The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

City Council priorities for the upcoming year

The City Council held its annual legislative review earlier this month to set priorities for the coming year. Following is a list of top-priority items, separated by department, identified by the council.

Office of the city manager

--Managed Competition: This study will evaluate the ability and the possible benefits or costs of selected city services competing with the private sector. This strategy has been used by other cities to improve service delivery even though services continue to be provided by public employees.

--Quality of life index: This would create an index of community measures to track an overall picture of the quality of life in Sunnyvale. Measures could include crime rates, traffic congestion, environmental factors, and public satisfaction.

Community development

--Review of reisidential, high-density zoning: These zoning designations currently allow high density housing in limited areas of the city. The study will review existing properties in these zones, compatibility with community goals and potential impacts. It also will identify possible changes in city land use policies and their alternatives and tradeoffs.

--Criteria for industrial development: This land use study will review possible guidelines and policies for the city to use as framework for considering possible industrial development proposals that have a "floor-area ratio" (an indicator of the intensity of development) over 35 percent.

Parks and recreation

--Service sevels and budget policies: The city will consider strategies to achieve its goal of keeping Sunnyvale's leisure service programs as self-supporting as possible while assessing the impact this approach has on the costs, types and levels of leisure services available for the community. The result will be a guide for the city to make future decisions and budgets for planning and operating leisure services.

Department of public safety

--Participation in FEMAUrban search and rescue teams: The city will evaluate the potential for public safety participation in a regional search and rescue team sponsored by the federal government.

Department of public works

--Revenue sources for major transportation projects: A number of major capital improvements to roadways have been identified to help address the increase in travel volumes projected over the next 20 years. This study will explore potential sources of funding to help pay for those improvements.

--Update sanitary sewer sub-element of the general plan: Long-term planning policies and goals related to the city's sewer system will be updated. The revision will reflect new and projected community conditions and regulatory standards in order to assure continued environmental protection.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, December 24, 1997.
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