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1 INTRODUCTION

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How will Chino become a healthier place to live, work, and play? The City has established community health as a focus of this General Plan. Health touches all aspects of a community, from where residents live and shop, to the air they breathe, the transportation they use, and the services they rely upon. This General Plan establishes goals, objectives, policies, and actions that will guide the City as it grows and becomes a Healthy City over the next 20 years. A. Purpose of this General Plan

In California, General Plans serve as the constitution for all future develop-ment in cities. The General Plan provides the fundamental basis for the City’s land use and development policy, and represents the basic community values, ideals, and aspirations to govern a shared environment through 2025. The General Plan addresses all aspects of development including public health, land use, community character, transportation, economics, housing, air quality, and other topics. The General Plan’s policies are implemented by the City’s staff through its municipal codes, including the Zoning Code. City staff in all departments will implement the actions detailed in the Plan. California Government Code Section 65300 requires that the General Plan be comprehensive, internally consistent, and long-term. Although required to address the issues specified by State law, the General Plan may be ultimately organized in a way that best suits Chino. The Plan should be clearly written, available to all those concerned with the community’s development, and easy to administer. This document supersedes the previous General Plan, adopted in 1981. The overall role of the General Plan is to:

♦ Define a realistic vision of what the City desires to be in 20 years.

♦ Express Chino’s policy direction in regard to the physical, social, eco-nomic, cultural, and environmental character of the City.

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♦ Serve as a comprehensive guide for making decisions about land use, community character, transportation, public health, economics, open space, the environment, and public health and safety.

♦ Serve as the City’s “constitution” for land use and community develop-ment. That is, to provide the legal foundation for all zoning, subdivision, and public facilities ordinances, decisions and projects, all of which must be consistent with the General Plan.

♦ Be in a clear and easy to understand form that encourages public discus-sion and understanding.

B. The City and its Planning Area

This section provides context for the City of Chino and the General Plan. 1. Regional Location As is shown in Figure INTRO-1, Chino benefits from a strategic location in the Inland Empire, at the intersection of four of Southern California’s coun-ties: San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles, and Orange Counties. The Inland Empire is one of the fastest growing areas of the country and exceeds the growth rate of the rest of Southern California. According to the San Ber-nardino Associated Governments, San Bernardino County is projected to grow by 30 percent to 2.78 million residents by 2025. As population grows in the Inland Empire, retail, industrial, and commercial development are con-tinuing to expand. 2. Planning Area When conducting a General Plan update, three separate boundaries must be considered: the City limits, the Sphere of Influence (SOI), and the planning area. For the purposes of this document, the SOI is referred to as the area outside the City limit but within the boundaries that might reasonably be expected to be within the City’s boundaries in the future.

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♦ The City limits are the area within the existing City where the City gov-ernment has direct regulatory land use authority.

♦ The SOI is the unincorporated land adjacent to the City limits, desig-nated as the probable future physical boundary and service area for Chino.

♦ The planning area covers both the City limits and the SOI in addition to any other territory that bears a relation to planning for the City.

While the planning area is permitted to extend beyond the area in the SOI, Chino considers the SOI its planning area boundary, so the SOI and planning area are the same in this General Plan. The City limits, the SOI, and the planning area are mapped in Figure INTRO-2. This General Plan covers a larger area than previous plans, as significant por-tions of the southern part of the City were annexed over the past several years. The previous General Plan covered an incorporated area within the City boundaries of 7,336 acres and an SOI area of 5,461 acres. The current City boundaries encompass 18,938 acres, with an SOI area of 1,632 acres. Chino’s boundaries are constrained for the most part by neighboring munici-palities: Ontario to the east and north, Chino Hills to the west, and Riverside County to the east and south. In addition, there remains some unincorpo-rated area between Chino and Montclair, to the north, as well as between Chino and Chino Hills, to the west. 3. Chino’s Past Since the late 19th century, the City of Chino has experienced numerous roads or transformations in its economy, population, and land use pattern. When Richard Gird founded the City of Chino in 1887, he laid out streets around a park, railroad depot, and hotel. Between 1910 and 1940, the City gained its first paved roads and the beginning of the larger street network that exists today. In the southern portion of the City the California Institution for Men (CIM) was built, creating new jobs in the community. Between 1940 and 1960, the development of the Corona Expressway (State Route 71) and

