Here are some Answers to Frequenty Asked Questions. Feel free to contact us if you don’t find your specific answers here.
What is a Specific Plan?
A Specific Plan is a regulatory tool that local governments use to implement the General Plan and to guide development in a localized area. While the General Plan is the City’s overall guide for growth and development and the Zoning Code is the tool for regulating development in the entire City, a Specific Plan focuses on the unique characteristics of a special area by customizing the planning process and land use regulations to that area.
A Specific Plan is intended to be a tool for developers, property owners, City staff and decision makers by providing strong and clear policies, development standards, and a vision that guides land use decisions, infrastructure improvements, design, and economic development activities in the project area. A Specific Plan should remove constraints to efficient development and encourage desired patterns of activity, land uses and development types.
What are the City’s goals for the Specific Plan?
What is Transit Oriented Development?
Transit oriented development is development that is located within easy walking distance of a major transit stop, generally with a mix of residential, employment, retail, and complementing public uses designed for pedestrians without excluding the auto. Transit oriented development can be new construction or redevelopment of one or more buildings wherein the design and orientation facilitate transit use, and the density is appropriate to the setting. The location, design, configuration, and mix of uses in a transit oriented development provide an alternative to current suburban development trends by emphasizing a pedestrian-oriented environment and reinforcing the use of public transportation. Transit oriented development significantly reduces auto dependency, helps revitalize areas and offers a new model for managing growth. For more information click here.
A transit district, such as Downtown Baldwin Park, is a compact, mixed-use community centered around the transit station that, by design, invites residents and workers, and shoppers to drive their cars less and ride mass transit more. A transit district extends roughly a quarter mile from a transit station, a distance that can be covered in about five minutes by foot. The centerpiece of a transit district is the transit station itself and the civic and public spaces that surround it. The transit station is what connects village residents and workers to the rest of the region, providing convenient and ready access to downtown areas, major activity centers and popular destinations.
Source: Transit Villages in the 21st Century, Michael Bernick and Robert Cervero
Has the City already made a final decision about changing the zoning designations?
How could a change in zoning designation affect the value of my property?
How is this project being funded?
This project is funded by the Metro TOD Planning Grant Program and the City of Baldwin Park. The TOD Planning Grant Program is designed to spur the adoption of local land use regulations that are supportive of Transit Oriented Development in Los Angeles County. Goals for the program include the following:
- Increase access to transit by assisting local governments to accelerate the adoption of TOD regulatory frameworks;
- Improve utilization of public transit by reducing the number of modes of transportation necessary to access regional and local transit;
- Further the reduction of greenhouse gases through encouraging in-fill development along transit corridors and transit use; and
- Support and implement sustainable development principles.