After extensive outreach, over 60 community engagement opportunities and input from over 4,000 participants on the project, the City’s plan for the next 20 years will be presented to City Council on approval Feb. 27.
In 2019, the City of Sacramento launched the Sacramento 2040 project, a comprehensive initiative aimed at updating both the General Plan and the Climate Action & Adaptation Plan (CAAP). The General Plan and CAAP serves as a visionary “blueprint” for the city’s urban development and preservation, shaping the trajectory of growth over the next two decades.
Every city and county is required to provide a general plan to prepare for growth and change. So, what makes Sacramento 2040 stand out from other cities? We spoke with Amy Yang City, associate planner and deputy project manager, to discuss highlights for the Sacramento plan.
Question: How does this project specifically affect Sacramentans?
Response: The 2040 General Plan and CAAP aim to address many of the pressing issues facing our community. This includes supporting the development of more attainable housing types, increasing housing near transit, and prioritizing investments in underinvested neighborhoods. The CAAP includes strategies to better adapt to the effects of climate change such as extreme heat and creating healthier environments by reducing pollution exposure and improving air quality.
Q: How will the CAAP help the City tackle climate change?
R: The CAAP positions the City to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while adapting to projected climate change impacts. It also sets ambitious targets and identifies key strategies and actions to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045.
Q: What are some of the most exciting and innovative policies coming out of this project?
R: The 2040 General Plan goes above and beyond and pushes the envelope in strategies for improving housing availability, equity, and sustainability.
- Housing, we are implementing a land use framework that makes it easier and more desirable for developers to build unit types that are, by design, more affordable than the standard single-family home, such as accessory dwelling units, smaller homes, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and bungalow courts.
- Equity, we are committing to prioritizing resources in communities that have been historically underserved, as well as engaging the community in community-led planning projects.
- Sustainability, we are supporting a pedestrian-first mobility hierarchy and transit-oriented development by incentivizing infill development, reallocating vehicular lanes for active transportation or public transit, and prohibiting new drive-through restaurants around high frequency transit stops. The plan is charting a path to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from the Sacramento economy while supporting new housing and economic development.
Q: All California cities are required to develop a general plan. What makes this plan unique?
R: The Vision Statement for the Sacramento 2040 project, adopted by City Council in 2019, states, “In 2040, the City of Sacramento will be a national model of sustainable, equitable growth and community development.” I believe this plan truly lives up to its vision for the city.
As California’s first Prohousing designated city, Sacramento is a statewide leader in housing and breaking barriers in building more equitable communities, which historically have been restricted by land use policies set many years ago. One of those policies, representing missing middle housing, is replacing all single-family home only zoning areas with a much more flexible citywide code. This will allow smaller, more attainable units — such as triplexes, fourplexes and cottage courts in every neighborhood. Sacramento will be the first city in California to do so.
Q: What is the next step for this project?
R: After years of robust public engagement and policy development, the City Council will hold an adoption hearing for the 2040 General Plan and Climate Action & Adaptation Plan on Feb. 27. We invite members of the public to join us for this final hearing, in-person or watch the hearing online. The 2040 General Plan and Climate Action & Adaptation Plan will be effective on March 28, giving the required 30 days after Council adoption.
For more information about the project and how to join this hearing, please visit www.sac2040gpu.org.