Growth Management Program

Chula Vista’s multi-faceted Growth Management Program is comprised of and executed through several documents and related regulatory programs, and includes a systematic application of land use regulation and policies, facility and service threshold standards, environmental review, financing mechanisms, and monitoring and enforcement functions. All are designed to ensure that development occurs only when necessary public facilities and services exist, or are provided concurrent with the demands of new development, so that quality of life can be maintained or enhanced.

Chula Vista maintains its excellent quality of life by carefully monitoring threshold standards or “quality of life” indicators for eleven public facility and service topics, including nine city-controlled topics ( Air Quality, Drainage, Fire and Emergency Services, Fiscal, Libraries, Parks and Recreation, Police, Sewer, and Traffic) and two outside agencies (Schools and Water). These topics are identified in the city’s Threshold Standards Policy (adopted by City Council in 1987), and each includes a goal, objectives, one or more threshold standards, and implementation measures.

Below are brief descriptions of thresholds standards for the 11 quality of life topics:


	Annual report required from Air Pollution Control District on impact of growth on air quality.
	Annual report required to evaluate impacts on growth on city operations, capital improvements, and development impact fee revenues and expenditures.
	Respond to 81% of the Priority I emergency calls within 7 minutes and maintain average response time of 5.5 minutes. Respond to 57% of Priority II urgency calls within 7 minutes and maintain average response time of 7.5 minutes.
	Respond to calls within 7 minutes in 80% of all cases.
	Annual report required to evaluate school district's ability to accommodate new growth.
	An additional 60,000 gross square feet of library space to be phased to maintain a ratio of 500 square feet of library space adequately equipped and staffed per 1,000 population.
	Maintain 3 acres of neighborhood and community parkland with appropriate facilities per 1,000 residents east of Interstate 805.
	Annual report from water service agencies on impact of growth and future water availability.
	Sewage flows and volumes shall not exceed City Engineering Standards. Annual report from Metropolitan Sewer Authority on impact of growth on sewer capacity.
	Storm flows and volume shall not exceed City Engineering Standards. Annual report reviewing performance of city's storm drain system.
	Maintain Level of Service (LOS) "C" or better as measured by observed average travel speed on all signalized arterial streets, except, that during peak hours, an LOS "D" can occur for no more than any 2 hours of the day. Those signalized intersections west of Interstate 805 that do not meet the above standard may continue to operate at their 1991 LOS but shall not worsen.

Chula Vista’s Growth Management Oversight Commission (GMOC), a council-appointed advisory body consisting of nine Chula Vista residents, annually reports on the status of threshold standards compliance. Information provided by city departments and outside agencies is reviewed by the GMOC, who then prepares a report for the Planning Commission and City Council, indicating where deficiencies in meeting threshold standards may be occurring or are projected to occur within the next five years. The report includes recommended solutions to ensure ongoing compliance with the standards.

The GMOC's report is submitted around a fiscal year cycle to accommodate City Council review of GMOC recommendations which may have budget implications. During this process, the GMOC encourages each City Department and outside agency which has responsibility for reporting on threshold status to review the appropriateness of the threshold and whether new thresholds and/or standards should be considered.

The "Annual Residential Growth Forecast" is prepared each fall by city staff. It includes historical information, as well as the number of building permits projected to be issued for the next one to five years. The projections are based on disclosures from developers and builders regarding residential projects that have been or are undergoing the entitlement process and could potentially be approved by the city and permitted for construction within the next five years. The projections do not reflect market conditions outside the city’s control.