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Introduction
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June 2025
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June 2025
CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION
Santa Rosa is the urban core and economic center of the northern Bay Area. The city is in central Sonoma County, approximately 55 miles north of San Francisco, as shown in Figure 1-1. As the county seat of Sonoma County, Santa Rosa is the center of trade, government, commerce, and medical facilities. Santa Rosa grew outward from the original downtown area, which was oriented around the historic Northwestern Pacific Railroad line and Santa Rosa Creek. Historic resources and districts like the Railroad Square area offer a unique glimpse into Santa Rosa’s early beginnings.
The city now encompasses 41.5 square miles within the city limits and 45.5 square miles within its Urban Growth Boundary. It is 167 feet above sea level and is the 28th largest city in the state. Proximity to the ocean, ample open space, neighboring wine country, the Russian River, and accessibility to urban and rural Northern California offer a unique way of life for the Santa Rosa community and support a diverse economy that weathers regional and larger cycles. Santa Rosa consistently ranks high among the nation’s top places to live and work. It is also known as a top destination for cycling, mountain biking, running, hiking, and other types of recreation.
Most of the city is relatively level and is nestled within surrounding mountains and hills that provide a verdant and dramatic backdrop for the city. Taylor Mountain is to the south; Trione-Annadel State Park and the Mayacamas Mountain Range are to the east; and the hilly Fountaingrove neighborhoods are to the north. A series of creeks extend through Santa Rosa. The headwaters of Santa Rosa Creek, the city’s
largest creek, are on the northern slopes of Hood Mountain at the northern end of Sonoma Valley. Santa Rosa Creek extends through the center of the city along the Prince Memorial Greenway and drains to the Laguna de Santa Rosa to the west, and eventually to the Russian River.
This chapter offers background information about the city, general plans in California, and the process of developing the Santa Rosa General Plan 2050.
The City initiated the General Plan update process in early 2020. Since adoption of the previous General Plan in 2009, State planning laws have changed significantly, as have the city and community because of the typical impacts of growth and change over time as well as monumental events at the local, national, and global levels.
Legislation. In the last several years, the State has enacted significant changes to general plan requirements under California law to address the need for more affordable and equitable housing opportunities for all residents, greater resiliency to natural and human-caused hazards, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions, environmental justice, and more. Table 1-1 identifies some of the key changes in State law and how General Plan 2050 addresses them.
Wildfire. In recent years, Santa Rosa and the wider region have experienced devastating wildfires. On October 8, 2017,
CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION
the Tubbs Fire quickly became the most destructive California wildfire at that time, burning portions of Napa, Sonoma, and Lake Counties. The Tubbs Fire resulted in 22 fatalities, 36,807 acres burned, and approximately $1.2 billion in damages in Santa Rosa alone. Residential neighborhoods in the city, including Coffey Park, Fountaingrove, and Hidden Valley, suffered the most damage from the fire, which destroyed 3,043 Santa Rosa homes, about 5 percent of the city’s housing stock. Concurrently, the Nuns Fire struck southeast of the city, resulting in 3 additional fatalities, 55,798 acres burned, and 1,355 structures destroyed. In 2019 and 2020, the city was threatened by wildfires again. North of Santa Rosa, the 2019 Kincade Fire burned 77,758 acres, prompting many Santa Rosa residents to evacuate in the largest evacuation in the history of Sonoma County. The 2020 Glass Fire, originating northeast of the city in the foothills of Napa County, destroyed 34 homes and 5 commercial structures in Santa Rosa.
The city and wider county suffered greatly through these wildfires and their aftermath, but also demonstrated powerful resilience in coming together for an unprecedented rebuild effort.
General Plan 2050 policies and actions work strategically to mitigate the risk of wildfire and enhance evacuation capacity in addition to addressing long-term resilience in the face of climate change and natural disasters.
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a Black man, was murdered by a White Minneapolis police officer, who pinned Mr. Floyd down by the neck with his knee for nearly 10 minutes. In response to Mr. Floyd’s death, protests erupted across the nation. On May 31, 2020, numerous protesters were injured at a rally in Santa Rosa during a confrontation with police.
George Floyd’s death and its aftermath pointed a spotlight on systemic racism and police brutality and awakened Santa Rosa residents to the reality of these issues in their own community. Further, these events added to a larger narrative on the need for meaningful action to address social and economic inequities that adversely impact communities of color and low-income households.
CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION
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RESILIENCE: The Rebuilding of the Coffey Park Neighborhood
CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION
In consideration of these and other events and issues, the Santa Rosa City Council adopted Resolution RES-2021-203 in 2021 declaring racism a human rights and public health crisis in Santa Rosa. General Plan 2050 includes policies and actions to address environmental justice, equity, and community health with the aim of improving quality of life for all community members.
In August 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first COVID-19 vaccine. Santa Rosa gradually “re-opened,” and in-person work resumed, but the disease remains a concern, particularly for higher-risk individuals, and its impacts to the community are still widely felt.
By the end of 2023, more than 100,000 Californians and 500 Sonoma County residents died due to COVID-19. The death toll has not impacted all communities equally. A Sonoma County study revealed that a disproportionate share of those who died from COVID-19 were from the county’s Latino population. Similarly, studies at the national level found that the pandemic contributed to significantly greater declines in life expectancy in 2020 for Latino and Black populations compared to Whites.
