Policy Planning

Our planners have hands-on experience crafting and implementing General Plans and Zoning Codes, and a range of targeted planning efforts that help guide communities in realizing their vision. We have experience leading projects and working collaboratively with transportation planners, engineers, and fiscal analysts to turn big picture ideas into real world solutions.

We provide comprehensive planning services including General Plan Updates, from the visioning process through crafting Elements of the General Plan. In the 5th Housing Element cycle (2015-2023), M-Group successfully completed or managed 8 certified Housing Elements throughout the Bay Area. Throughout the process we worked with many of the same clients from the 4th cycle (2009-2014), and implemented programs aimed at certifying the latest round of Housing Elements through our streamlined process.

Our experience crafting policy documents that set the grand vision for a city’s future enables us to prepare Precise, Area, and Specific Plans that are deeply rooted in each community’s hopes and goals. We couple our in-house capabilities and partner only with the best firms and professionals in the field to create documents and policies based on the highest-quality analyses and technical expertise.

We believe the critical path for a successful planning effort is to genuinely engage stakeholders and create tailored engagement strategies designed to be inclusive, interactive, and insightful.

Policy Planning Clients

City 1
City 2
City 3…

Download our Policy Planning Qualifications

Projects

Project 1 : City of Sunnyvale

M-Group partnered with Plan B Municipal Consulting to complete a comprehensive update of Belvedere’s General Plan. Our team provided Belvedere with a multifaceted, living-working document that articulates the community vision and provides guidance for the future. We were engaged to conduct background research of land use elements, study existing conditions, assist with research for the Housing Element Update, evaluate various policies and programs, assist with community outreach meetings, facilitate the General Plan visioning process and prepare the General Plan Elements. The project included a robust public outreach program to achieve community consensus on how to embrace the future. During this period, M-Group assisted the City of Belvedere on an update of its Housing Element in conjunction with the General Plan Update.

Project 2 : City

M-Group is working with the City of Coalinga to develop an entirely new citywide zoning code. The goal is to include all development regulations in a clear, concise document that is easy to use and enforce, and that incorporates state-of-the-art planning practices.

In Coalinga, the co-existence of both agricultural and urban land uses have helped to define the City’s unique character. A key challenge and opportunity of the Zoning Ordinance Update project has been to develop a thorough and detailed understanding of the various opportunities that this mixture of land use creates, extending the tradition of making the City a unique place in the Central Valley.

Project 3 : City

M-Group is currently preparing and managing the 10-year Review for the City of San Rafael’s General Plan 2020. The review encompasses a re-assessment of the programs, policies, and content of the existing General Plan. Results from the review aim to provide the City with the assurance that the plan is on course and properly implemented. The review also purges obsolete content from the General Plan and will refresh content that has since changed from the plan’s adoption in 2004.

In tandem with the 10-year Review, M-Group has teamed up with Karen Warner Associates in the preparation of the City’s 2015-2023 Housing Element Update. The M-Group and KWA team was selected by San Rafael based on the partnership’s track record of developing effective and tailored Housing Element Updates for other cities in the North Bay.

In addition to the 10-year General Plan Review and Housing Element Update, M-Group will provide the necessary CEQA clearances associated with both projects.