The city of Santa Maria is considering a new general plan — a document that would act as a guide on land use and planning issues through the year 2045.
The city council will vote on whether to approve the final version of the “Santa Maria 2045 General Plan” at their next meeting on Tuesday.
The document has been in development since 2020, and it predicts that Santa Maria will gain more than 16 thousand residential units by 2045.
The new plan would change current zoning laws to facilitate that growth. One change would mean creating new mixed-use designations along Main Street and Broadway; another would increase the amount of units allowed in high-density residential areas from 22 to 30 per acre.
The document also outlines land that could be annexed into the city in the future. The “Planned Annexation area” is almost a thousand square acres that sits east of Highway 101.
Less than a quarter of those 16 thousand predicted new housing units would be built in the annexed area, 76% would be built within existing city borders, according to the planning document.
On top of voting whether to approve the general plan, the Santa Maria City Council will decide Tuesday whether to introduce an ordinance that would repeal and reenact the city’s zoning map. The council would then vote on the ordinance at their next meeting.
