City of Calabasas, CA
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Plans Affecting the Region
The City of Calabasas is located in the northwest of Los Angeles County, immediately north of the Santa Monica Mountains, within a physically diverse area of Southern California. The highly urbanized environment of Los Angeles is juxtaposed by the open space and state/national park land of the Santa Monica Mountains. In order to minimize the impacts of urban sprawl on the natural environment of this area, several regional plans have been created to address air and water quality, development, and transportation.
Santa Monica Mountains North Area Plan (LA County)
The Santa Monica Mountains North Area Plan (North Area Plan is a synonym used in this document) is a component of the Los Angeles County General Plan. The North Area Plan's primary role is to provide more focused policy for the regulation of development within the unincorporated area of the Santa Monica Mountains west of the City of Los Angeles and north of the Coastal Zone boundary--the planning area--as part of the overall General Plan area of Los Angeles County. The North Area Plan refines the policies of the county-wide General Plan as it applies to this planning area.
Regional Water Quality Control Board Basin Plan
The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board Basin Plan is designed to preserve and enhance water quality and protect the beneficial uses of all regional waters. Specifically, the Basin Plan:
- designates beneficial uses for surface and ground waters,
- sets narrative and numerical objectives that must be attained or maintained to protect the designated beneficial uses and conform to the state’s anti-degradation policy, and
- describes implementation programs to protect all waters in the Region.
In addition, the Basin Plan incorporates (by reference) all applicable State and Regional Board plans and policies and other pertinent water quality policies and regulations.
Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Regional Transportation Plan
On April 4, 2012, the Regional Council of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) adopted the 2012-2035 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (RTP/SCS): Towards a Sustainable Future. The RTP/SCS is the culmination of a multi-year effort involving stakeholders from across the SCAG Region. The RTP is a long-range transportation plan that is developed and updated by SCAG every four years. The RTP provides a vision for transportation investments throughout the region. Using growth forecasts and economic trends that project out over a 20-year period, the RTP considers the role of transportation in the broader context of economic, environmental, and quality-of-life goals for the future, identifying regional transportation strategies to address our mobility needs.
South Coast Air Quality Management Plan
The Final 2007 Air Quality Management Plan is designed to meet both state and federal Clean Air Act planning requirements for all areas under AQMD jurisdiction, including the South Coast Air Basin (Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Bernardino County and Riverside County). The purpose of the 2007 Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP or Plan) for the South Coast Air Basin (Basin) is to set forth a comprehensive program that will lead the region into compliance with federal 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 air quality standards. The Final 2007 AQMP is jointly prepared with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG).
State Laws Concerning Regional Plans and Systems
AB32
In 2006, the Legislature passed andGovernor Schwarzenegger signed AB32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which set the 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal into law. It directed the California Air Resources Board to begin developing discrete early actions to reduce greenhouse gases while also preparing a scoping plan to identify how best to reach the 2020 limit. The reduction measures to meet the 2020 target are to be adopted by the start of 2011.
SB375
In 2008 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signedSenate Bill 375, which enhances California's ability to reach its AB32 goals by promoting good planning with the goal of more sustainable communities. SB375 requires the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to develop regional greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for passenger vehicles. CARB will establish targets for 2020 and 2035 for each region covered by one of the State's 18 metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs). Each of California’s MPOs then prepare a ‘sustainable communities strategy’ (SCS) that demonstrates how the region will meet its greenhouse gas reduction target through integrated land use, housing and transportation planning. Once adopted by the MPO, the SCS will be incorporated into that region's federally enforceable regional transportation plan (RTP). CARB is also required to review each final SCS to determine whether it would, if implemented, achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction target for its region. If the combination of measures in the SCS will not meet the region’s target, the MPO must prepare a separate “alternative planning strategy (APS)” to meet the target.
Rim of the Valley Corridor Special Resource Study
The Rim of the Valley Corridor Special Resource Study is a regional National Park Service planning effort to determine whether significant resources are contained in the area that generally includes the mountains encircling the San Fernando, La Crescenta, Santa Clarita, Simi and Conejo Valleys of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties in southern California. The NPS is evaluating options for potentially expanding NPS involvement in regard to wildlife and habitat resource management in areas located between the existing Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area ((SMMNRA) and the Angeles National Forest. Four alternative concepts are outlined in Newsletter #3 from the NPS planning team.
The NPS planning staff wants to hear from members of the public about the four different resource management concepts summarized in the newsletter; comments should be submitted to the NPS planning team no later than January 7, 2013. E-mailed comments may be sent to: pwr_rimofthevalley@nps.gov; and written comments may be mailed to the following address: NPS Rim of the Valley Study, 570 W. Avenue 26, #175, Los Angeles, CA 90065.