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Riverside Freeway (State Route 91) connected the City to the rest of Southern California’s growing highway network. The following two decades were a period of rapid population growth in Chino. New development was mostly housing, turning the community into a bedroom community for workers in other parts of the region. This com-muter growth was facilitated by the opening of State Route 60, which pro-vided Chino with another connection to surrounding cities. In the 1980s and beyond, the land use focus in the City largely shifted away from agriculture, and towards industrial and warehouse/distribution uses. The industrial and warehouse uses are more common in the southern portion of the City and take advantage of the City’s location along major trucking routes, near rail lines, and the Ontario Airport. The City’s primary commer-cial areas are located along major transportation routes, including State Route 71, Central Avenue, Riverside Drive, and Philadelphia Street. The CIM, an-other long-time fixture in Chino, has constituted much of the less-developed area of land within the City through its history. This may change over the life of the General Plan as development continues in College Park and if an-other portion of the CIM property is granted to the City at some point in the future. 4. History of the General Plan Chino’s previous General Plan was adopted in 1981. Prior to that plan, a General Plan had been adopted in 1969 with a focus on transitioning from an agricultural to a more suburban community. The 1981 plan was written as a period of rapid residential growth was coming to an end. The plan called for more industrial and commercial development to support a diversified econ-omy. The General Plan update incorporated several elements of San Bernar-dino County’s General Plan, as well as an existing Seismic & Public Safety Element adopted in 1974. Therefore, the only elements that were thoroughly updated and specific to Chino’s situation in 1981 were Land Use, Housing, and Circulation, as well as updates to the Parks and Recreation Master Plan and the Central Avenue Specific Plan.



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Over the past 25 years the Housing Element has been updated according to the schedule required by the State Department of Housing and Community Development, most recently in 2001. A Conservation/Open Space Element was added in 1990, a Noise Element in 1995, an Air Quality Element in 1991, and an Economic Development Element in 1992. 5. Chino Today Chino has maintained its strong sense of community, and community in-volvement has grown over the past several decades. Residents are involved with youth sports, religious groups, schools, and other community organiza-tions, which have contributed to the City’s high quality of life. A recent sur-vey of the community shows that residents are very satisfied with life in Chino and that nearly half of the respondents believe that the City has be-come a better place to live over the past five years. The community has also been named by America’s Promise, a non-profit organization, as one of the top 100 places for young people in the United States, thanks to many pro-grams that bring together the City and other community resources to provide services for the City’s youth. Today Chino has a wide variety of land uses. Residential neighborhoods characterize most of the land north of Schaefer Avenue, while industrial uses characterize areas mostly south of Schaefer Avenue on the western side of the City. A significant amount of land is still devoted to several large public uses on the southern part of the City including the California Institution for Men and the Chino Airport. C. The General Plan Update Process

1. Visioning This General Plan is based upon the vision created by the community. All guiding policies and principles in the Plan must support the desires of people who live and work in Chino. The vision for Chino was developed through the General Plan process, and is summarized in the Vision Statement in the Vision chapter of this General Plan.



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2. Special Study Areas The Chino General Plan Update included consideration of three Special Study Areas. These areas, A, B, and C, are shown in Figure INTRO-3. A series of meetings and workshops on the Special Study Areas served to build consensus among participants about future land uses for these areas. As land use alternatives were discussed, city-wide land use and policy concepts were developed that provided a basis for the development of city-wide land use and policy alternatives. The Special Study Areas Report is included as Appendix A to this General Plan. 3. City-Wide Alternatives Based on the discussion of the Special Study Areas, three city-wide land use alternatives were developed for the City of Chino. Alternative 1 focused on a minimal amount of change to existing land uses. Alternative 2 focused future development into mixed-use neighborhoods along existing major corridors. Alternative 3 focused future development around neighborhood centers. These three land use alternatives were broken into 14 change areas, or parts of the City where future changes to land uses were possible. These areas were discussed individually through the city-wide alternatives process in a series of meetings and a public workshop. The resulting land use alternative combines aspects of all three alternatives. The preferred alternative became the Future Growth Vision, presented in the Land Use Element of this General Plan. The Land Use Map and Focused Growth Plan are less-intense versions of the alternative that resulted from this process, intended for implementation over a more immediate time-frame. These maps are also presented in the Land Use Element. Policy alternatives were also developed as part of the City-Wide Alternatives process. A document of policy alternatives descriptions presented different

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options for General Plan policies and included implications of these policy decisions for the future of Chino. City staff and the public discussed the pol-icy alternatives in a public workshop and series of meetings, and developed consensus on how to address the issues presented in the General Plan. These policies have been incorporated into various elements of this General Plan. D. Contents of this General Plan

