The City of Maricopa General Plan is intended, in all respects, to guide the City’s fast-paced growth. Citizens’ vision for their community is detailed in the 2040 Vision Strategic Plan as Elements, Goals, and Strategies. This General Plan translates the 2040 Vision Goals and Strategies into Goals, Objectives, and Policies for each of the Plan Elements. These statements of principle now need to be carried out in practice.
The Implementation section identifies the actions necessary to ensure that the policies and objectives of the Maricopa General Plan are carried out effectively. The intent of this section is to explain the tools to implement the General Plan and to organize the listing of near-term implementation activities derived from the Goals, Objectives, and Policies within each Element and prioritize them for timely completion.
Arizona State law provides for cities to take the following actions to implement the General Plan:
- Recommend measures to the City Council that will put into effect the provisions of the General Plan;
- Promote public interest and understanding of the General Plan and its regulations;
- Communicate with other public officials, agencies and organizations with regard to General Plan implementation;
- Develop specific plans as may be necessary to implement the General Plan;
- Contract for, receive, and utilize grants or other financial assistance made available by government agencies;
- Render an annual report to City Council on the status of the General Plan and progress of its application; and
- Maintain a Capital Improvement Program (CIP) in step with this Plan.
To ensure ongoing implementation of the Maricopa General Plan as an important, practical, up-to-date, and consistent statement of City policy, the following implementation tools are utilized:
- The City Council Strategic Plan is reviewed and updated annually to include action-oriented policies to guide daily decision-making and incrementally achieve the goals of the General Plan.
- Plan Monitoring for measuring performance and annual maintenance updates.
- Land Use & Development Decision Criteria to assist in evaluating proposed development projects and assure their consistency with General Plan principles.
- Implementation Work Program to organize the near-term implementation activities derived from the Goals, Objectives, and Policies within each element.
The City Council Strategic Plan is considered a companion document to the General Plan. Strategic Plan Policies relating to each of the General Plan Elements provide continuity between agreed upon General Plan Goals, Objectives, and Policies and the day-to-day activities and decision-making effecting the growth and development of the City. As a separate policy document, the Strategic Plan can be efficiently amended by the City Council to respond to shifting priorities and needs of the City. The Strategic Plan also provides the foundation for the City’s budget, fiscal priorities, and Capital Improvement Program on an annual basis.
- Aligning the General Plan and the City Budget – The General Plan includes an ambitious list of Goals, Policies, and Objectives to accomplish over a 15 year period. Given the limited resources of the City, it is not possible to simultaneously fund implementation of every goal and policy. Effective implementation will require prioritization of programs and projects prior to determining funding.
- Capital Improvement Plan – The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) manages the timing and location of needed public improvements, such as flood control, streetscape and traffic improvements, police and fire stations, community facilities, and possibly sewer and water services, among others. The CIP sets priorities and capital improvement projects annually.
Maintaining General Plan momentum is a responsibility for the entire community. City leadership should use the Plan as a regular decision-making tool. City staff should apply the document’s principles on a day-to-day basis, keeping track of shortcomings to be remedied. Residents, property owners and developers need to rely on the General Plan and follow its directions. Together, all these stakeholders should be involved in the monitoring responsibility: oversight, updating and following Plan directions.
Plan Oversight
The City will take an active leadership role in promoting use and implementation of the General Plan. However, implementation cannot rest on the City alone. The private sector, non-profits, and community members are pivotal to successful implementation. It will take the concerted efforts of residents, businesses, and the City’s boards, committees and commissions, to name a few, to bring the General Plan from vision to reality.
As the City’s appointed advisors on planning matters, the Planning and Zoning Commission is responsible for broad General Plan supervision. The Director of Development Services, however, is the Plan administrator tasked to provide regular General Plan upkeep services. Basic information about planning and development activity, especially changes in each of the Element’s status, is a fundamental tool in Plan maintenance. It is essential to keep the document current by practicing the following procedures on an annual basis.
Map Revisions
Periodic revisions to the Land Use Plan map should be made to record: approved Major or Minor General Plan Amendments; annexation areas; special planning or target areas; and, where appropriate, cumulative, street pattern extensions or closures, and additions or alterations to open space/pathways.
Preferably, maps would be updated on an annual basis, soon after the annual General Plan Amendment hearing. Retaining outdated maps can provide a valuable “time lapse” tool for observing the progress and transition (e.g., land use, housing, transportation) of implementation activities.
Text Revisions
Amendments to the narrative portions of the City’s General Plan should be inserted regularly into users’ copies of the Plan and on the City’s website. It is not necessary to republish the document frequently. “Change pages”, marked as current updates, may be prepared to replace older versions of sections that have been officially revised. Periodic updates and changes to the Plan should be listed in an appendix at the end of the document. The listing should include the date, section or provision updated, a short explanation of the update, reference the amendment / change file number, or resolution if applicable.
Record Keeping
The City Clerk is charged with recording changes authorized by General Plan Amendments. The Director of Development Services is charged with ensuring all public records and documents are current and up-to-date. Text revisions, as well as legal descriptions of properties involved in map amendments, should be conveyed to the City for accurate insertion in regularly updated Plan documents.
