The City of Santa Maria is inviting qualified firms to submit proposals for Professional Services to prepare a comprehensive update to the City of Santa Maria General Plan and to conduct an environmental analysis and produce an Environmental Impact Report for the draft General Plan.

All prospective proposers are encouraged to attend a pre-proposal meeting to be held on February 13, 2019 at 2:00 p.m., PST, at the City of Santa Maria, Community Development Conference Room, 110 South Pine Street, Santa Maria, California (entrance off of parking lot behind building and behind deli kiosk).

If your firm is interested and qualified, please submit ten (10) hard copies and one (1) electronic copy of your Proposal on Friday, March 15, 2019, by 4:00 p.m. to:

City of Santa Maria
Community Development Department
Attn: Ryan Hostetter, AICP, Planning Manager
City of Santa Maria
110 South Pine Street, Suite 101
Santa Maria, CA 93458

Proposal shall be clearly labeled "PROPOSAL for Professional Services – City of Santa Maria Comprehensive General Plan Update and Environmental Impact Report." Please provide your Cost Proposal in a separate sealed envelope.

Any changes, additions, or deletions to this Request for Proposal will be in the form of written addenda issued by the City. Addenda will be posted on the Planning Division's General Plan Update webpage, along with the full RFP. Prospective proposers must check the website for addenda or other relevant new information during the response period. The City is not responsible for the failure of any prospective proposer to receive such addenda. All addenda so issued shall become a part of this Request for Proposal. In addition, any questions submitted (due by March 1^st) shall be posted with answers on the website as well.

RFP Issued: January 18, 2019

PRE-PROPOSAL MEETING: February 13, 2019

All questions must be received by 5:00 p.m.: March 1, 2019

Proposal Due by 4:00 p.m.: March 15, 2019

Evaluation Period Concludes: April 5, 2019

Interviews: 2^nd week of April

Award Contract: End of April, 2019

Notice to Proceed Issued: May, 2019

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Comprehensive General Plan Update and Environmental Impact Report

Introduction:

The City of Santa Maria Community Development Department (CDD) is seeking proposals from qualified consultant(s) with expertise in drafting General Plans to assist the CDD staff in the preparation of a comprehensive update to the City's General Plan. In addition the qualified consultant(s) shall prepare the environmental analysis of the completed general plan draft, and produce an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The Consultant shall have a proven ability to assess a City's current conditions, and demonstrate knowledge of current State and Federal regulations as it applies to the completion of General Plan updates and CEQA compliance. The Consultant team shall also include members fluent in speaking and writing the Spanish language.

The focus of this project is to respond to changes in the community and in circumstances that affect the future direction of the city through the comprehensive update to the existing General Plan. The Consultant shall conduct field studies and research as necessary, modify and add text focusing on policies and programs relevant to issues of existing Council concern, modify and add diagrams and maps, ensure that each element conforms to state law, and extend the General Plan's horizon to year 2040. The updated General Plan will be based upon the results of a comprehensive visioning process and public engagement program to ensure that all facets of the community participate and are fully represented in shaping Santa Maria's future.

The CDD proposes to utilize City skills and resources to significantly manage and contribute to the update. The CDD is currently gathering recent studies, reports and or research from the other City Departments which may serve to inform or directly contribute to the update effort. CDD staff is in the process of drafting a settings report to identify social, demographic and economic conditions and trends within the City to be used as background information for the General Plan. Additionally, CDD staff are prepared to produce the current land use inventory, mange the GIS land use map production, manage and schedule advisory groups, and provide significant contributions to all outreach efforts.

It is anticipated that one firm, or a team of qualified firms, will be selected to support City staff in the update of General Plan, including creating a detailed work plan for the update, conducting specialized technical analysis and preparing studies, assisting CDD staff to conduct public outreach, and preparing the EIR and coordinating EIR review by the public and interested agencies.

The consultant's work plan will address project budget parameters, including cost limitation mechanisms, creative approaches that use existing City resources, and suggestions of which tasks will benefit from City staff involvement and to what degree. Consultants are expected to propose cost effective methods that will deliver an update product that satisfies the City's project goals.

The City anticipates the General Plan Update and EIR to be completed and ready for adoption within approximately three years from execution of the consultant contract.

Project Background:

The City of Santa Maria is a suburban community located in northern Santa Barbara County, surrounded by the rolling hills of the Santa Maria River Valley. The City is generally bound by the Santa Maria River to the north, agricultural lands to the east and west, and the unincorporated town of Orcutt to the south. It is the largest city in Santa Barbara County by population (108,470 as of January 1, 2018, California Department of Finance) and by geographic area (approximately 23 square miles). It is also the fastest growing city in the region.

