The final push is on to complete the first-ever Regional Comprehensive Plan. The plan will serve as the foundation for connecting land uses, transportation systems, infrastructure needs, and public investment strategies for the San Diego region.

The Regional Comprehensive Plan (RCP) aims to strengthen the relationships among local and regional plans and policies, and land use and transportation, enabling local governments as well as the region to proactively plan for change and growth.

The RCP contains an incentive-based approach to encourage and channel growth into existing and future urban areas and smart growth communities. One key will be in determining how best to use regional funding dollars to make smart growth a reality.

Residents, city and county elected officials, and regional infrastructure providers worked together with SANDAG to prepare the draft RCP. One of its key components is the Integrated Regional Infrastructure Strategy, an investment strategy that will help the region meet its collective infrastructure needs.

The strategy will be used to assess and monitor whether the region’s existing infrastructure and planned capital improvement expenditures are adequate to meet the region’s needs or can be reprogrammed to support channeling growth into urban communities and smart growth areas. The strategy looks at the need for changes to public policy or new revenue sources to support smart growth development.

Regional infrastructure being evaluated includes: transportation, including ports of entry; sewage facilities; energy systems; solid waste; stormwater systems; water supply and delivery systems; regional open space, habitats, parks, and recreation facilities (including beach sand replenishment); and K-12 education, community colleges, and universities.

The RCP also looks beyond our borders and takes into account the planning and growth underway in Imperial, Orange, and Riverside Counties and Baja California, Mexico. It also looks at the social equity and environmental justice in our planning processes: do all communities have access to the region’s resources and do all residents have an equal opportunity to participate in the process?

The RCP has the potential to launch a new era in planning, design, and development in the San Diego region. The Board will vote on the Regional Comprehensive Plan and the Environmental Impact Report at the July 23 board meeting.

Project Manager:Carolina Gregor
(619) 699-1989