This General Plan includes this introduction and the Vision chapter, as well as 12 separate “elements” that set goals, objectives, policies, and actions for each given subject. These 12 elements cover the seven topics required by State Government Code Section 65302. Some State-required elements have been combined or included into other elements, as allowed by State law. The Housing Element, one of the required elements, was adopted prior to the adoption of the other General Plan Elements and is available as a separate document. A brief explanation of the topics included in the Chino General Plan is provided here. 1. A Healthy City This General Plan focuses on increasing public health and health awareness in Chino. For that reason, the centerpiece of this General Plan is the Healthy City Element. Although State law does not require a Healthy City Element in general plans, Chino has included this element in order to emphasize the importance of public health to the City and its residents. This element contains a limited number of stand-alone goals, objectives, poli-cies, and actions related to public health. Since the majority of the health-related goals, objectives, policies, and actions are incorporated throughout the other General Plan elements, the Healthy City Element also catalogues the health-related items found in other elements of the General Plan. 2. Land Use Element The State-required Land Use Element designates all lands within the City for specific uses such as housing, commercial, industrial, and open space uses.



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The Land Use Element also provides development regulations for each land use category, and overall land use policies for the City. 3. Community Character Element The Community Character Element is not required by State law, but has been included in order to identify, protect, and enhance Chino’s unique physical and visual resources. The Community Character Element provides information on visual and urban resources, natural setting, and cultural re-sources. 4. Housing Element The City’s Housing Element was updated prior to the adoption of the other General Plan elements and is bound as a separate document. Government Code 65588 requires Housing Elements to be updated every eight years and to include specific components such as analysis of the existing housing stock, analysis of existing and projected housing needs and quantification of the number of housing units that will be developed, preserved, and improved through its policies and actions. 5. Transportation Element State law requires a Circulation or Transportation Element to specify the general location and extent of existing and proposed major streets and other transportation facilities. As required by law, all facilities in the Transporta-tion Element are correlated with the land uses foreseen in the Land Use Ele-ment. 6. Economic Development Element While not required by State law, the Economic Development Element is in-cluded to facilitate and maintain a balanced mix of economic activity and to encourage the development of particular economic sectors in Chino. The Economic Development Element contains goals, objectives, policies, and ac-tions to encourage the development of desired economic activities throughout the City, as well as ensure the fiscal vitality of the community.



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7. Open Space and Conservation Element This element combines two elements required by State law, the Open Space Element and the Conservation Element. It addresses the preservation of open space and the conservation, development, and utilization of natural resources. 8. Parks and Recreation Element The Parks and Recreation Element is not required by State law, but includes an important vision for parks and recreational opportunities in Chino. The element will outline park standards, facilities, city-sponsored activities, and funding sources for future parks and recreation facilities and programs. 9. Public Facilities and Services The State does not require a Public Facilities and Services Element. However, this element addresses some topics required in the Land Use and Circulation elements under State law. These are the movement of water, wastewater, and stormwater. 10. Air Quality The State does not require Chino to include an Air Quality Element in its General Plan. It is included, however, to outline goals, objectives, policies, and actions to mitigate the air pollution impacts of land use, the transporta-tion system, and other activities that occur in Chino. 11. Safety Element State law requires the General Plan include a Safety Element to protect the community from risks associated with the effects of flooding, seismic and other geologic hazards, and wildland fires. 12. Noise Element The State requires a Noise Element as part of the General Plan to address noise problems in the community and analyze and quantify current and pro-jected noise levels from a variety of sources. The Noise Element includes goals, objectives, policies, and actions to address current and foreseeable noise problems.



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13. Specific Plans In addition to the elements described above, this General Plan incorporates by reference all previously-adopted Specific Plans, including the Majestic Spectrum, East Chino, Eucalyptus Business Park, College Park and The Pre-serve Specific Plans, as well as the Downtown Civic Center Master Plan and Central Avenue Specific Plan. Individuals with property within these plan areas should consult the plans for full policy guidance and descriptions of al-lowed land uses. The boundaries of the two Specific Plans are shown in Fig-ure INTRO-4. 14. General Plan Topics Table INTRO-1 shows where key topics are addressed in the General Plan. E. General Plan Organization

Each element of this General Plan contains a minimum of three sections: ♦ Background Information ♦ Goals, Objectives, Policies, and Actions ♦ Indicators

Some elements also include additional sections, which are explained in the individual elements. This section describes the goals, objectives, policies, and actions, as well as the indicators. 1. Goals, Objectives, Policies, and Actions Goals, objectives, policies, and actions, as articulated in this General Plan, are defined as follows:

♦ Goal. A goal is a description of the general desired result that the City seeks to create through the implementation of its General Plan. One or more goals are provided in each General Plan element.