In May 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared the end of the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Now, Santa Rosa focuses on recovery and rebounding stronger. Many businesses have instituted permanent remote working opportunities, changing commute patterns and housing needs for the foreseeable future. Some businesses remain closed, but those that survived or opened in the wake of the pandemic offer more outdoor dining opportunities and activate the streets with sidewalk dining in parklets. Santa Rosa’s General Plan includes considerations for the impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the Santa Rosa community and plans to support the city’s economic and social recovery and revitalization.
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Figure 1-1 Regional Location
Source: City of Santa Rosa, 2020; ESRI, 2022; PlaceWorks, 2023.
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Climate Change. Human activity increases the levels of carbon dioxide and other GHGs in the atmosphere. Many daily actions produce GHGs, such as using electricity and natural gas in our homes and businesses, driving a car, and throwing out the trash. Higher levels of atmospheric GHGs result in higher temperatures and other changes to the global climate system. These changes lead to more frequent and severe natural hazards in and around Santa Rosa. Scientists link many recent natural disasters in the region to climate change, including the 2017 Tubbs fire, the 2020-2023 statewide drought, and increased frequency and duration of extreme heat events. Many of the communities in Santa Rosa that already experience social and economic inequities are expected to suffer more than others from the effects of climate change.
To address the threat posed by climate change, Santa Rosa must take a multipronged approach to rapidly and significantly decrease the community’s GHG emissions and to simultaneously make Santa Rosa more resilient to the harmful effects of climate change that have already happened and are expected to continue. The community will need to transition to low-carbon sources of energy for buildings and transportation; reduce total energy use; encourage local food production; improve economic security; reduce waste generation and water use; retrofit and rehabilitate vulnerable buildings and infrastructure; and improve emergency notification and evacuation practices, among many other actions, to decrease GHG emissions and achieve a more resilient future.
Numerous actions result in GHG emissions, and climate change affects almost everyone and everything in Santa Rosa. Though climate change is a significant problem and difficult to tackle, the benefits of addressing it are extensive—a more sustainable and resilient Santa Rosa, lower utility bills and other costs, less dependence on cars, improved air quality and other public health benefits, and a more equitable and just system. For these and many other reasons, addressing climate change is critical to Santa Rosa’s future success and well-being. General Plan 2050 takes a cross-sector approach to addressing climate change through the goals, policies, and actions in all chapters; these measures support implementation of the city’s Community-wide Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy (Appendix A).
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| Table 1-1 | General Plan Updates Required by State Law | |
|---|---|---|
| Law | Purpose | Related General Plan 2050 Chapter |
| California Public Resources Code Section 21099 | Changes the standard method of measuring transportation impacts from level of service to vehicle miles traveled, encourages transit-oriented development reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. | Circulation, Open Space, Conservation, and Greenhouse Gas Reduction |
| California Government Code Sections 65351 and 65352 | Requires consultation with Native American tribes as part of a General Plan update and for any subsequent project that could have the potential to impact Native American resources. | Urban Design, Cultural and Tribal Cultural Resources, Historic Preservation, and Art and Culture |
| California Public Resources Code Section 42488 | Requires analysis of infrastructure deficiencies in any “disadvantaged unincorporated communities.” | Land Use and Economic Development |
| California Government Code Section 65302 | Requires General Plans to include an element with environmental justice policies. | Health, Equity, Environmental Justice, and Parks |
| California Public Utilities Code Section 454.53 | Requires “complete streets” be addressed in a general plan that considers the needs of all modes of travel. | Circulation, Open Space, Conservation, and Greenhouse Gas Reduction |
| California Government Code Section 65302 | Requires a general plan to include a climate change vulnerability assessment and to address climate adaptation and resiliency. | Safety, Climate Resilience, Noise, and Public Services and Facilities |
| California Government Code Section 65302 | Incentivizes a link between a city’s local hazard mitigation plan and the general plan. | Safety, Climate Resilience, Noise, and Public Services and Facilities |
| California Government Code Section 65040.20 | Requires all jurisdictions to develop policies and implementation actions based on the most recent Fire Hazard Planning Guide from the State. | Safety, Climate Resilience, Noise, and Public Services and Facilities |
| California Government Code Sections 65350-65352 | Requires that general plans consider impacts on groundwater and plans for groundwater basins. | Circulation, Open Space, Conservation, and Greenhouse Gas Reduction |
| Government Code Section 65302 | Requires general plans to identify areas subject to flooding using the latest flood hazard information, and to prohibit new housing in areas that are not adequately protected from flooding. | Safety, Climate Resilience, Noise, and Public Services and Facilities |
| Government Code Section 65302, subdivision (g)(5) | Upon the next revision of the housing element on or after January 1, 2020, requires the safety element to be reviewed and updated as necessary to identify residential developments in any hazard area identified in the safety element that do not have at least two emergency evacuation routes. (SB 99) | Safety, Climate Resilience, Noise, and Public Services and Facilities |
| Table 1-1 | General Plan Updates Required by State Law | |
|---|---|---|
| Law | Purpose | Related General Plan 2050 Chapter |
| Government Code Section 65302.15 | Upon the next revision of a local hazard mitigation plan, adopted in accordance with the federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-390), on or after January 1, 2022, requires review and updates as necessary to identify evacuation routes and their capacity, safety, and viability, and evacuation locations under a range of emergency scenarios. A county or city that has adopted a local hazard mitigation plan, emergency operations plan, or other document that fulfills commensurate goals and objectives, may use that information in the safety element to comply with this section, and in that event, shall summarize and incorporate into the safety element that other plan or document. (AB 747 and AB 1409) | Safety, Climate Resilience, Noise, and Public Services and Facilities |
| Government Code 65915 | Allows projects that meet the State’s 50 percent density bonus provisions to qualify for an additional 50 percent density bonus (AB 1287) | Land Use and Economic Development |
Notes: GHG = greenhouse gas Source: PlaceWorks, 2023.
CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION
The City of Santa Rosa recognizes that we live in the ancestral area of the Coast Miwok, Southern Pomo, and Wappo, who are the original stewards of this region. Santa Rosa specifically is on the ancestral lands of Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo Tribal groups. These two groups now make up the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, whose territory includes what is now Santa Rosa. We respectfully acknowledge the Indigenous peoples and Southern Pomo tribes: Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, Dry Creek Rancheria, Lytton Rancheria, Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of Stewarts Point Rancheria, and Cloverdale Rancheria. These five federally recognized tribes in Sonoma County have been stewarding and maintaining relationships on this land as knowledge keepers for millennia. The City is dedicated to promoting understanding and educating the public about historical and ongoing connections between land conservation and social inequities. This includes the histories of genocide, forced removal and displacement, and broken promises with tribes as a part of United States American history.
Tribal people are not just in our histories. We strive to empower tribal voices to share their own history, so as to not perpetuate another form of being silenced. While recognizing the past, we honor the resiliency of Indigenous people and California Native American Tribes still in their ancestral territories in relationship with their land and culture. )
Native Americans have lived in this place known now as Santa Rosa for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans. Their histories speak to the creation of this place, including the surrounding mountains, valleys, creeks and lakes. Their sacred sites and Tribal cultural resources still exist in this place today, despite the modern landscape.
Santa Rosa, Spanish for “Saint Rose,” was founded in 1833 and named after Saint Rosa of Lima, Peru. The first non-native permanent settlers were Dona Maria Carrillo and family who constructed the Carrillo Adobe near the banks of Santa Rosa Creek. By the 1850s, a Wells Fargo post and general store were established in what is now downtown Santa Rosa. In 1867, the County recognized Santa Rosa as an incorporated city, and in 1868, the State officially confirmed the incorporation, making Santa Rosa officially the third incorporated city in Sonoma County.
The population of Santa Rosa remained relatively small until railroad services started in 1870 and linked the city to the greater Bay Area and the rest of the state. In 1947, construction of Highway 101 through Santa Rosa enhanced connectivity to much of the North Bay and North Coast, but the route through downtown bisected the city into east and west Santa Rosa. The road was eventually elevated, which accentuated this divide. Construction of Highway 12 as a freeway a decade later created a similar divide between the north and south sides of the city. The layout of two highways together establishes the basic four defining quadrants of the city. While Highways 101 and 12 create divides that separate the city into distinct quadrants, they also bring valuable economic connectivity to the wider region.
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Santa Rosa has grown and evolved into a diverse metropolitan community that serves as the commercial, economic, civic, cultural, and educational center of the northern Bay Area region. By 2000, the population was 147,532, making Santa Rosa the largest city in Sonoma County and the fifth most populous city in the Bay Area. By 2019, Santa Rosa had a population of 197,980 people. Today, the city has over 40 unique neighborhoods and commercial districts. Figure 1-2 maps seven major areas referred to throughout the General Plan to orient the reader.
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Figure 1-2 Major Areas
City Limits Urban Growth Boundary City Sphere of Influence Planning Area Creeks and Waterways Parks and Open Space Outside of Planning Area
Santa Rosa Neighborhoods
Downtown/Station Area Northwestern Santa Rosa Southwestern Santa Rosa Southeastern Santa Rosa Northeastern Santa Rosa Eastern Santa Rosa Western Lands
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Source: City of Santa Rosa 2023
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CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION
A general plan is a city’s road map for the future. It describes a community’s aspirations and identifies strategies for managing growth, preservation, and change. Sometimes referred to as the community’s “constitution,” the general plan is a comprehensive document that provides a policy framework to guide decision making related to land use, economic development, community design, historic preservation, art and culture, mobility, open space, conservation, GHG reduction, safety, adaptation to climate change, public service, community health, equity, environmental justice, parks, community services, housing, and more. California law requires every city and county to prepare and adopt a comprehensive and long-range general plan that addresses eight topics (or “elements”): land use, circulation (or mobility), open space, conservation, noise, safety, environmental justice, and housing. State law also allows optional elements to be added. Any optional element has the same policy weight as the required elements, and the elements can be presented in a variety of formats.
