The City is undertaking a comprehensive update of the Land Use and Circulation Elements, and associated Zoning Ordinance.  The Land Use Element and Circulation Elements are key components of Santa Monica’s General Plan, and were last comprehensively updated in 1984.  Much of Santa Monica’s built environment and transportation network reflects the vision and goals articulated in these policy documents.  It is now time to revisit these policies and frame the City’s land use, urban design, and transportation vision for the next 20 years.  We want you to be a part of this process so that we can build upon the City’s history, challenges and opportunities and ideals of livability, sustainability, and smart growth.

The Land Use Element will be accompanied by a comprehensive rewrite of the Zoning Ordinance.  The goal is to create a clear, accessible and easily administered Zoning Ordinance that can be understood by all. The new Zoning Ordinance will allow land use policies to be translated directly into standards that implement the goals and objectives of the Land Use Element on a daily basis.

The Circulation Element reflects the community's goals and priorities about traveling in Santa Monica. How we travel through our communities has implications for:

• The Physical Environment: How our communities look, feel and function -- from the presence of sidewalks and street trees to the design of buildings and the air that we all breathe,
• The Economic Environment: Economic activities normally require circulation for materials, products, customers or employees -- the viability of the community's economy can be directly affected by circulation, and
• The Social Environment: People's choices, activities and interactions with others are impacted by circulation systems -- systems should be accessible for all segments of the population, including the young, the poor, the elderly, and the disabled.

City staff is attending meetings to present materials and get feedback from all types of communities in Santa Monica.  If you would like your organization to participate in this process, we will come to you!

Search the Shape the Future Website!