Who is involved in the planning effort?

The City of Merced Bellevue Corridor Community Plan will be crafted by the Plan Leadership Team, guided by technical support staff and the project planning consultant and actions of an ad-hoc advisory committee, with input from the comments of an engaged community. Public involvement during the planning process for the Bellevue Corridor Community Plan will occur through partnerships between local planning professionals, stakeholder participation, directed outreach to underrepresented groups, public workshops and an advisory committee.

Plan Leadership Team

A Plan Leadership Team (PLT) was assembled early in the process to lead and manage the effort to draft the Bellevue Corridor Community Plan. This team consists of City Planning Staff and is supported by a professional planning consultant, a technical advisory committee and other government agency assistance.A key role of the PLT is assuring public outreach efforts during the planning process are designed to capture community input in ways that guide the drafting of the community plan. Your input is valuable to us.

General Public

All members of the public are encouraged to attend the regularly scheduled meetings with the Bellevue Corridor Community Plan Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee.City Staff and the project consultant present plan-related materials and seek public input prior to action by the Committee. If you would like to be on the e-mail list or mailing list for this project, please provide your e-mail or mailing address to Bill King at 209-385-4768, or by e-mail at kingb@cityofmerced.org. Additionally, a project web page has been established to provide access to the draft plan. As draft sections of the plan are ready for public review and input, these will be placed here for easy access. Please check back regularly to learn of new posts to this site.

Stakeholders

Many stakeholders will be invited to participate during the process to develop the community plan, and represent a broad range of individuals or groups with interest in the Bellevue Corridor Community Plan. Plan stakeholders have several opportunities to participate in the development of the Plan, including: attending ad-hoc advisory committee meetings, hosting and attending community outreach workshops, commenting on the draft plan, and discussions with Plan team members to share their ideas and concerns about the planning area.

Bellevue Corridor Community Plan Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee

A citizen advisory committee has been formed to assist the City in the crafting of the Community Plan.The committee: 1) has defined roles and duties; 2) will attend numerous meetings over a 2-year time period; 3) reads draft plan text, reports, studies and other related materials; 4) works with other committee members with varying opinions, perspectives and interests; 5) brings skills relevant to committee roles and duties; and 6) advises City staff and its consultant on aspects of the Community Plan. On July 16, 2012, the Merced City Council appointed 21 members to this committee. Click here to view the staff report.

Click below to access the Bellevue Corridor Community Plan Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee:

• Meeting Agendas, Staff Reports, & Minutes

Opportunities to Participate

Attend Future Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee Meetings: The Bellevue Community Plan Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee has meet several times with City Staff and the project consultant during 2012, 2013 and 2014 (see below).

Comment on the Draft Community Plan: Your comments are important to us. As draft sections of the plan are ready for public review and input, these will be placed here for easy access. Please check back regularly to learn of new posts to this site

Attend City-Sponsored Public Outreach Events:

• May 4, 2012: Public Orientation Meeting, held at the City of Merced Civic Center. This is a broad outreach effort to property owners within and adjacent to the project site, as well as to a variety of community groups, and public and private individuals interested or actively involved in local planning-related projects.More than 450 invitations, in addition to general advertising, were distributed.The meeting includes two key presentations: 1) presentation by Richard Cummings, Principal Planner from UC Merced, Physical Planning, Design and Construction, will describe the UC Merced Campus Master Plan; and 2) presentation by Bill King, Principal Planner from the City of Merced, will describe the anticipated planning effort of the Bellevue Corridor Community Plan; its guiding principles; and the project's next steps - research of plan options.The public was provided an opportunity to offer written and verbal comments. Link to written comment form here.
• August 23, 2012: This was an orientation meeting for the Citizen Advisory Committee; the following presentation was made.
• October 4, 2012: A presentation about corridors, street design, transit-oriented-development, city blocks and growth projections was made to the Citizen Advisory Committee.
• November 1, 2012: The Citizen Advisory Committee meeting had several presentation and discussion topics. Innovation Hub (staff report, flyer); Project Overview (presentation); Economic Study (presentation, staff report); Mobility Study (presentation, staff report); and Community Form (presentation). These subjects were assessed, presented and discussed to lay the foundation to craft alternative land use and circulation plans.
• January 31, 2013: The Citizen Advisory Committee met to discuss draft alternative plans at an open public meeting at the Sam Pipes Room, 678 W. 18th Street, Merced, from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM. The project consultant presented land use and circulation plans (presentation). That evening, a community outreach event with a similar presentation was held from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, at UC Merced, in the California Room on Scholars Lane. Public Comments were received. Free parking was offered in the westernmost lots near Lake Road.
• March 14, 2013: The Citizen Advisory Committee met to continue their discussion about the draft land use plan at an open public meeting at the Merced City Civic Center from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM.Planning Staff presented background information about the Draft Community Plan Chapters, Urban Villages, and a recap of the consultant's presentation regarding the initial draft land use plan.The Committee then met in a workshop format in small groups to provide feedback to the consultant via a short questionnaire and by sketching alternative land use concepts for further consideration, review and action by the Committee at a subsequent project meeting, most likely in May 2013. The Committee crafted five land use concepts and may be viewed by clicking these numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
• May 2, 2013: The Citizens Advisory Committee reviewed land use and circulation plan-related issues and provided advisory recommendations on various topics. This exercise was partly based on the results of the survey from the March 14, 2013 CAC meeting. The advisory recommendations were made on the following topics: 1) the function of Bellevue Road and Mandeville Avenue; 2) the characteristics of the local street network; 3) the location of the future business park and the mixed-use cores within the plan area; 4) the open space plan; and 5) placement of retail commercial at the intersection of "G" Street and Bellevue Road.Prior to making these advisory recommendations, the project consultant presented background information.
• August 15, 2013: Agreed-upon core elements of the draft community plan (see actions from March 14, 2013), along with new potential draft land use and circulation plan features that will provide greater definition to these elements , were presented to the Citizen Advisory Committee. Members provided comments on a variety of topics for consideration by Staff and the project consultant.Additionally, the consultant introduced new concepts and specific ideas concerning the design of a future "gateway entrance" to the BCP plan area. The Citizen's Advisory Committee also completed its review of a conceptual community shopping site at G Street and Bellevue Road.The meeting concluded with a discussion of draft policies for the Bellevue Community Plan.
• April 29, 2014: The City's Economic Development Advisory Committee received a report and presentation, and requested to provide comment at their next meeting of (date pending).
• May 21, 2014: City of Merced Planning Commission.City Staff presented a report to the PC and answered several questions about the draft plan.
• June 12, 2014: Bellevue Community Plan Ad-Hoc Citizens Advisory Committee. Staff and project consultant, Lisa Wise, presented key aspects of the draft plan by powerpoint to the Committee and received input from the audience and committee members. Several changes were recommended and many questions were answered.The Committee voted to hold one more meeting to review the suggested changes raised at the meeting. See the Committee packet here.
• June 23, 2014: City of Merced Recreation and Parks Commission. City Staff presented a report and powerpoint, and answered several questions about the draft plan.
• July 7, 2014: City of Merced City Council. City Staff presented a report and answered several questions about the draft plan.
• August 25, 2014: The Bellevue Community Plan Ad-Hoc Citizens Advisory Committee reviewed the updated plan and voted to support the plan, including some changes to it. See the Committee packet here.
• October 22, 2014: UC Merced Foundation Board of Trustees, Executive Committee: City Staff presented a report and answered several questions about the draft plan. Later that day, the City Planning Commission at a public hearing received a staff report and powerpoint presentation from City Staff. The Commission tabled the item to their meeting of December 3, 2015.
• December 3, 2014: City of Merced Planning Commission: Staff Report and Powerpoint Presentation. Received unanimous recommendation to adopt plan and approve General Plan Amendments.
• February 17, 2015: City of Merced City Council Study Session. Admin Report and Powerpoint Presentation.

An overview of changes recommended by the Citizen Committee are presented here, and can also be found on the "Draft Documents" page.

Request a Presentation: Meeting with underrepresented community-based organizations is a key objective of the Bellevue Corridor Community Plan process. If you belong to a group that would like to learn more about the project or to offer comments that will shape the outcome of the Bellevue Corridor Community Plan, then please contact Bill King at 209-385-4768, or by e-mail at kingb@cityofmerced.org to schedule a presentation.

Request to be placed on the Project e-mail Public e-mail Notice List: If you would like to be on the e-mail list or mailing list for this project, please provide your e-mail or mailing address to Bill King at 209-385-4768, or by e-mail at kingb@cityofmerced.org.

Offer General Comments: Your comments are important to us and we’d like to hear from you.Please send any comments you have concerning the project to planningweb@cityofmerced.org.

All Outreach Documents