Annual Progress Report
The Maricopa Director of Development Services, in conjunction with the City’s executive leadership, is responsible for compiling an annual report monitoring the status of the General Plan. Included in the report should be an assessment of the validity of the goals and objectives and a progress statement on their incremental achievement. Problem areas or suggested updates should be detailed. The timing of the annual report shall be established by departmental policy.
The Planning and Zoning Commission actively participates in the annual review of the General Plan. The Commission should provide recommendations to City staff and officials on suggested Plan refinements. Throughout the year, progress reviews may be conducted as discussion or decision items on the Commission’s regular meeting agendas. Upon review of the Annual Progress Report, the Commission’s recommendation should be forwarded to the City Council for consideration. After presentation to the City Council, the Council’s final direction to the Annual Progress Report will become a matter of public record.
The report should provide information such as:
- A summary of the annual accomplishments, work program achievements, development activity, and major municipal improvements.
- An overview of progress on Plan recommendations of each element, together with a statement of activities anticipated for the upcoming year.
- Development trends information and recommendations derived from building permits and valuations, commercial square footage, employment statistics, code enforcement and disposition of applications to boards, committees, commissions and Council. Data regarding acreages and/or dwelling units rezoned or developed over the past year, according to use type, would be particularly relevant.
- An assessment of the validity of the goals and objectives and a progress statement on their incremental achievement. Problem areas or suggested updates should be detailed, along with an updated Implementation Work Program table.
All of this information is key to measuring the extent of community growth and should be included and evaluated in the annual report. As part of the on-going public participation program, the City will distribute the annual General Plan Progress Report to statutory reviewing agencies, abutting jurisdictions, civic organizations, stakeholders and other interested persons.
Changes of Conditions
Unforeseen circumstances, such as a major development proposal or a significant economic change, should be entered into the progress measurement equation. Critical needs — infrastructure extensions or repairs, responses to flooding or other natural occurrences — would require reallocation of planning and funding priorities.
When “brushfire” requirements alter the City’s use of resources toward General Plan implementation, the diversion of effort should be noted in ratings and reports of progress. Flexibility is a key concept in Plan implementation. When opportunities present themselves, the City will be prepared to take advantage of them. Mid-year briefing reports from staff or citizen groups could indicate possibilities for tourism attraction or economic development that might be enhanced by additional, special implementation initiatives. With City Council approval, any such prospect may merit a change of direction of planning efforts to benefit from previously unforeseen options.
General Plan implementation is an incremental process that includes all plans and improvements to property in the City. Each property, when it is proposed for a change of use, built upon, developed or redeveloped, or revitalized, can make a positive contribution to achieving Maricopa’s 2040 Vision. Much of the Plan implementation occurs on a case-by-case basis through review of proposed rezonings, development plans, conditional uses, plats, public improvements, and facilities. Implementation also occurs on a daily basis within the City administration through an ongoing system of analysis, studying the situation, and reaching rational conclusions about community needs and the best courses of City action within the framework established by the General Plan.
This Plan encourages consistent public and private decisions that will result in logical and sustainable development. Criteria for assessing various types of development may be applied as standards and guides to decision-making by the City Council, its advisory boards, committees, and commissions (especially the Planning and Zoning Commission) and City staff. Development standards, specific area (or character area) plans, and guidelines may be incorporated, as appropriate, into municipal codes or may be added to or refined in practice without requiring a major General Plan Amendment. The following is a list of existing city codes and guidelines, which may be updated or expanded from time to time to implement this Plan:
- City Code – Many General Plan policies are implemented through regulations adopted by the City of Maricopa, based upon the City’s “police power” to protect the public’s health, safety, and welfare. The City Code is comprised of detailed regulations on a variety of areas, including but not limited to, zoning, subdivision development, building and fire codes, public safety, storm water management, services, etc.
- Master, Character Area, and Strategic Plans – These plans are detailed plans for specific functions of the City. They typically include specific project recommendations, feasibility assesment, cost analysis, and other provisions and are updated on a 2-5 year basis. While the General Plan provides broad goals and community direction, master plans provide the methods and means for realizing them. Examples of master plans include, but are not limited to, the Transportation Master Plan, Community Services Master Plan (Parks, Trails, and open Space Master Plan), Safe Routes to School Master Plan, Economic Development Strategic Plan, and Redevelopment Area Plans. These plans are distinguished from master development plans for specific development projects, which are governed by the Zoning Code and Subdivision Ordinance.
- Character Area Plans – Character Area Plans work to define, maintain, or enhance a desired character for an area. They link the broad policy direction of the General Plan with more detailed policies and implementation projects for specific geographic areas of the city. The existing Redevelopment Area Plan and the Heritage District Design Guidelines act as a Character Area Plan in conjunction with the redevelopment plan.
- Design Guidelines and Standards – Design Guidelines and standards provide the framework for evaluating proposals on the basis of design, architecture, context, compatibility, landscaping, and other factors. Maricopa’s design guidelines include, but are not limited to, the Land Development Code, Heritage District Design Guidelines, Single-Family Residential Design Guidelines, and the Design Guidelines for Wireless Communication Facilities.