The general plan establishes the policy framework to be used by residents, businesses, developers, staff, council, and appointed boards and commissions. General plans typically include goals, policies, and implementing actions as well as maps and diagrams. These components together convey a long-term community vision and guide local decision making to achieve that vision. The general plan and its maps, diagrams, and development policies form the basis for zoning and subdivision ordinances and for prioritizing public works projects. Under California law, any specific plan, area plan, community plan, zoning regulation, subdivision map, and private development or public works project has to be consistent with the general plan. Once a jurisdiction adopts, updates, or amends the general plan, it must amend the zoning, subdivision, and other land use regulation ordinances if needed to make them consistent with the general plan.
Santa Rosa’s General Plan plays the foundational role in regulating land use in the city; it is the top-level planning document, providing direction for all zoning regulations, ordinances, guidelines, and area or specific plans. The goals and policies throughout the General Plan are interrelated and should be considered together when making decisions related to land use, mobility, growth, and development. City staff apply General Plan policies to give direction to development applicants and land use analysis for the City Council, Planning Commission, and other boards and commissions. In addition, the General Plan actions comprise a detailed implementation program to guide City department work programs and budgeting.
Future land use decisions and infrastructure improvements made by the City must be consistent with the General Plan.
The General Plan accommodates approximately 24,000 new housing units (which could house roughly 66,000 new residents) and 14,000 new jobs, as shown in Table 1-2. This additional capacity is based on the General Plan land use designations (development allowed by this plan) compared to existing land uses (what is already
CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION
built). The land use designations were set with consideration for future housing need (estimated to be approximately 24,000 units over the next three decades) and the economic growth that could be supported by the accommodated residential growth. In other words, while the General Plan does not project future housing, population, or jobs growth, it was designed to allow a level of growth that could reasonably occur over the next three decades.
| Table 1-2 Buildout Capacity Accommodated in the General Plan | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Existing (2019) | Projected Growth (2019-2050) | Buildout Estimates (2050) |
| Housing Units | 75,850 | 24,090 | 99,940 |
| Total Population | 197,980 | 65,760 | 263,740 |
| Jobs | 77,590 | 14,090 | 91,680 |
Notes: Numbers are rounded from original sources. Source: Sonoma County Transportation Authority and W-Trans, 2023, Santa Rosa General Plan 2050 Travel Demand Model.
General Plan 2050 was developed in close collaboration with the community and with oversight and direction from the Planning Commission and City Council in a multiyear process called Santa Rosa Forward. The City formed two advisory bodies to help guide the planning process—a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). The CAC included representatives from a variety of organizations and perspectives, including neighborhood associations, transportation and advocacy groups, environmental organizations, and a diversity of community members. The primary role of the CAC was to act as project liaisons and to encourage participation from a diverse breadth of community members. The TAC was made up of technical experts from City departments and partner agencies that provided feedback on the project to ensure the plan concepts could be achieved.
The process to update the General Plan and envision the future of Santa Rosa was divided into phases. Preparation of the plan included the required environmental analysis, adoption, and any necessary changes to the City’s Zoning Code and other City policy and regulatory plans and documents. Each of the five phases to create the plan involved similar, robust community engagement efforts to guide development of the product for that phase and included the following steps:
Draft Product. The project team developed an initial product (e.g., Community Involvement Strategy, Existing Conditions Analysis), guided by research, input from the TAC, and/or prior community input.
Community Engagement. The project team presented the draft product to the community to gather additional input. In each phase, the team used a range of parallel outreach strategies that were convenient to as many people as possible, such as pop-up events, informational videos, surveys, workshops, and open houses.
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Following are the eight stages of Santa Rosa Forward:
Phase 1: Project Initiation and Community Involvement Strategy. In Phase 1, the City of Santa Rosa and consultants launched the Santa Rosa General Plan 2050 update by publishing a project work plan and a community involvement strategy (CIS). The City held four community and small group conversations and issued a public survey to get input on the CIS and help refine the planned approach for engaging the community.
Phase 2: Existing Conditions and Visioning. Phase 2 involved the preparation and publication of a report detailing current conditions in the community. The team used this report to develop a briefing book with high-level takeaways that highlighted emerging opportunities and key topics. This work, combined with a climate change vulnerability assessment, led to the project visioning effort, which included two community surveys that together
received 1,483 responses, and a series of 10 virtual workshops in summer 2021.
Through this process, the community worked together to craft the Vision Statement that is the guide for the General Plan, as shown later in this chapter.
Phase 3: Alternatives. Phase 3 focused on three land use and circulation “Alternatives” for Santa Rosa’s future development, prepared with consideration of the existing conditions report, equity issues, and the community’s Vision Statement (see Figure 1-3). The three alternatives provided options for community growth and change to address identified challenges and opportunities. Each alternative implemented the community vision and offered different approaches to distribute future housing and mobility. Engagement for the alternatives phase included nine pop-up events, meetings with 15 different community organizations, a series of five in-person workshops, and a virtual open house.
Phase 4: Preferred Alternative. Phase 4 applied community feedback from the previous phase to draft a “Preferred” Alternative. Engagement activities in this phase included five informational pop-up events, two in-person open-house events, and a web-based survey with the same information and questions as the open-house events. Community input supported refinements to the final Preferred Alternative (shown on Figure 1-4), which is the foundation of the General Plan. The Preferred Alternative diagram details the major circulation network changes (e.g., road diets and bike lane extensions)
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supported by the community and identifies 21 “Areas of Change” where the City will focus efforts to address housing, services, connectivity, and/or infrastructure needs to help make these complete neighborhoods.
