Monterey Municipal Code Art. 1 General Plan

a.The Planning Commission shall prepare, and the City Council shall adopt, a comprehensive, long-term General Plan for the physical development of the City, and of any land outside its boundaries which in the Commissioners’ judgment bears relation to its planning.

b.The General Plan shall consist of a statement of development policies and shall include diagrams, maps, tables, and text setting forth objectives, principles, standards, and Plan proposals. The Plan shall include the following elements, as provided in Section 65302 of the State Government Code:

1.Land use element

2.Circulation element

3.Housing element

4.Conservation element

5.Open space element

6.Seismic safety element

7.Noise element

8.Scenic highway element

9.Safety element

These elements may be combined at the discretion of the City.

c.The General Plan may include the following elements or any part or phase thereof, as provided in Section 65303 of the State Government Code:

1.Recreation element

2.Transportation element

3.Transit element

4.Public services and facilities element

5.Public buildings element

6.Community design element

7.Redevelopment element

8.Historical preservation element

9.Such additional elements dealing with other subjects which, in the judgment of the Planning Commission, relate to the physical development of the City. (Ord. 3599 § 17, 2019. Formerly 26-11)

a.The Planning Commission shall hold at least one public hearing before approving the General Plan or any part, element, or amendment thereof. Notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given at least ten calendar days before the hearing. Notice shall be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the City. In addition to notice by circulation, the City may give notice of the hearing in such other manner as it may deem necessary or desirable. Any hearing may be continued from time to time.

b.The approval by the Planning Commission of the General Plan or any part, element or amendment thereof, shall be by resolution of the Commission carried by the affirmative votes of not less than a majority of its total members.

c.Upon approval by the Planning Commission of the General Plan or any part, element or amendment thereof, it shall be transmitted to the City Council.

d.Before adopting the General Plan or any part, element, or amendment thereof, the City Council shall hold at least one public hearing. Notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given in the time and manner provided for the giving of notice of the hearing by the Planning Commission in subsection (a) above. Any hearing may be continued from time to time.

e.In adopting a General Plan or any part, element, or amendment thereof which has been approved by the Planning Commission, the City Council may approve, modify, or disapprove the recommendation of the Planning Commission. Any modification of the proposed Plan, part, element or amendment thereof by the City Council not previously considered by the Planning Commission during its hearings shall first be referred to the Commission for report and recommendation. The Planning Commission shall not be required to hold a public hearing. Failure of the Commission to report within 40 days after the referral by the Council, or such longer period as may be designated by the Council, shall be deemed to be approval thereof.

f.When it deems it to be in the public interest, the City Council may change or add to all or part of the adopted General Plan. The City Council shall first refer the proposed change or addition to the Planning Commission for a report. Before making such report, the Commission shall hold at least one hearing on the proposed change or addition. Notice of the time and place of such hearing shall be given in the time and manner specified in subsection (a). The Planning Commission’s report shall be completed not later than 90 days after the referral.

g.The adoption of the General Plan or any part, element, or amendment thereof, shall be by resolution of the City Council. (Ord. 3599 § 17, 2019. Formerly 26-12)

a.After the City Council has adopted all or part of the General Plan, the Planning Commission shall:

1.Investigate and make recommendations to the City Council on the reasonable and practical means for putting into effect the General Plan or part thereof, in order that it will serve as a pattern and guide for:

i.The orderly physical growth and development of the City.

ii.The preservation and conservation of open space land.

iii.The efficient expenditure of its funds relating to the subjects of the General Plan. The measures recommended may include plans, regulations, financial reports and capital budgets.

2.Render an annual report to the City Council on the status of the General Plan and progress in its application.

3.Endeavor to promote public interest in and understanding of the General Plan, and regulations relating to it.

4.Consult and advise with public officials and agencies, public utility companies, civic, educational, professional and other organizations, and citizens generally with relation to carrying out the General Plan.

b.Each City officer, department, board, or commission, and each governmental body, commission or board, including the governing body of any special district or school district, whose jurisdiction lies wholly or partially within the City, whose functions include recommending, preparing plans for, or constructing major public works, shall submit to the Planning Commission a list of the proposed public works recommended for planning, initiation or construction during the ensuing fiscal year. The Department of Plans and Public Works shall list and classify all such recommendations and shall prepare a coordinated program of proposed public works for the ensuing fiscal year. This program shall be reviewed by the Planning Commission and a report shall be made to the City Council on the conformity of this program with the General Plan.

c.No real property shall be acquired by dedication or otherwise for street, square, park of other public purposes, and no real property shall be disposed of, no street shall be vacated or abandoned, and no public building or structure shall be constructed or authorized, if the adopted General Plan or part thereof applies thereto, until the location, purpose and extent of such acquisition or disposition, such street vacation, or abandonment, or such public building or structure have been submitted to and reported upon by the Planning Commission as to conformity with the General Plan or part thereof. The Commission shall render its report as to conformity with the General Plan within 40 days after the matter is submitted to it, or such longer period of time as may be designated by the City Council. These provisions shall not apply to:

1.Disposition of the remainder of a larger parcel which was acquired and used in part for street purposes.

2.Acquisitions, dispositions, or abandonments for street widening.

