Turlock council mulls general plan

TURLOCK -- Four years of planning, consulting and meetings will culminate today when the City Council considers a major update to the general plan.

A special meeting is scheduled to go over the document, which governs how and where the city will grow in coming years. Turlock's general plan last was updated in 1992.

According to a staff report prepared for today's meeting, the general plan provides for a potential 19,700 new housing units, a significant increase from the city's current 24,400 housing units.

But planners aren't proposing building all those homes, apartments and condominiums; the general plan is a basis for where and how they should be built, if and when developers propose them. The city of 70,000 could grow to a population of more than 100,000, the report says, but it does not offer a timetable for when that could or should be.

The plan would emphasize growth to the city's southeast, as well as so-called infill projects and annexations of county islands within the city limits. It calls for neighborhoods that would be walkable and accessible by bus, with the goal of reducing vehicle miles traveled per capita.

And it anticipates growth in business and industry, with downtown offices, shops and other commercial endeavors providing nearly half the jobs in town.

After this afternoon's special meeting, the City Council will meet for its regular session. Topics on that agenda include a presentation to the Pitman High School band for its performance in the Washington, D.C., Independence Day parade and an update on the city's building projects.

More information about Turlock's general plan update is available online at www.gpupdate.turlock.ca.us.

The Turlock City Council meets in special session to discuss the general plan at 4:30 p.m., followed by the regular meeting at 7 p.m. Both will be at City Hall, 156 S. Broadway.