Phase 5: Draft 2050 General Plan. In Phase 5, the project team prepared this General Plan 2050, including the introductory chapters and the goals, policies, and actions designed to achieve the community vision. Engagement for the Draft General Plan included five informational pop-up events; three open- house events, including two in-person and one virtual; and a web-based survey with the same information and questions as the open house events. Among community input received, was support for General Plan policies increasing active transportation opportunities, environmental justice, fire safety, and local economic development, while favoring policies that are focused more on eliminating barriers to such outcomes rather than regulating local activities. Those community comments informed revisions in the updated Public Review Draft General Plan, released in October 2024. The updated Plan was circulated for public review and comment with the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) (Phase 6). Comments received in response to both the updated Plan and the DEIR informed revisions are reflected in this final General Plan document.
Phase 6: Environmental Analysis. All general plans in California are subject to environmental review under the
California Environmental Quality Act and must analyze the environmental impacts that would result from implementation of the General Plan. The City prepared an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to evaluate the environmental impact of the General Plan. The Draft EIR was released for public review in October 2024. The City addressed comments received on the Draft EIR and then published the Final EIR.
Phase 7: Public Review and Adoption. All phases of the General Plan Update process involved public review and engagement with the community. In 2025, the General Plan and Final EIR were received by the City Planning Commission and City Council in public hearings where community members had the opportunity to provide comment prior to their adoption by City Council.
Phase 8: Additional Amendments to City Documents. The City’s zoning regulations and subdivision approvals must be consistent with the adopted General Plan. Therefore, this final phase includes the necessary amendments to ensure that the Santa Rosa Municipal Code and Zoning Code, the City’s Design Guidelines, Citywide Creek Master Plan, Active Transportation Plan, Specific Plans, and any other documents are consistent with the adopted General Plan.
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The Housing Element is one of the required elements of the General Plan. The State requires Housing Elements to be updated every eight years; therefore, the Housing Element was developed on a separate timeline with its own agency and public review and approval process. The City Council adopted the Housing Element on February 14, 2023, and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) certified it on April 7, 2023. The adopted and certified Housing Element, as amended, is included as Chapter 7 of General Plan 2050.
The community’s vision for the future, developed in Phase 2 of the project, helped to frame the Preferred Alternative (Phase 4); inform new and updated General Plan goals, policies, and actions; and ensure that the General Plan fully addresses the needs and desires of the community. The vision consists of 13 complementary ideals, summarized as follows:
The full Vision Statement, with all 13 ideals, is presented here and depicted graphically on Figure 1-3. As articulated in the Vision Diagram, Santa Rosa is:
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Figure 1-3: Santa Rosa 2050 General Plan Vision Diagram
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multigenerational households, seniors, students, and formerly incarcerated people.
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structure), connect and activate seniors, and foster the success and well-being of everyone.
The Preferred Alternative in Figure 1-4 shows the foundational land use and circulation network priorities that guide the General Plan to implement the community’s vision. The Preferred Alternative identifies 21 Areas of Change where the City will focus on housing, services, connectivity, and/or infrastructure needed to make these complete neighborhoods. Complementing the Areas of Change are major improvements to the transportation network, which focus on bridging east and west and enhancing multimodal connectivity and safety citywide. As appropriate, goals, policies, and actions prioritize the Areas of Change.
With this Preferred Alternative, the community is responding to a changing climate by creating an increasingly dense urban core with walkable, bikeable neighborhoods, where resources are conserved and neighborhoods are better protected against environmental hazards.
Complete Neighborhoods are areas with convenient, equitable access to goods and services needed to support daily life, such as grocery stores, recreation opportunities, community gathering places, active transportation infrastructure, and transit. The specific attributes of a complete neighborhood will vary, depending on the unique needs of the local community.
Figure 1-4: Preferred Alternative
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LEGEND
| [ ] | Urban Growth Boundary | Roadway Widening | |
| Lakes/Creeks | Proposed Road Diets | ||
| — | Highways | --- | New Major Roads |
| — | Major Roads | --- | New Minor Roads |
| S | SMART Transit Center | Improved Pedestrian/Bicycle Connections | |
| SMART Rail Line | New or Widened Auto Overpass including Pedestrian/Bicycle Enhancements | ||
| T | Transit Hub | New Pedestrian/Bicycle Rail Crossing | |
| M | Transit Mall | High Frequency Bus Route (10-15 min. headways) | |
| P | Transit Park-and-Ride | ||
| Areas of Change |
General Plan Land Use
Areas of Change
Areas of Change are areas where the City will focus efforts on addressing housing, services, connectivity, and/or infrastructure needs to make these complete neighborhoods.
| Areas of Change | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fountain Grove/Mendocino Interchange |
| 2 | Francisco Avenue |
| 3 | Rosewood Village |
| 4 | Marlow Center and Lance Drive Annexation |
| 5 | Coddingtown |
| 6 | West College Neighborhood Center |
| 7 | Downtown Station Area |
| 8 | Mendocino Corridor |
| 9 | 4th Street Corridor |
| 10 | Flamingo Center |
| 11 | Montecito |
| 12 | St. Francis Shopping Center |
| 13 | Montgomery Village |
| 14 | Howarth Commercial |
| 15 | Bennett Valley |
| 16 | Santa Rosa Marketplace/South Park |
| 17 | Hearn Corridor |
| 18 | Roseland |
| 19 | Stony Point Circle |
| 20 | Oakmont |
| 21 | Southeast Greenway |
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The Planning Area for the General Plan defines where the City has an interest in land use and includes land in the incorporated city, sphere of influence (SOI), and urban growth boundary (UGB). Under State law, a general plan must address all areas in the jurisdiction’s Planning Area. Figure 1-5 shows the boundaries of the Santa Rosa Planning Area, which covers about 49 square miles.