3.Minor street alignment projects. (Ord. 3599 § 17, 2019; Ord. 3424 § 1, 2009. Formerly 26-13)

a.The Planning Commission may prepare area plans as elements of the General Plan.

b.Area plans should relate the Citywide policies and programs of the General Plan to particular neighborhoods or other areas of the City.

c.The policies and implementation programs in area plans should be more specific and for a shorter time frame than the General Plan.

d.Area plans should be used to involve the residents of an area in shaping the future development of their neighborhood.

e.Area plans are not the same as specific plans discussed in Section 26-5. Area plans are essentially policy plans like the General Plan. They do not include the detailed development regulations that are found in specific plans.

f.Area plans shall be adopted according to the same procedures used in the adoption of General Plan elements specified in Section 26-2. To be consistent with the General Plan, area plans shall be developed in the context of the Citywide goals, policies and programs in the other applicable elements of the General Plan.

g.Area plans adopted as elements of the General Plan shall be used in determining zoning or subdivision consistency when considering individual development proposals. (Ord. 3599 § 17, 2019. Formerly 26-14)

a. Authority for and scope of specific plans.

1.The Planning Commission may prepare specific plans based on the General Plan and recommend such plans to the City Council for adoption.

2.Specific plans shall include such regulations and programs as may be required for the systematic execution of the General Plan.

3.The City Council or the Planning Commission may designate areas within the City for which the development of a specific plan will be necessary or convenient to the implementation of the General Plan.

4.Such specific plans shall include all detailed regulations, conditions and programs including but not limited to the following:

i.The location of housing, business, industry, open space, agriculture, recreation facilities, educational facilities, churches and related religious facilities, public buildings and grounds, solid and liquid waste disposal facilities, together with regulations establishing height, bulk and setback limits for such buildings and facilities, including the location of areas, such as flood plains or excessively steep or unstable terrain, where no building will be permitted in the absence of adequate precautionary measures being taken to reduce the level of risk to that comparable with adjoining and surrounding areas.

ii.The location and extent of existing or proposed streets and roads, their names or numbers, the tentative proposed widths with reference to prospective standards for their construction and maintenance, and the location and standards of construction, maintenance and use of all other transportation facilities, whether public or private.

iii.Standards for population density and building density, including lot size, permissible types of construction, and provisions for water supply, sewage disposal, storm water drainage and the disposal of solid waste.

iv.Standards for the conservation, development, and utilization of natural resources, including underground and surface water, forests, vegetation and soils, rivers, creeks and streams, and fish and wildlife resources. Such standards shall include, where applicable, procedures for flood control, for prevention and control of pollution of rivers, streams, creeks, and other waters, regulations of land use in stream channels and other areas which may have a significant effect on fish, wildlife and other natural resources of the area, the prevention, control and correction of soil erosion caused by subdivision roads or any other sources, and the protection of watershed areas.

v.The implementation of all applicable provisions of the open space element.

vi.Such other measures as may be necessary or convenient to insure the execution of the General Plan.

5.When a application for approval of a specific plan is submitted to the City by a private property owner, the City shall estimate the costs to be incurred in reviewing and processing the plan. Before the application is accepted as complete, the property owner shall pay to the City this estimated amount. The City staff shall keep a complete record of costs incurred in the review and processing of the plan. After the City Council takes final action on the plan, the property owner shall either pay or be refunded any difference between the costs actually incurred by the City and the estimated amount paid when the application was submitted.

6.No environmental impact report or negative declaration need be filed for any residential project, including any land subdivision or zoning change, which is undertaken pursuant to and in conformity with a specific plan of which an environmental impact report has been certified.

b. Procedure for adoption of specific plans and regulations.Specific plans shall be adopted according to the same procedures used in the adoption of General Plan elements specified in Section 26-2 of this Chapter.

c. Administration of specific plans and regulations.

1.The City Council may determine and establish administrative rules and procedures for the application and enforcement of specific plans.

The City Council may delegate such functions, powers, and duties to the Planning Commission as may be necessary or desirable.

2.No public works, including public works of other agencies and special districts, shall be constructed within any territory for which the City Council has adopted a specific plan until the matter has been referred to the Planning Commission for a report as to conformity with such plan unless one of the following conditions applies:

i.A street has been accepted, opened, or has otherwise received the legal status of a public street prior to the adoption of the plan

ii.A street corresponds with streets shown on a subdivision map or record of survey approved by the City Council.

iii.A street corresponds with streets shown on a subdivision map or record of survey approved by the City Council.

Such report shall be submitted to the City Council within 40 days after the matter was referred to the Planning Commission. (Ord. 3599 § 17, 2019. Formerly 26-15)

Proposed subdivisions and land uses shall be denied if they are not consistent with the objectives, policies, general land uses and programs specified in the General Plan and any area plans or specific plans adopted in conformance with the General Plan. Prior to the adoption, change, addition, or amendment by the City Council of a land use of any kind for the area encompassed by the March 16, 1976 Monterey II plan or any portion thereof, the proposed plan must be approved by the voters of the City of Monterey. Section 26-6 as here amended shall control any inconsistent city code sections.

Approval of the adoption, change, addition, or amendment of such a plan for the Monterey II area shall be by a majority of votes cast at an election. (Measure M - Special Election - 2/23/82) (Ord. 3599 § 17, 2019. Formerly 26-16)