General Plan Themes
and Key Initiatives
The Draft Concord General Plan Update document has incorporated the ideas identified in the objectives listed above, but more than that, it will articulate a vision for Concord for the next 25 years, and outline policies and programs to attain this vision. This General Plan is intended to carry out the following themes and key initiatives:
- Integrating economic development into the General Plan.
The new Economic Vitality Element brings the City's Economic Vitality Strategy into the General Plan and underscores the City's goals for fiscal health, a strong regional center, a vibrant downtown, retail strength and responsible reuse of the Concord Naval Weapons Station. - Providing for balanced growth at the Concord Naval Weapons Station.
The Plan shows how the vast and diverse lands of the Concord Naval Weapons Station could serve as an important regional open space resource as well as a place to accommodate Concord 's need for new jobs, housing, parks and community facilities. - Protecting community assets.
The plan renews the City's commitment to protect and enhance its community assets, including quiet neighborhoods with distinctive character, a strong sense of community, a diverse population, high quality building design, convenient shopping, broad choice in employment and entertainment, a family atmosphere with excellent recreational activities, and job opportunities close to where people live. - Supporting mixed use development and transit-supportive land uses around BART stations and in commercial corridors with bus service.
The plan promotes mixed use development around both of Concord 's BART stations and along arterial streets on underused or abandoned retail sites to create more vitality in these commercial corridors. Adjacent neighborhoods will be protected by buffering standards to avoid adverse impacts. - Protecting ridgelines, visible hillsides and significant environmental resources.
With the extended planning area, policies are intended to protect ridgelines, visible hillsides and other significant natural resource areas from development that would have undesirable environmental or visual impacts. - Creating a safe and efficient multi-modal transportation system.
The plan establishes a comprehensive set of principles and policies to enhance the existing system and promote a well-integrated and coordinated transit network and safe and convenient pedestrian and bicycle circulation. - Preserving and enhancing environmental resources.
Plan policies call for an interconnected open space system, restoration of degraded resources, protection of creeks and wetlands, and water conservation. - Providing effective disaster response and planning.
A significant new initiative will be preparation of a Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan, consistent with the guidelines for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Disaster Act of 2000. - Planning for environmental justice.
The City will plan for the equitable distribution of community facilities and services to meet the needs of all segments of the population and provide services for special needs that increase and enhance the community's quality of life while avoiding over-concentration in any one area