The Santa Rosa city limits encompass nearly 43 square miles, 67 percent of which is developed or is developable. An additional 13 percent of the city is made up of local, regional, and state parkland and open space, including creeks and waterways. The remaining 20 percent of the city is undevelopable because it is unusable due to topography such as steep terrain, right-of-way (roads and railroads), or similar.
The SOI is the unincorporated area adjacent to the city that receives services from the City or may in the future. As shown on Figure 1-5, the Sonoma County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) identifies unincorporated neighborhoods north, northeast, south, and southwest of the city limits, in addition to unincorporated islands in the city as within Santa Rosa’s SOI. To be eligible for annexation by the City, land must be in the city’s LAFCO-designated SOI.
As the name suggests, the UGB separates urban areas from the surrounding natural and agricultural lands, or greenbelts, and limits how far out a city can expand. In 1990, Santa Rosa
voters approved a five-year UGB, followed by a two-decade UGB measure in 1996 and an extension in 2010 to ensure that the current UGB will not be significantly changed until at least 2035. The UGB, as shown on Figure 1-5, covers about 45.5 square miles and encompasses all incorporated city land plus some unincorporated land expected to be annexed at some point in the future. The UGB is coterminous with the outer bounds of the SOI.
Santa Rosa General Plan 2050 consolidates the mandated elements into six chapters that address both required and optional General Plan topics. Mandated elements include land use, transportation, open space, conservation, safety, noise, environmental justice, and housing. The General Plan includes new, optional subjects and some optional topics that are carried over from the previous plan (General Plan 2035). Figure 1-6 illustrates the organization of General Plan 2050, the distribution of State-mandated and optional elements, and which optional elements are carried forward from the prior General Plan.
Two key topics of the General Plan, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction and the interrelated subjects of Health, Equity, and Environmental Justice, are discussed in detail in dedicated chapters (see Figure 1-6), but other aspects of the General Plan touch on these issues as well, so there are goals, policies, and actions throughout the plan chapters that address them. Table 1-3 highlights where these goals, policies, and actions are in the General Plan.
In addition to the six topical chapters in the General Plan, as noted previously, State law requires an update to the General Plan Housing Element every eight years. The most recent Santa
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Rosa Housing Element, which was adopted in February 2023, and amended in March 2025, covers the planning period through 2031. General Plan 2050 does not involve any amendments to the Housing Element.
Figure 1-5 Planning Area
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Source: City of Santa Rosa 2023
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Figure 1-6: Santa Rosa General Plan 2050 Contents
☐ Required ☐ 2035 GP ☐ New, not required
| CHAPTER 1<br>INTRODUCTION | ⬚ figure<br>Introduction | ||||
| CHAPTER 2<br>LAND USE AND<br>ECONOMIC<br>DEVELOPMENT | ⬚ figure<br>Land Use | ⬚ figure<br>Economic<br>Development | |||
| CHAPTER 3<br>CIRCULATION, OPEN<br>SPACE, CONSERVATION,<br>AND GREENHOUSE GAS<br>REDUCTION | ⬚ figure<br>Circulation | ⬚ figure<br>Open Space | ⬚ figure<br>Conservation | ⬚ figure<br>Greenhouse Gas<br>Reduction | |
| CHAPTER 4<br>URBAN DESIGN, CULTURAL<br>AND TRIBAL CULTURAL<br>RESOURCES, HISTORIC<br>PRESERVATION,<br>AND ART AND CULTURE | ⬚ figure<br>Urban<br>Design | ⬚ figure<br>Hillside<br>Policies | ⬚ figure<br>Tribal Cultural<br>Resources | ⬚ figure<br>Historic<br>Preservation | ⬚ figure<br>Art and<br>Culture |
| CHAPTER 5<br>SAFETY, CLIMATE<br>RESILIENCE, NOISE,<br>AND PUBLIC SERVICES<br>AND FACILITIES | ⬚ figure<br>Safety | ⬚ figure<br>Climate<br>Resilience | ⬚ figure<br>Public Services<br>and Facilities | ⬚ figure<br>Noise | |
| CHAPTER 6<br>HEALTH, EQUITY,<br>ENVIRONMENTAL<br>JUSTICE, AND PARKS | ⬚ figure<br>Community<br>Health | ⬚ figure<br>Equity | ⬚ figure<br>Environmental<br>Justice | ⬚ figure<br>Parks | ⬚ figure<br>Children and<br>Families |
| CHAPTER 7<br>HOUSING | ⬚ figure<br>Housing |
CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION
| Table 1-3 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Environmental Justice in the General Plan | ||
| Chapter/Subsection | GHG Reduction | Health, Equity, and Environmental Justice |
| Land Use and Economic Development | ||
| General Plan Priority Areas and Populations | ✔ | |
| Land Use | ✔ | ✔ |
| Economic Development | ✔ | ✔ |
| Circulation, Open Space, Conservation, and Greenhouse Gas Reduction | ||
| Circulation | ✔ | ✔ |
| Open Space and Conservation | ✔ | ✔ |
| Greenhouse Gas Reduction | ✔ | |
| Urban Design, Cultural and Tribal Cultural Resources, Historic Preservation, and Art and Culture | ||
| Urban Design | ✔ | |
| Tribal Cultural and Historic Resources | ||
| Art and Culture | ✔ | |
| Safety, Climate Resilience, Noise, and Public Services and Facilities | ||
| Safety | ✔ | |
| Climate Resilience | ✔ | ✔ |
| Noise | ||
| Public Services and Facilities | ✔ | ✔ |
| Health, Equity, Environmental Justice, and Parks | ||
| Health for All Residents | ✔ | |
| Food Access and Urban Agriculture | ✔ | ✔ |