♦ Objective. An objective is a specific condition or end that serves as a concrete step toward attaining a goal. Objectives are intended to be

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TABLE INTRO-1 GENERAL PLAN TOPICS

Topic Element Addressed In:

Agriculture Open Space and Conservation, Land Use

Air Quality Air Quality, Transportation

Airport Safety, Transportation, Land Use, Noise

Bicycles Transportation, Land Use, Community Character

Childcare Public Facilities and Services, Economic Development

Climate Change Land Use, Community Character, Transportation, Open Space and Conservation

Community Design Community Character

Disasters Safety

Earthquakes Safety

Employment Economic Development

Energy Conservation Land Use, Community Character, Transportation, Open Space and Conservation

Fire Public Facilities and Services

Fires Safety

Flooding Safety

Greenhouse Gases Land Use, Community Character, Transportation, Open Space and Conservation

Hazardous Materials Safety, Transportation

Historic Buildings Open Space and Conservation

Housing Housing, Land Use, Economic Development

Jobs-Housing Balance Economic Development, Housing, Land Use

Land Use Land Use

Noise Noise



TABLE INTRO-1 GENERAL PLAN TOPICS (CONTINUED)

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Topic Element Addressed In:

Parks Parks and Recreation, Open Space and Conservation

Pedestrians Transportation, Land Use, Community Character

Police Public Facilities and Services

Prado Dam Safety, Open Space and Conservation, Land Use

Public Health All

Recreational Programs Parks and Recreation

Recycling Public Facilities and Services

Scenic Views Community Character

Schools Public Facilities and Services, Transportation, Parks and Recreation, Air Quality, Noise

Seniors Parks and Recreation, Air Quality, Noise, Public Facili-ties and Services

Solid Waste Public Facilities and Services

Terrorism Safety

Traffic Transportation, Noise

Water Public Facilities and Services, Open Space and Conserva-tion

clearly achievable and, when possible, measurable. There are one or more objectives for each General Plan goal.

♦ Policy. A policy is a specific statement that guides decision-making to achieve an objective. Policies, once adopted, represent statements of City regulation and require no further implementation. This General Plan es-tablishes policies that will be used by City staff, the Planning Commis-sion, and City Council in their review of land development projects and in decision-making about City actions.



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♦ Action. An action is a program, implementation measure, procedure, or technique intended to help to achieve a specified objective.

As shown in Figure INTRO-5, policies and actions are at the same level; both policies and actions are intended to implement objectives. In most cases, ob-jectives have both implementing policies and actions. However, it is also pos-sible for an objective to be implemented exclusively through either policies or actions.

FIGURE INTRO-5 GENERAL PLAN COMPONENTS Some elements have additional sections other than the three described above that are specific to them. For example, the Land Use Element contains a se-ries of Land Use Designations that guide overall development in the City.



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2. Indicators Indicators are quantitative tools that measure economic, environmental, so-cial, or cultural conditions. Indicators can help describe complex systems in simpler terms, making it easier to evaluate them and make policy decisions. Indicators can measure progress toward goals and gauge whether the system is headed in the right direction. An indicator should be selected to be easily understandable, easily and objectively measurable, and provide reliable in-formation. Direct indicators measure exactly what they say they do, such as the unem-ployment rate. Indirect or “proxy” indicators are often used to approxi-mately measure complex concepts that are difficult or impossible to measure directly. For example, the amount of venture capital raised per capita is an indicator that is sometimes used to measure the concept of inventiveness. A variety of direct and proxy indicators have been selected to provide a basis for measuring progress toward the goals of the General Plan. The indicators are integrated into each element of the General Plan. F. How to Use this General Plan

The General Plan presents a variety of different types of information. De-pending on what you are looking for, there are a number of different ways to use the General Plan.

♦ General Inquiry. To learn about Chino’s vision for its future, read through the General Plan introduction and elements.

♦ Land Use. If you would like to find the General Plan Land Use Designa-tion for a specific parcel, skip to the Land Use Element. On page LU-11 you will find a land use designation map, with corresponding land use type descriptions starting on page LU-9.

♦ Policy Reference. The policies in this General Plan are legally binding. If you would like to find General Plan policies and actions relating to a



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specific topic, look in the end of the element that contains the informa-tion you are interested in.

♦ “Should” versus “shall.” In general, policies that use the word “shall” are mandatory. Policies that use the word “should” are not mandatory; these policies provide guidance to the City, but the City is not required to follow them if they find that the policy is not appropriate for a par-ticular situation or if there are other factors, such as budget limitations, that would make it difficult to follow the policy direction.

♦ Housing. If you are interested in future housing in Chino, including dif-ferent levels of affordability, see the separate Housing Element docu-ment.

♦ Environmental Review. If you are interested in the California Envi-ronmental Quality Act (CEQA) analysis of the General Plan, see the Draft Environmental Impact Report and Final Environmental Impact Report.

♦ Mitigation. Some policies in this Plan are required as mitigation for en-vironmental impacts under CEQA.



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