Following are summaries of some good specific plans, including those recognized by the California Chapter of the American Planning Association with "Comprehensive Planning Awards of Excellence" over the past few years. The plans included are representative of a broad range of plan types and subject matter included in numerous other plans from around the state.

The Evergreen Specific Plan was prepared for the City of San Jose by Dahlin Group, Inc., in response to a general plan amendment in 1989 designating 865 acres as the "Evergreen Planned Residential Community." The amendment included the requirement that a specific plan be adopted prior to approval of development. The specific plan relies on some unusual techniques for creating an innovative new community with edges that blend seamlessly into adjacent subdivisions and interior features that are distinctive both functionally and visually. Traffic rotaries and radial streets for example, provide direct routes to all of the plan’s facilities and amenities for neighborhoods both inside and outside the plan area. The plan includes provisions for ongoing vineyard and wine-making facilities at Mirassou Vineyards, a circular commercial "village," parks and additional park acreage, two elementary schools, funding for a new high school, fire station, corridor trails, pocket parks, and extensive internal trail systems. Supporting documents include revisions to existing development policy, financing plan, and the zoning ordinance.

The Ahmanson Ranch Specific Plan was produced by the Ahmanson Land Company for the County of Ventura as part of a development proposal for residential, commercial, and community facility uses. The planning area encompasses approximately 5,433 acres of which 2,633 acres are to be dedicated as permanent public open space. The remainder of the planning area comprises clustered development on approximately 1,900 acres with an additional 900 acres of community open space. The proposed community would consist of mixed-density and income housing units in a pedestrian friendly setting totaling approximately 3,050 units. The dedicated open space would be combined with surrounding open space areas to form approximately 11,000 acres of important wildlife habitat, corridors, and ecosystems, in an effort to balance the preservation of natural resources with the development of new communities. The plan includes comprehensive design guidelines, development standards, and implementation measures to create a livable community based upon compact and pedestrian oriented design.

The Midtown Specific Plan was prepared by a consultant team including ROMA Design Group, with oversight from the Midtown Specific Plan Task Force, for the purpose of providing a vision for an area that is undergoing considerable transition and change. This vision includes: creating a pattern of development that reinforces transit; providing diversity in housing opportunities to establishe viable and livable neighborhoods; preserving viable industrial and commercial-service; creating an extensive system of pedestrian and open space; balancing circulation needs with consideration of livability; and complementing and extending adjacent residential and commercial areas surrounding midtown. The specific plan will guide the evolution of this 210-acre mixed industrial and commercial area into a new mixed-use community including high-density commercial and residential uses oriented toward transit, while maintaining some industrial and service commercial uses. This plan provides for close to 3,000 new housing units, 920,000 square feet of new office development, 305,000 square feet of additional industrial/commercial uses, and 335,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, and entertainment-oriented uses. It also incorporates an extensive system of pedestrian ways and open spaces that promotes Midtown as a livable and walkable community, street patterns that prevent excessive residential street traffic in the future, and comprehensive urban design guidelines for creating a compatible relationship with surrounding areas and neighborhoods.

The West Sacramento Triangle Specific Plan was prepared for the City of West Sacramento by the Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership for the purpose of providing "a planned, waterfront oriented urban core… complementing established residential and commercial districts within the City with a balanced mix of uses." Its focus is to provide guidance for the development of approximately 188 acres while creating a sense-of-place, promoting economic development, and furthering the use of the area for living, working, and tourist-oriented development. The plan includes provisions for five separate development area components, each with its own identifying characteristics yet unified through redevelopment and development guidelines with an emphasis on establishing a sense-of-place based upon the waterfront.

Separately, the City adopted the Southport Framework Plan in May 1995 as part of its comprehensive planning efforts. Although this is an "area plan" and does not meet the criteria of a specific plan, its purpose is to establish connections between the individual specific plans within its boundaries to accomplish an overall comprehensive planning framework. It demonstrates the ability to provide integration between specific plans and their respective planning areas and regulations.