| Recreation and Parks | ✔ | ✔ |
| Children and Families | ✔ |
CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION
The General Plan includes this introduction, six topical chapters, and a glossary. The chapters cover all elements required by California State Government Code Section 65302, as well as topics of particular interest to the Santa Rosa community. The General Plan structure is as follows:
1. Introduction: Describes the context of the General Plan update and history of the city; provides an overview of general plans, outlines the process to develop General Plan 2050; highlights key foundational milestones; identifies the required elements of the General Plan and summarizes the approach, structure, and key components of General Plan 2050; and provides information on how the plan is used by the City; how it can be used by the community, and how and when future updates can be made.
2. Land Use and Economic Development: Provides overall land use and economic development policies for the city. The State-mandated land use content addresses the connection between land use and transportation, utilities, and other infrastructure.
3. Circulation, Open Space, Conservation, and Greenhouse Gas Reduction: Satisfies the State law requirement to address transportation (circulation) in the plan and provides the general location and extent of existing and proposed major streets and other transportation facilities. This chapter correlates with Chapter 2, Land Use and Economic Development, to provide adequate transportation to serve both new and existing land uses.
Transportation improvements will support City and statewide GHG reduction targets, though this chapter goes further to include additional measures to reduce emissions across sectors. These measures correlate with the City's Community-wide Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy (Appendix A). Finally, this chapter addresses the State law requirement for open space and conservation elements, relating to both the natural and built environment.
4. Urban Design, Cultural and Tribal Cultural Resources, Historic Preservation, and Art and Culture: Includes goals, policies, and actions related to urban and environmental design, cultural and Tribal cultural resources, historic preservation, and art and culture. These are optional General Plan topics, but each is considered essential to the character and future growth of the Santa Rosa community.
5. Safety, Climate Resilience, Noise, and Public Services and Facilities: Addresses State-required safety considerations. It provides information about risks in Santa Rosa due to natural and human-caused hazards, and its goals, policies, and actions are designed to protect populations, property, and critical facilities. It specifically addresses risks associated with flooding and storm drainage, geologic and seismic hazards, hazardous materials and waste, and fires. This chapter also includes goals, policies, and actions addressing public services and facilities, climate resilience, and the legally required topic of noise.
SANTA ROSA GENERAL PLAN 2050 1-33
CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION
General Plan 2050 is made up of goals, policies, and actions that work together to achieve the community's future vision. As summarized in Figure 1-7, General Plan goals are statements that describe the end-state the community wants to accomplish to resolve a particular issue or take advantage of an opportunity. General Plan policies and actions guide day-to-day decision making and continued progress toward the attainment of goals.
The goals, policies, and actions are a critical component of General Plan 2050. Goals determine what should be done and where.
Policies and actions together establish who will do the work and how and when they will carry out the goals. Together, they describe the steps the City and the community must take to make the vision of the General Plan a reality. The General Plan is meant to be a useful, everyday guide for what to do and how to make decisions for the future. Where needed, explanatory text ties the goals and policies to the community vision, and every action is listed and numbered under a specific policy. Public Resources Code Section 21081.6(b) and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15126.4(a)(2) establish that mitigation measures may be incorporated into the General Plan. Where policies and actions in General Plan 2050 serve to mitigate environmental impacts, they are denoted with “(EIR)” at the end of the policy/action.
As with other City policy documents, timing and priority for implementing the policies and actions are subject to the resources that the City and its partners have to carry them out.
Figure 1-7: Goal, Policy, and Action Hierarchy
⬚ figure
A general, overall, and ultimate desired outcome the City will direct to achieving over the lifetime of the General Plan.
A specific statement that regulates activities in the city, guides decision-making, and directs implementing action to achieve a Goal. General Plan policies guide City staff, the Planning Commission, and City Council decision-making and their review of land development projects.
A measure, procedure, or technique intended to implement one or more policies to help reach a Goal. An action may be ongoing or something that can be completed in a discrete timeframe.
CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION
General Plan 2050 introduces several changes from the previous General Plan 2035 to serve the community vision and enhance usability and implementation.
