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Board begins general-plan update discussion; staff seeks direction on scope, timeline and public engagement
Summary
County planning staff presented an overview of the 2008 general plan and asked the board for direction on the scope, timing and public-engagement approach for a possible update. Supervisors and public commenters urged a countywide summit to coordinate city plans and to consider Measure T timing.
Resource Management staff presented the county’s current general plan background and invited the board to give preliminary direction about whether to begin a formal update, the likely scope of changes, and a target timeline.
Staff described the general plan as the county’s long-range policy document that guides land use, circulation, conservation and other chapters. They noted the 2008 plan has been amended over time, the housing element is updated on an eight-year cycle, and that changes in the region — fires, the pandemic, infrastructure needs and new state laws — have created new questions about how the county should manage growth, farmland protection and city expansion.
Staff outlined potential objectives for an update: produce a legally adequate general plan and environmental review, capture community values through robust outreach, reexamine the county’s city-centered growth model and municipal service-area assumptions, and incorporate infrastructure and economic-development planning. They asked for direction on whether the board wants a plan completed by December 2028 (the Measure T timeframe) or another schedule, and whether the board would support a countywide summit involving cities, LAFCO, water and transportation agencies, school districts and other stakeholders.
Several public commenters urged the board to protect farmland and to hold a countywide planning summit that includes cities, the water agency, LAFCO and other regional partners. Speakers representing farmland and conservation interests asked that the board preserve Measure T protections or extend them while completing an update. Former members of the 2008 update’s citizen advisory committee and agriculture-sector speakers said they would help convene stakeholders and recommended a transparent, inclusive process.
Board members asked clarifying questions and expressed support for robust public participation and interagency coordination. Supervisor Vasquez explicitly recommended a countywide summit to let cities and agencies present expansion plans and the county to consider the combined effect on agriculture and infrastructure. Supervisors asked staff to return with options for scope, estimated costs and a proposed outreach plan.
What’s next: Staff will prepare a follow-up staff report and potential request-for-proposal language with estimated scope, budget and timeline options for the board to consider; the board signaled interest in a countywide summit and stressed that any major resource commitments should have at least three-member board support before staff is directed to proceed.
