ENCINITAS — City Council voted April 9 to consider land-use and traffic decisions in the same process as part of the city’s general plan amendment update.

The plan serves as a blueprint for city growth and consists of seven elements — including traffic circulation. Studies have shown traffic is one of the most important issues to residents, according to a staff report.

Currently, the two processes are viewed separately. According to Planning Director Patrick Murphy, the process of submitting a general plan amendment by private property owners begins with a letter of intent by June 30 of each fiscal year.

These are presented to council usually in August, and the council must approve the letter for further application process. The process is laborious and time-consuming.

“It’s anticipated to take about two years,” Murphy said. “It’s not a guaranteed process by any means.” In fact, he reported to the council that most of the applications were denied this past year.

The plan’s traffic circulation element is updated periodically to better meet the needs of the community. In 2003, the council commissioned a citywide traffic study by Austin Foust Associates for approximately $150,000.

The Traffic Commission held community meetings to discuss the findings and completed its analysis in February of this year.

Director of Engineering Services Peter Cota-Robles told the council it makes sense to merge the two processes because private property development impacts traffic. Councilwoman Teresa Barth agreed.

“It seems like a waste of time and money to continue reviewing these two using separate processes,” she said after the meeting. “The traffic circulation element should be updated more frequently because it changes more rapidly.”

Based on current land use, minor revisions were suggested by commissioners for the traffic circulation element. While staff recommended merging the two processes, Cota-Robles admitted that the study would have to be revisited and many of the numbers updated.

Several council members and residents agreed that the traffic study should be more comprehensive.

“I guess I expected a little bit more (from the report),” Councilman James Bond said. “When we do resolve the traffic issues, I’m looking forward to seeing some kind of recommendations that will alleviate the problems along Rancho Santa Fe Road,” he said.

Cardiff-by-the-Sea resident Bob Bonde recommended the council appoint a traffic commission subcommittee with residents from each of the five communities participating along with a moderator — much like the Cardiff Specific Plan committee. Deputy Mayor Maggie Houlihan supported the idea of a citizen review committee to ensure that walkability and bicycle-friendly measures were taken into consideration.

The changes will go into effect beginning June 2008.