Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a General Plan?
- Why update the General Plan?
- What is a visioning process?
- What is a Visioning Toolkit?
- How do I receive a Toolkit?
- What happens at the Community Visioning Meeting on June 7th?
- How do I stay involved and receive updates about the project?
The General Plan is the City of Mountain View’s blueprint for the future; it is a guide for the City that includes all of the aspects essential to creating a thriving and well-balanced community such as housing, transportation, parks and open space, community services and facilities, and land use. It establishes future growth and land use development goals and policies for the City.
The Existing City of Mountain View General Plan can be found here: Mountain View General Plan 1992.
The City of Mountain View will start updating its General Plan in the fall of 2008.
2. Why update the General Plan?
The General Plan was last updated in 1992, and much has changed in Mountain View over the last 16 years! The General Plan update will provide the City with goals and policies that more accurately reflect shared community values, potential change areas, and compliance with state law and local ordinances. The update will also provide a guide for future land use decisions.
The City of Mountain View's General Plan Update begins with a visioning process.
3. What is a visioning process?
The City is seeking help from the community in defining a future vision for Mountain View through 2030. The visioning process is the community’s opportunity to imagine the future of Mountain View. There will be a series of activities designed to encourage community input including outreach discussions, a web survey, and two City-wide community meetings.
The first Community Visioning Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 7th 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, Second Stage, 500 Castro Street (Map of Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts).
4. What is a Visioning Toolkit?
The Visioning Toolkit enables residents to bring the visioning process home, or to their community groups, or to their place of work.
The Visioning
Toolkit includes a short activity for groups of neighbors or members of an
organization to complete. The Visioning Toolkit includes easy step-by-step
instructions and all the supplies needed, including a preaddressed mailing envelope
so the results can be returned to the Planning Division. The exercise is
designed for a group of 10-15 people and should take about 45 minutes to
complete. Participants will discuss a
series of questions and complete a template to report their answers. There is
also an optional photo exercise for those who would like to share photos of
favorite places in Mountain View.
Contents of the Visioning Toolkit can be found at the following link: Community Visioning Exercise Documents.
The City will publish the results of all Visioning Toolkit activities in a final report that will be available in September.
5. How do I receive a Toolkit?
To launch the kits, the City of Mountain View has invited local agencies, churches, clubs, sports groups, businesses, and interest groups to learn how to use the kit to facilitate a discussion with their group members. However, everyone is invited to the training sessions and anyone can be a facilitator!
You must attend the training to receive your Visioning Toolkit. If you are interested in attending a brief training to learn more about developing a vision for Mountain View, please register by calling 650-903-6306 or by sending an email to community.dev@mountainview.gov.
Visioning Toolkit Training dates:
May
13th 11:30 a.m.
(Council Chambers)
May
15th 7:00 p.m. (Plaza
Conference Room, Second Floor)
May
19th 7:00 p.m. (Plaza Conference Room, Second Floor)
May
21st 11:30 a.m. (Plaza Conference Room, Second Floor)
6. What happens at the Community Visioning Meeting on June 7th?
At the Community Visioning Meeting on June 7th, community members will have an opportunity to imagine the future of Mountain View through hands-on activities. The results of the Toolkit discussions will also be showcased.The Community Visioning Meeting will be held on Saturday, June 7 from 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, Second Stage, 500 Castro Street. Refreshments and children's activities will be provided. Translation assistance will be provided in Spanish, Chinese and Russian.
Free parking is available at City Hall, the parking lot at Bryant and Mercy, and the new parking garage at Bryant and California. Several public transportation options (bus lines #35, #22, and light rail) are also available. Visit the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (www.vta.org) for more public transportation information.
A map of the meeting location can be found at the following link: Map of Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.
7. How do I stay involved and receive updates about the project?
Send your comments to us regarding the City of Mountain View Visioning Process and General Plan Update at the following: Send Comments.Sign up to receive emails to the following link: Sign Up to receive email updates.
Stay tuned for future General Plan Update meetings and events!
