenues to pay for services. The plan should be voted on today.
From the San Jose Mercury News:
Jobs before housing. People before cars.
After 51 task force meetings, seven community workshops and 125 “outreach sessions” stretching over four years, San Jose’s Planning Department will cross the finish line at Tuesday’s City Council meeting with that message when it delivers a blueprint of what San Jose will look and feel like in the decades to come.
Called Envision San Jose 2040, the city’s fourth general plan since the mid-1970s is the community’s land-use constitution. The report lays out a long-term vision for the amount, type and phasing of development needed to meet the city’s social, economic and environmental goals.
Read the full article here.