General Plan 2050 presents an integrated and cross-sector approach to reducing GHG emissions in Santa Rosa. The General Plan includes goals, policies, and actions that support reductions from community-wide and municipal sources of emissions integrated throughout most chapters and is supported by a stand-alone Community-wide GHG Reduction Strategy, which replaces the City’s Community Climate Action Plan. The Community-wide GHG Reduction Strategy consolidates the City’s GHG reduction measures and presents detailed quantification and other details consistent with CEQA Guidelines Section 15183.5, to support the State’s goal of reaching net carbon zero by 2045 and ongoing reductions through 2050.
Since adoption of General Plan 2035, the State Legislature passed Senate Bill 1000, adopted in 2016 (Government Code Section 65302[h]), requiring the inclusion of an Environmental Justice Element in local general plans to address environmental health disparities experienced by many low-income communities and communities of color.
As described under the Plan Structure section, General Plan 2050 includes goals, policies, and implementing actions. These actions guide the City’s implementation of the plan and will populate a work plan that will identify responsible department(s) and/or agency(ies) and the timeline for implementation—near-term, medium- term, long-term, or ongoing.
General Plan 2050 is a streamlined document compared to the previous plan, designed to support ease of use by community members, City staff, and City leadership. Core content of General Plan 2035 that continues to serve the community well is carried forward to this General Plan, and many goals and policies were omitted if they were no longer relevant or were sufficiently addressed by other City documents. The 2035 Urban Growth Management Element is not included in General Plan 2050; instead, this General Plan clearly identifies Areas of Change where urban infill will occur and acknowledges that expansion of the city into surrounding lands is no longer a focus of City planning efforts. The resulting, simplified suite of goals, policies, and actions focus on feasibility and realization of the community’s vision for the future.
CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION
Elected and appointed City officials and City staff use the General Plan as a point of reference, as do community members, business owners, individuals proposing new development projects, and others. The General Plan is useful when making decisions regarding topics such as subdivisions, new residential, commercial, and industrial development, capital improvements, and neighborhood rehabilitation. The policies in this General Plan are intended to provide clear guidance and explanation about the City land use decision-making processes and how Santa Rosa may grow, change, or stay the same. Santa Rosa’s decision-making bodies have discretion in how they interpret General Plan goals and policies as they evaluate projects and make determinations of consistency.
In general, actions that use "require," "prohibit," or "shall" are mandatory. Policies that use "encourage," "promote," "discourage," "consider," or "should" are not mandatory, and the City may choose to modify its course of action in cases where a policy may not prove appropriate for a particular situation or if extenuating factors, such as competing priorities or budget limitations, would make it infeasible to follow policy direction verbatim. Some policies and actions serve to mitigate environmental impacts as evaluated in the General Plan EIR. These policies and actions use the word "shall" to ensure they are implemented as part of subsequent projects, and are denoted with an asterisk (*).
The General Plan update process involved a wide variety of stakeholders and interests. As a result, this General Plan addresses multiple and sometimes competing policy objectives, and the City may not be able to strictly adhere to every policy in every decision that it makes to implement the overall goals of this General Plan. The City Council will continue to have discretion over prioritizing overall policy objectives to implement this General Plan in instances when multiple policy objectives may affect a single decision.
Finally, the General Plan is intended to be understandable and easily available to the public, in part because policies will be carried out only if they continue to merit community support. If and as conditions in Santa Rosa change, the General Plan can and should be interpreted and modified as necessary to reflect and remain consistent with the City’s and community’s desires and priorities.
The General Plan is intended to be as dynamic as needed by the Santa Rosa community. As such, it may be necessary to amend the General Plan over time to meet any shift in needs.
Requested amendments in Santa Rosa tend to be proposed by landowners seeking to change the land use designation for specific properties. In addition, the City could amend the General Plan in response to changes in growth and market demand or for other policy reasons.
The General Plan Land Use Diagram or the text of any element generally may be amended up to four times per year per State law. Exceptions to this limitation are allowed to streamline approval of specified affordable housing projects.
General Plan amendment applications may be filed by individual applicants or initiated by the
CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION
City. Applications for an amendment to the General Plan must address why an amendment is warranted.
Applications for General Plan amendment and/or City-initiated General Plan amendments should be grouped together as a single amendment package. The Planning Commission may conduct hearings regarding General Plan amendment packages in the spring, summer, fall, and winter of each year, followed by City Council consideration and action.
The City is required to report annually to the State regarding progress toward achieving General Plan goals, and cities regularly review General Plan goals and policies to determine whether they still reflect the community’s values and the city’s physical and economic conditions. By statute, the General Plan is required to be updated periodically, but no requirement says how often, and the planning period has traditionally been 15 to 20 years. Some cities and counties update their General Plans as often as every five years, and others update in portions over time. The Housing Element must be updated and certified by HCD every eight years. The City must also review and, if necessary, revise the Safety Element with each revision of the Housing Element or Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, but not less than once every eight years. The Sonoma County Multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan which serves as the City’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan was adopted in December 2021. No other elements of the plan have mandated update or review periods. State law requires the California Office of Planning and Research to publish the names of jurisdictions with general plans older than 10 years and to notify the respective decision-making bodies of these jurisdictions.