Land Use Element
From the 2002 General Plan:
The Land Use Chapter is the heart of the General Plan because it contains the goals and policies for the appropriate use of every parcel of land within the City limits and within the City’s Sphere of Influence. Land use designations and standards for development are established for residential and commercial uses, public facilities and public utilities, and for the protection of natural areas. The Land Use Map and the tables herein establish standards of population density and building intensity. The goals, policies, and programs in this chapter seek to ensure that development in Lafayette is not only harmonious with the City’s natural environment and compatible with its existing neighborhoods, but that future development can be accommodated with existing and planned infrastructure.
This Chapter covers these major policy areas:
Natural and Scenic Lands
Residential Land Uses
Commercial Land Uses
Public Facilities
Sphere of Influence
Interjurisdictional Coordination
Growth Management and Infrastructure
Cultural Resources
This Chapter also contains guidelines to help Lafayette preserve and strengthen its distinctive community identity and small town character by :
preserving scenic views of the surrounding hillsides and ridgelines;
shaping development such that it is harmonious with the immediate natural and built environment;
maintaining the quality of the residential neighborhoods;
encouraging distinctive development Downtown;
better defining the entries to the city;
preserving and enhancing buildings and sites with historical or architectural significance;
preserving areas with environmental, scenic or recreational significance as open space.