Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is taking office just in time to consider a new general plan that aims to make Sacramento much more like a city and less like a giant suburb by the year 2030.

Four years in the making, the general plan will go before the City Council for a public hearing tonight. A final vote is scheduled for late January.

If the plan is carried out as written, about two-thirds of Sacramento's growth would be accommodated in existing neighborhoods.

New satellite downtowns would spring up around Arden Fair mall, 65th Street in back of California State University, Sacramento, and the Florin light-rail station.

The plan seeks to reverse the city's historic growth pattern, which has consisted mostly of building suburban-style neighborhoods on farm fields.

"This general plan represents a dramatic change for the city of Sacramento," said Tom Pace, the city's long-range planning manager.

At the same time, however, Pace acknowledged the limitations of general plans, which specify in sweeping terms where growth will and won't occur, and what types of growth will be permitted.

The plan also contains a series of policies the city says it will pursue to create walkable, bike-friendly neighborhoods, attract good jobs and keep skilled workers.

The plan won't become reality without the cooperation of developers willing to build more urban products and people willing to live and work in them.

Then there's the matter of the people who already live in neighborhoods targeted for growth. Their objections could kill projects.

The city hasn't completely closed the door on traditional suburban growth. For instance, farm fields north of the existing city limits and former quarries east of the city boundary are designated as "future study areas" in the general plan, meaning the council could open them up for building.

"The city wants to keep its options open," Pace said. "What we're trying to do is balance our desire to be a leader in the green and clean movement, and also be realistic about the economics of development, and what the market wants."

Despite the plan's urban emphasis, California Attorney General Jerry Brown has complained it doesn't contain enough enforceable provisions to reduce driving and the emission of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Brown has recently taken to prodding cities to do more to address the climate change issue.

Correspondence from Brown's office has raised fears at City Hall that his department will challenge the general plan in court.

City staff members continued to negotiate with Brown's office this week over how the language on global warming could be strengthened. In one concession, the city agreed to formally acknowledge that the 40 percent population and job growth anticipated in the plan would have a "significant" negative impact on climate change.

"We're happy about that," Deputy Attorney General Lisa Trankley said.

Acknowledging that the plan will cause a significant increase in greenhouse gases means the city will be required to adopt specific measures to reduce emissions.

Trankley said she has pushed the city staff to adopt as many such mitigation measures as possible but isn't sure if they've done enough to satisfy her department.

"I'm still looking at those," she said.

Call The Bee's Mary Lynne Vellinga, (916) 321-1094.