A. This growth management system represents a refinement of and not a departure from the city’s long standing and legally-tested growth management system, first adopted in 1972 and in continuous operation since then.

B. The residential allocation pool for nonexempt units established by the 19872005 Petaluma General Plan and incorporated in this ordinance, an average of five hundred units allocated per year, no more than one thousand units allocated in one year and no more than one thousand five hundred units allocated in three consecutive years, provides the flexibility to modulate residential growth over time and prevent overburdening local services, while accommodating future residential development at a rate consistent with historic trends.

C. The growth management system serves the public interest and protects the public health, safety and welfare by implementing residential growth parameters upon which future planning for land use and major city facilities (such as city sewer and water systems) is based.

D. The growth management system is a key implementation measure of the 1987-2005 general plan and essential to attaining the following general plan goals:

E. The growth management system will not prevent the city from attaining its regional fair share of housing needs as determined by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) because the system permits exemptions for senior housing and very low/low income housing developments.

F. The housing chapter of the 1987-2005 Petaluma General Plan has been certified by the State Department of Housing and Community Development based on the city’s ability to satisfy regional housing needs while maintaining its growth management system.