Board approves Siskiyou County guiding principles and vision statement with wording changes

Siskiyou County supervisors voted to adopt a set of guiding principles and a visioning statement to guide preparation of the county general plan, approving a set of specific amendments following staff presentation and public input.

Planning Director Haley Lane told the board the packet before members contained finalized guiding principles and a draft visioning statement; she said the consultant team was awaiting direction before proceeding with general-plan element work and zoning-code streamlining. Lane said the guiding principles would steer development policy and that wording adjustments could continue until plan adoption.

Board members proposed and approved several edits during the meeting. The board agreed to remove the word “visitors” from the first paragraph of the vision statement, add language to ‘‘continue to support preservation of private property rights’’ (replacing a more generic phrasing), change a bullet to read “continued engagement and coordination with our tribal partners” in place of a bullet referencing tribal support for sustainable forest management practices, and expand a business-related bullet to include “new/emerging industries.”

Natalie Reed, county counsel, recorded the procedural steps and ensured the board’s amendments were captured for the record. After the amendments were read into the minutes, the board voted to adopt the guiding principles with the stated edits.

Planning staff said the guiding principles would not be final wording until adoption of the general plan and that wordsmithing remains possible during plan development. Staff said the principles will allow the consultant team to proceed with drafting plan elements and streamlining the zoning code once the board’s direction is clear.

The board recessed into public comment and scheduled further public involvement; staff noted that the principles had been vetted at a March Planning Commission special meeting with tribal and public input. The board approved the amended guiding principles by voice vote with all members present recorded as voting in favor.

Less critical: supervisors emphasized the challenge of attracting sufficient public participation to the planning process and agreed to continue outreach as the general-plan process moves forward.