The Santa Monica Civic Center Specific Plan was prepared for the City by ROMA Design Group. Adoption of the plan was called for by the general plan in response to the need to comprehensively plan for public and private ownership in the area with a central theme of urban design. The planning area includes approximately 45 acres, 26 in public ownership and 15.8 under the ownership of one corporation. The site is within close proximity to the beach and Santa Monica Pier, the Santa Monica Freeway, and adjacent to the city’s recently revitalized downtown. The urban design theme is intended to guide development of the area "that is, essentially a meeting place that brings together a broad range of activities within an attractive and inclusive environment." The plan includes a mix of uses including city offices, county justice courts, auditorium, cultural, open space, residential, live/work, professional office, and retail. Development policies are included which "Redefine Main Street" to establish it as a focal point, "Extending the Palisades Landscape," bringing the characteristic landscape of the area into the Civic Center, and "Meeting the City Grid," making the area accessible and friendly by incorporating visual corridors, mixed-use streets, and pedestrian and bicycle ways into the area.

The Parkway Specific Plan and Design Guidelines were prepared for the City of Folsom by the Parker Development Company, The Spink Corporation, and Jones & Stokes Associates, Inc. The planning area encompasses 612 acres with provisions for 360 acres of mixed density residential, 6.4 acres of office use, 11.8 acres of commercial use, and 242.4 acres of open space, parkway corridor, riparian mitigation, and other variations of open space uses. The plan incorporates zoning and development standards which supersede prior designations, a financing plan for the provision of necessary public facilities, and a separate financing plan for a special assessment district. The plan has also incorporated a detailed set of design guidelines for landscaping, architecture, lighting and signage. Separately, the plan includes as an appendix, the "Parkway and Resource Mitigation Plan." This section establishes a plan for a natural corridor which bisects the planning area providing for the preservation of important habitat, passive recreation, and flood protection. It also forms a resource mitigation program for impacts to natural resources resulting from development, and provides for the preservation of open space and the quality of life in the city.

The Mariposa Town Planning Area Specific Plan was prepared by county staff at the direction of the Board of Supervisors. The plan encompasses the unincorporated town of Mariposa, including approximately 1,900 acres, with a population of 1,565. The area serves as the westerly gateway to Yosemite National Park with more than one million tourists passing through each year. The plan provides for the preservation of the historic Mother Load design and atmosphere of the town while also allowing for commercial and residential growth. Guidelines for design review, historic preservation, and other development standards have been incorporated into the plan. As the center for county government, services, and commerce, the plan policies focus on the viability of Mariposa as a commercial area while maintaining its historic Gold Rush characteristics.

The Highland Reserve North Specific Plan was prepared for the City of Roseville by Williams and Paddon, MacKay and Somps, and Wade Associates. The plan area comprises 615 acres in the northeast portion of the city adjacent to Highway 65. It establishes a framework for the development of the planning area including a village square, traditional residential neighborhoods, pedestrian pathway system, preservation and utilization of watershed open space corridors, and emphasis on the design of public spaces. Plan implementation includes a development agreement which sets forth public infrastructure and financing, Quimby Act park land dedication requirements, and land use and infrastructure requirements. Comprehensive community and landscaping design guidelines have been defined for the purpose of establishing a framework for development and coordinated landscaping leading to the vision underlying the plan.

The Railroad District Plan grew out of citizens’ suggestions that a plan be prepared to address several important issues, including traffic circulation, open space and historic preservation, safe pedestrian and bicycle connections, aesthetics, public safety and the need for additional automobile parking. The City Council directed staff to prepare a plan that would address these issues and ensure that the various public improvements planned or underway in the District would be properly coordinated.

The Railroad District influences San Luis Obispo’s economy, transportation, and urban character. Recognizing the importance of the District, the General Plan identifies the Santa Barbara Street corridor–the main transportation "artery" which links the District with Downtown and State Highway 101–as a "special design area" and calls for a plan to guide renovation and improvement of buildings, streetscape, landscaping and public use areas. This plan is intended to guide development in the District and to implement General Plan policy for that portion of the special design area encompassed by the District.