Note: This webpage was maintained for the duration of the Phase I Downtown Specific Plan update (2014-2022) only. The current Downtown Specific Plan can be accessed here.

The downtown is the focus of the City's social, cultural, civic, artistic and recreational activities. The primary objective of the Downtown Specific Plan is to preserve and enhance the unique character of the downtown.

The Downtown Specific Plan was adopted by the City Council in 1989, after several years of work by a Citizen's Advisory Committee to identify significant planning issues and develop a policy base for the plan. Since 1989, the Downtown Specific Plan has been amended, including one comprehensive amendment in 2000, which included the expansion of the Plan boundary to the Boys & Girls Club on Laguna Canyon Road, and the creation of the Civic Art District.

Some of the Plan areas to be evaluated for potential modification include, but are not limited to, expansion of the Civic Art District to the Act V and the Laguna College of Art and Design sites, the types and locations of the various downtown districts and their intent and purpose, allowed uses in each district, the general provisions/development standards, issue statements and policies, design guidelines and implementation measures.