MISSION VIEJO : City General Plan Extension Weighed

With a deadline for completing the city’s general plan just weeks away, the City Council will hold a public hearing tonight to discuss asking the state for an extension.

Although city staff has expressed confidence that the plan will be complete by the Oct. 1 deadline, Councilman Robert A. Curtis said he wasn’t so sure.

“Right now, I still have concerns,” he said. “There are still a couple of important cleanup items that need to be taken care of. The general plan is too important to be rushed through with loose ends still open.”

A city has 30 months after incorporation to submit a general plan to the state. That plan covers how city government intends to run the community, from housing issues to traffic control.

Curtis said he still is not satisfied with land-use policies outlined by the document.

“We’re projecting a lot of traffic volume but not addressing that with the projected land and housing uses in the general plan,” he said. “We need to have a general idea for managing that traffic flow before approving the housing element” of the plan.

But after the city has spent more than $500,000 and 18 months for studies by consultants and committees, Councilwoman Victoria C. Jaffe said she probably will not vote for an extension.

“I’m willing to listen,” she said, but “at this moment, I would have doubts that this late in the game, there would be something coming up that would delay” approving the general plan.