New web portal for climate and land use planning information

The State of California has embarked on an effort to encourage and promote sustainable land use planning through passage of legislation such as Senate Bill 375, and the funding of several grant programs.  Under Senate Bill 375, Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) will prepare Sustainable Community Strategies (SCS) and include them in their Regional Transportation Plans (RTPs), while local governments will be crucial in helping their region meet greenhouse gas reduction targets through integrated land use, housing and transportation planning.

To assist with these efforts, a web portal has been developed to serve as a central clearinghouse for sharing currently available planning related information, guidance and resources.  The portal can be accessed under the ‘Take Action’ tab on the state’s Climate Change website at:  http://www.climatechange.ca.gov/action/cclu/

The web portal uses the structure of a local general plan to organize the relevant state agency resources and information.  Information in the portal is organized around general plan elements.  Users can access groups of resources by choosing from the list of general plan elements, or they can scroll through the full matrix of state agency programs.