Pleasant Hill BART

Specific Plan

PURPOSE AND DEFINITION OF THE SPECIFIC PLAN
State law authorizes cities and counties with complete general plans to prepare and adopt specific plans (Government Code Sections 65450 et seq.). These plans have developed as a bridge between the local general plan and individual development proposals, and contain both planning policies and regulations. They often combine zoning regulations, capital improvement programs, detailed development standards, and other regulatory schemes into one document which can be tailored to meet the needs of the specific area.

In accordance with Government Code Section 65451, a specific plan must include "a text and a diagram or diagrams which specify all of the following in detail:"

(1) The distribution, location, and extent of the uses of land, including open space, within the area covered by the plan.

(2) The proposed distribution, location, and extent and intensity of major components of public and private transportation, sewage, water, drainage, solid waste disposal, energy, and other essential facilities proposed to be located within the area covered by the plan and needed to support the land uses described in the plan.

(3) Standards and criteria by which development will proceed, and standards for the conservation, development, and utilization of natural resources, where applicable.

(4) A program of implementation measures including regulations, programs, public works projects, and financing measures necessary to carry out paragraphs (1), (2), and (3).

Government Code Section 65451 further states that a specific plan "shall include a statement of the relationship of the specific plan to the general plan."

MANDATORY REVIEW
The original 1983 Specific Plan required that the Plan be automatically reviewed by the agency or agencies responsible for implementation according to the following schedule:

1. After approval of a minimum of a total of 1.5 million gross square feet of commercial/office development within the Specific Plan Area or within the immediate market area within 2,000 feet of the Specific Plan Area; or

2. By January 1, 1990, whichever occurred first.

The Specific Plan Review was to include an assessment of the major impacts of permitted but not yet approved development. This Amended and Restated Pleasant Hill BART Station Area Specific Plan acknowledges that this mandatory review was completed and adopted by the Board of Supervisors in July, 1988.