The Hollister City Council approved funding for a $519,000
contract Monday with a consulting firm on the long-awaited General
Plan Update, a project scheduled to last 12 months and to include
widespread involvement from the community.
The Hollister City Council approved funding for a $519,000 contract Monday with a consulting firm on the long-awaited General Plan Update, a project scheduled to last 12 months and to include widespread involvement from the community.
Community Development Director Bill Card, who is in charge of updating the General Plan, said he was pleased to finally get started on the year-long process.
“It’s going to set the tone for future development,” he said. “It’s a solid basis to review projects in the future.”
Card was also involved in the last update. As senior planner at the time, he joined then Community Development Director Ray Hetherington in spearheading the project.
The General Plan is the city’s top policy document on one of Hollister’s hottest topics – growth – and includes seven main elements that lay out future development for Hollister. The city has collected more than $537,000 in General Plan fees since its last update in 1995, so the entire estimated cost of the 2003 update is currently funded.
The 1995 update cost $423,000 (in 1990 dollars), according to a staff report. Card attributed the larger price tag in 2003 to more state requirements, including an environmental impact report and completion of the General Plan’s Housing Element by the end of the year.
Moore, Iacofano, Goltsman, Inc. prepared the 11-page draft proposal, which was scant compared to the anticipated textbook-length size of the completed General Plan. Card and staff selected MIG after interviewing four other companies in November.
Card said the reason for choosing MIG was its emphasis on public involvement, including a steering committee and community workshops.
The Council Monday authorized the county Planning Commission to act as the steering committee, along with appointed members of the public. The plan is part of a wider effort to further involve the community in the growth-planning process.
The first meeting of the steering committee is scheduled for 7 p.m. March 18 when the group will officially form and take applications from interested residents, Card said.
“They’re basically the ones making all the recommendations, through the Council,” Card said.
Residents can pick up applications for the General Plan steering committee at City Hall, the Planning Department or on the City of Hollister Web site, www.hollister.ca.gov, according to Card.
Aside from housing and land-use elements, which Card has called the “drivers of the plan,” the General Plan includes five other main components and one optional element.
According to plans for a city design element, residents in each neighborhood will help select a distinct personality for their sector of the city, Card said.
He said a more specific timeline for the entire process will be the responsibility of the steering committee.
