Planning director: safety element finalized; noise and circulation elements next in general plan update

Hailey Lane, the county planning director, gave a brief status update on the general plan update at the start of the meeting, outlining the schedule for elements and the related zoning code update.

"If the commission remembers last meeting ... staff is working with the consultant team on editing the draft elements," Lane said. She told the commission that the safety element has been taken through the planning‑commission process and is final at that level, and that the next element the county plans to workshop is the noise element. Lane said the project team plans to workshop elements with the planning commission and members of the public prior to issuing a formal public draft and proceeding to adoption hearings.

Lane said the full general plan and zoning code update are tentatively scheduled for adoption in the middle of next year and that the zoning code update will move in tandem with the formal adoption process, with the code update work scheduled to begin at the start of next year. Another staff member noted the circulation element will be ready to bring forward for workshop as well.

Staff also listed anticipated heavy October agenda items: two tentative parcel maps (TPMs) and one zone change. No formal action on the general plan schedule was taken at the meeting; the remarks were a status update for commissioners and the public.