Franklin-Beachwood Community Plan Update

Franklin-Beachwood Community Plan Update

The proposed Community Plan is intended to guide development in Franklin- Beachwood through the year 2040. The proposed Community Plan would amend the County General Plan, including the land use map, and provide policies to ensure that the Community Plan is implemented as envisioned by Franklin-Beachwood residents and the County. The County zoning map would also be amended to reflect the zones associated with the proposed land use designations. The Proposed Project would expand the boundaries of the existing Community Plan Area to include adjacent RRC areas, which are zoned Agricultural-Residential. The existing Plan Area encompasses approximately 812 acres; the proposed Community Plan would increase the Plan Area by approximately 280 acres. The FCWD Sphere of Influence would also need to be amended to incorporate the additional area. The Franklin-Beachwood Community Plan provides for increases in residential and commercial development, accompanied by services needed to serve this growth. The predominant land use would continue to be residential, with up to 748 new units. There would be a corresponding increase in the community population to a total of up to approximately 8,760 residents by 2040, an increase of approximately 21 percent over 2020 levels. The population would grow to approximately 9,432 residents if the Plan Area were to fully build out, an increase of approximately 27 percent. General Commercial and Neighborhood Commercial development would increase to approximately 666,720 square feet, about a sixfold increase. The Community Plan also provides for approximately 38,690 square feet of Business Park development. Approximately 99.4 acres of land currently designated Industrial would be redesignated Planned Development, which would provide for both residential and commercial development. It is anticipated that approximately 10 acres of the PD would be commercial with up to 100,030 square feet of development. The remaining 89.4 acres would accommodate 375 residential units. No new industrial development would occur within the Plan Area. No new schools are proposed, although additional schools would be allowed in areas designated for residential development. The proposed Community Plan provides for approximately 31 acres designated for park/recreation areas, including one new community park, which would be approximately 19 acres and two other smaller, neighborhood park/recreation areas, which would vary in size. The recreation area off Franklin Road is associated with Franklin Elementary School. Neighborhood parks would include features such as playgrounds, picnic areas and passive spaces. Other possible amenities could include community gardens, tot lots, dog parks, walking paths and multiuse lawn areas. Pocket parks of less than one acre could also be located in and around residential neighborhoods. A Class II bike lane is proposed along Santa Fe Drive. A multi-use path is also proposed along Santa Fe Drive along with a new multi-use path along Ashby Road that will connect to a multi-use path to the City of Merced. The proposed Community Plan does not include any specific development projects. In order to determine the potential impacts of the proposed Community Plan, the EIR will assume, at buildout, the land uses and levels of development shown in Table 1. If the proposed Community Plan is adopted, proposals for new development would need to demonstrate that they are consistent with the land use designations and policies of the adopted Community Plan.

Atwater, Merced, Unincorporated Area

Merced

Unincorporated

California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Department of Conservation (DOC), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Central Region 4 (CDFW), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Transportation, District 6 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, Division of Aeronautics (DOT), California Department of Transportation, Division of Transportation Planning (DOT), California Department of Water Resources (DWR), California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), California Highway Patrol (CHP), California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Natural Resources Agency, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Fresno Region 5 (RWQCB), Central Valley Flood Protection Board, Department of Toxic Substances Control, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 11, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights

Residential (Existing and Future)(Units 2730, Acres 764.4)

General Plan Amendment, Community Plan

Aesthetics, Agriculture and Forestry Resources, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Cumulative Effects, Drainage/Absorption, Energy, Flood Plain/Flooding, Geology/Soils, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Hazards & Hazardous Materials, Hydrology/Water Quality, Land Use/Planning, Mandatory Findings of Significance, Mineral Resources, Noise, Population/Housing, Public Services, Recreation, Sewer Capacity, Transportation, Tribal Cultural Resources, Utilities/Service Systems