PlanCOS Chapter Eight: Adaptable Implementation

This Plan reflects a great deal of effort by both experts and the broader community in analyzing and thinking about the trends and assumptions that will impact our physical development, and how we expect to address them. However, we recognize that our land use future and the development market are not fully predictable. Therefore, the Plan is designed and intended to be used adaptively in response to changing conditions, circumstances, and markets. Overall alignment with the themes and goals of this Plan should be the paramount consideration.

The full power and utility of this Plan is best experienced in its online form. In this format the Plan is designed to be fully navigable, searchable, and interconnected with hyperlinks. Relevant text and graphics are designed to be easily excerpted for applicable use. The maps and graphics are interactive in order to enhance their value. Connections are available and will be maintained with other supporting documents, including the area or topic-specific plans that support this Plan and are essential to its full and effective use and implementation. 

Communication and engagement with our residents is essential to implementing the PlanCOS vision. Effective citizen input not only keeps the City informed on community preferences, but also builds a sense of community. In order to become a national leader in communications and enhanced civic engagement, the City should use this Plan to support and implement new and creative technologies and techniques for trusted, informative, and efficient communication between citizens and the City. PlanCOS supports and recommends the development and implementation of cutting edge communications tools and platforms, such as Open Data. The intent is to transparently and effectively allow citizens to learn about and comment on planning and physical development activities they are interested in or that potentially impact them. It is especially important to design these systems and strategies to effectively engage traditionally under-represented constituencies. The content of PlanCOS is expected to be used and delivered in ways that allow it to function as a constructive portal for these enhanced citizen connections.

This document is expected to be used in the development review process in accordance with City Code and particularly as described and set forth in the City’s Zoning Ordinance and its supporting documents, as these are amended. Generally, it is the intent of this Plan to be used in conjunction with higher level discretionary land use decisions in cases when the Code requires a specific finding of alignment with the Comprehensive Plan. Also, generally, the applicability of this document is intended to be most pronounced and significant with the higher level and initial stages of the development approval process (e.g. at the annexation, master plan, re-zoning, and concept plan levels).

As described in Chapter 1, the Vision Map illustrates and communicates the overall vision, themes, ideas, and priorities of PlanCOS city-wide. 

This Vision Map is intended to graphically represent key elements of our desired future in way that captures the essence of our big ideas and priorities. The Vision Map and the corresponding Framework Maps provide a high level window into our desired mix, character, and location of our neighborhoods, places, industries, transportation, utilities, cultural landmarks, and landscapes. They are advisory, not regulatory and do not replace existing zoning or development entitlements. The maps provide a starting point for conversations about city initiatives and development proposals by illustrating how specific proposals might fit into our overall community framework. 

In addition to use in development review, this Plan will be used to its fullest practical and applicable extent, as a guide to city-initiated regulatory changes, and with other projects, programs, and relevant funding choices. It is expected that this Plan will be consulted and be reflected in the priorities of the City’s Strategic Plan consistent with available resources and near term priorities. Likewise, it is expected that the highest priority recommendations of this Plan will be considered during development of annual budgets and multi-year capital improvement programs. In particular, this document should be consulted for guidance in designing both the structure and the proposed uses of funding for new and extended tax or fee ballot initiatives, including but limited to potential extensions of PPRTA or the TOPS voter-initiated funding program.

A critical and essential role of this document is to serve as a framework for future updates of the City Code including the Zoning and Subdivision Codes, both in the form of comprehensive updates and targeted revisions. In addition to the provisions of City Code most pertinent to land use, other proposed changes to Code should be evaluated for consistency with this Plan, when relevant and applicable.

PlanCOS is a high-level, long-range and city-wide plan. Its success and implementation will rely on more detailed area or topically-specific master plans and related documents. In conjunction with PlanCOS, these more detailed plans should be generally relied on for specific land use or topical guidance in cases where they remain applicable and relevant. In cases where there is a clear or potential conflict between PlanCOS and a publicly initiated master plan, all relevant documents should be applied in context, but with consideration for the overarching goals of PlanCOS. As publicly initiated master plans of various types are created or updated, the vision and goals of PlanCOS should be considered and reasonably incorporated. The Utilities Board provides direction for physical infrastructure development coordination with the Municipal Government through utilities governance policies.
In cases where a privately initiated land use master plan is approved and active for a property, that document should continue to be relied on as primary guidance for zoning and related land use and transportation decisions. However, PlanCOS should be considered and reasonably incorporated in any new or amended privately initiated land use master plans. Some of the individual master plans or categories of plans that are most pertinent to a particular chapter are highlighted in Chapters 2 through 7 of this Plan. In some cases, more specific guidance for the coordinated use of a specific plan is also provided.