The City of Santa Maria is a regional city located approximately 250 miles south of San Francisco and 170 miles north of Los Angeles. Highway 101 forms the eastern edge of much of the City. San Luis Obispo County is immediately north of the City boundary, facilitating interaction (and commuting) with the unincorporated town of Nipomo, the Five Cities area, and the City of San Luis Obispo.

The Santa Maria Valley Airport lies within the southwest area of the City. The Santa Barbara County Association of Government (SBCAG) is currently updating the Santa Barbara County Airport Land Use Plan, which will affect future development surrounding the airport. The City is a participant in SBCAG's Fast Forward 2020, the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS). The consultant will coordinate the update effort with these and other regional planning efforts to ensure that transportation and planning is properly integrated into the updated General Plan.

The City of Santa Maria's existing General Plan consists of seven elements: Land Use, Circulation, Housing, Safety, Noise, Resource Management Element (combination of Conservation and Open Space topics), and the Economic Development Element. The elements in the City's General Plan were adopted and subsequently updated during various years in the 1990s and 2000s to cover the City's growth spanning the last several decades. The Housing Element was updated and certified by California Department of Housing and Community Development in 2015.

A comprehensive update for the General Plan is overdue vis-à-vis the City's imminent build out, and a new visioning document is needed to define the City's goals for the next 20 to 25 years. Moreover, the General Plan update will need to satisfy the wide range of new state statutory requirements regarding the elements.

The City of Santa Maria has relied upon the General Plan and the creation and adoption of specific plans to ensure that growth of the City, infrastructure and services occur in a deliberate, guided, and intentional manner. The majority of the adopted Specific Plan areas have been built-out. While it is important that proposals acknowledge these past planning efforts, the City is now in a position of preparing for the next generation of development and growth, including re-visioning those underutilized and underdeveloped areas of the City.

Project Objectives:

In general, the objective of the Santa Maria General Plan Update effort is to develop a comprehensive and internally consistent General Plan with Goals, Policies, and Objectives that are consistent with the major policy directions of the City of Santa Maria, and which can guide the City for the next twenty years. As part of the comprehensive update, the City will engage the community and stakeholders for their input, as well as analyze current and future trends, including advancements in technology, changes in consumer and workplace behaviors, and other local and regional trends that impact local land use and the economy. This analysis will help the City make policies and recommendations that will best meet the future needs of the community. The final draft of the General Plan shall be comprehensive, internally consistent, and conform to state law requirements. As approximately 60% of the City's population speak Spanish in the home (American Fact Finder 2017), the General Plan document will also be provided in a Spanish language edition.

The completed General Plan shall address following:

Vision and Guiding Principles

The new General Plan will include a Vision for the future of Santa Maria created by the community. The Community's Vision will be presented to the City decision makers at the beginning of the process for their review and confirmation of the direction for the new General Plan. The General Plan shall incorporate a set of Guiding Principles, each with key strategies for achieving the community's vision.

Authenticity

The new General Plan will identify, evaluate and highlight the physical, social, and cultural identities and community assets of Santa Maria's neighborhoods and provide policies to enable these to stay true to its spirit, culture and roots.

Community Enhancement Strategies

This General Plan update allows for consideration of specific needs experienced by existing neighborhoods and the existing community as a whole, and an opportunity to identify potential General Plan enhancement strategies and implementation measures.

Fiscal and Economic Development

The City of Santa Maria is committed to responsibly fostering economic development, as demonstrated by the current General Plan's non-mandatory Economic Development Element, last amended in 2006. Through economic and fiscal analyses of existing and projected conditions, the draft General Plan shall enhance economic development activities, business retention and expansion, and shall optimize the mix, amount, types, and location of land uses with the goal of achieving the highest possible quality of life and best future fiscal and economic health for the City. Identifying underutilized commercial and industrial land will be key in this analysis.

A recent significant project within the City is the Enos Ranchos Specific Plan, consisting of about 130 acres at the northwest corner of Betteravia Road and U.S. Highway 101. One hundred acres of the plan area will be dedicated to commercial uses, including 25 acres for auto dealerships. The site's location is a prime opportunity for regional uses to draw from the heavy traffic volumes on U.S. Highway 101 and Betteravia Road and make commercial development at this location a fiscal success. The Specific Plan represents an opportunity for the City to strengthen its fiscal base while creating a district that improves the City's image to residents and visitors.

Growth, Intensification and the Sphere of Influence

The City's existing jurisdictional and Sphere of Influence boundaries coincide. Except for a few small exceptions, the City limits abut developed county residential areas, or active agriculture land. This General Plan update shall consider growth strategies which may include the potential for Sphere of Influence amendments along with intensification and infill within the City's current boundaries. This analysis must consider the City's Regional Housing Needs Allocation and available sites for residential development.

For a full copy of the RFP please visit the City of Santa Maria Planning website.