Revisions in Plan for City Growth Get Council OK

A revised plan that will guide the city’s growth for the next 15 to 20 years was adopted by the City Council this week.

“It’s basically a tool that we use and future councils will use for planning the growth of the city,” Councilman Don Bankhead said.

The updated General Plan projects population growth of 15% and property development increases of 13.5% in residential, 4.5% in commercial and 11.5% in industrial.

City planners began working on the update in 1990. After a series of public workshops at which hundreds of people voiced their concerns and suggestions, the revised plan received approval from the Planning Commission in 1995.

Approval by the City Council was delayed because the city of Anaheim raised a number of concerns about the plan, officials said, including the effect on traffic patterns.

Fullerton had similar concerns about a 1993 Anaheim redevelopment proposal that would have turned an industrial plot into a discount retail outlet. The two cities have since settled that issue.

In the past year, Fullerton planners have addressed Anaheim’s concerns. Lawyers have reviewed the updated document to “make sure it’s as bulletproof as we can get it,” said Barry Eaton, a planning consultant and Fullerton’s former chief planner.

The extra precautions were taken to protect the city from possible litigation in the future, Eaton said.