The North Watt Avenue Corridor Plan (Corridor Plan), adopted by the Board of Supervisors in August 2012, provides a framework to guide future revitalization activities along the corridor from an auto-oriented commercial district serving a former military base to a series of urban villages integrated within the community. However, this vision for the corridor has not materialized and the corridor remains characterized by low-density retail fronted by underutilized surface parking lots, aging and blighted buildings, large multiacre vacant lots, and an environment difficult for pedestrians and cyclists.
To encourage revitalization and development interest, the North Watt Avenue Specific Plan (Project) proposes to address two key barriers to development: 1) the regulatory hurdles of the development process embedded in the Corridor Plan itself, and 2) the critical gaps in utility capacity/infrastructure to support development that have not been defined. The Project will generally maintain the vision and development potential of the Corridor Plan and, in this sense, is a technical update to address the inherent barriers to development contained within and to establish the implementation tools required to carry out the vision for the corridor.
Project Updates
- Specific Plan Process Initiation. The specific plan process for the Project will be initiated with the Board Supervisors on November 4, 2025. Hearing materials will be available for review on the Board of Supervisors Meetings webpage.
Project Documents
Project documents will be provided here when available for public review.
Frequently Asked Questions
A specific plan is a planning document that implements the goals and policies of a general plan for a specific geographic area. The defining characteristics of a specific plan are the series of implementation measures including regulations, programs, infrastructure projects, and financing measures necessary to carry out development goals.
A specific plan is proposed as the regulating land use plan for the following benefits in furtherance of encouraging development interest:
- The identification of specific infrastructure needs and coordinating the financing strategy and development of these essential facilities to support growth creates certainty for potential developers;
- The creation of unique development/design standards that are tailored to the market feasibility and contextual needs of this corridor; and
- Environmental review streamlining for subsequent development that is consistent with the specific plan can significantly shorten the development process.
As the regulating land use plan, the North Watt Avenue Specific Plan will identify the allowable land uses and development/design standards for future development. It does not require property owners to do anything with their properties. Existing uses may continue to operate until such time that a property owner chooses to pursue future development/redevelopment. Should the North Watt Avenue Specific Plan be adopted, the future development/redevelopment proposal would be regulated by the adopted land use plan.
The County encourages engagement and is particularly interested in hearing your feedback on what implementable tools and measures are necessary to move the corridor from vision to reality (i.e., what can expedite development interest in the corridor). See Project Updates above for upcoming outreach activities and venues to provide comments.
