Benicia City Council will have the chance Tuesday to modify and accept a progress report on the General Plan that provides California with updates of the city’s 327 programs.

The report includes the 2013 Housing Element Progress Report, which is due each year.

In his report to the Council, City Manager Brad Kilger said the Planning Commission has examined the report in advance of Tuesday’s presentation.

That panel has recommended two minor changes to the original version, to note that Caltrans is not likely to designate Interstates 680 and 780 as State Scenic Highways, and that the Forrest Deaner Botanical Garden, more than 3 acres of native California plants in the Benicia State Recreational Area, has been “established,” not “maintained.”

The commission also suggested that city staff clarify some other verbiage before the document is presented to the Council, Kilger wrote.

Benicia has had a General Plan since June 15, 1999, he wrote, and the document is organized to meet California Office of Planning and Research General Plan guidelines. It is divided into an introduction, community development and sustainability, community identity and community health and safety.

Kilger described the General Plan as “a comprehensive, long-term plan to guide the future of the city between 1999 and 2019.”

It covers multiple elements, he wrote: land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open space, safety and noise.

“The plan includes goals which spell out what the city wants to accomplish, and policies that guide day-to-day decisions to bring the city closer to achieving its goals, and programs that specify actions the city will take to implement the General Plan,” he wrote.

Benicia hasn’t updated its General Plan since it was adopted, even though California’s General Plan Guidelines recommend updating them regularly and modifying them whenever new information or community needs and values warrant, Kilger wrote.

At the same time, Benicia hasn’t changed its primary goal of maintaining the city as a “small town city,” he wrote, and no General Plan policy amendments were made in 2013.

“The goals of the General Plan are still applicable, and a comprehensive update is not warranted,” he wrote.

“The exception, of course, is the Housing Element, which requires periodic review, evaluation and revision.”

Kilger explained that the 2007-14 Housing Element was finished in 2012, and has been certified by the State Department of Housing and Community Development. However, city employees are updating the element’s fifth cycle, and “The next step is to release the Draft 2015-2023 Housing Element and work with the community through the comment period and public workshop to receive public input.” He wrote that the Draft 2015-23 Housing Element should be released this month.

In the future, the Solano Countywide Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plans, adopted in 2012, may be incorporated through a General Plan revision, Kilger wrote.

The latest report covers the city’s accomplishments made during 2013, and has the shorter-range Strategic Plan, updated every two years, as an appendix item, he added.

The Planning Division processed 14 design review applications, nine use permit applications, one parcel map and two zoning text amendments in 2012, but no major applications in 2013, he wrote.

He noted that the division has been working with other city departments and agencies to form a committee for the development of a downtown waterfront park master plan, the preservation of open space, the development of a regional bus hub and filling gaps in the regional Bay Trail system.

Planning Division employees are seeking grants to fund land use projects, Kilger wrote, and the city continues to monitor its Housing Rehabilitation Loan program.

Benicia has received Priority Development Area designation for its downtown economic area and Employment investment Center-based PDA designation for the Benicia Industrial Park.

The Planning Division has been tracking its permits through an automated system. It provides basic geographical information systems analysis through Solano County’s shared communication and updates its website with information on application forms, guidelines, historic property data, plans and maps, Kilger wrote.

The city will continue to participate with Solano County in a pictometry project, he wrote, that would provide updated aerial and topographic information for both emergency services and improved maintenance of current infrastructure, as well as making plans for additions.

The City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Council Chamber of City Hall, 250 East L St.