The Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to initiate two Foundation General Plan Amendment (FGPA) requests for sites in the Mead Valley area (items 22.2 and 22.3), allowing applicants to submit implementing applications within six months.

Both requests would change existing rural land-use designations to allow a mix of residential lot sizes, shrinking lot footprints closer to Citrus Hills High School and transitioning to larger lots at the site perimeters. County staff emphasized the initiation does not authorize grading or construction; it only gives applicants the right to submit formal project applications that will then undergo environmental review and public hearings.

The meetings on both items drew large turnout from nearby residents who opposed higher-density zoning in the rural community. Speakers described the area as established agricultural and equestrian country, said local roads (including Markham, Wood and Cable lanes) are two-lane country streets, and warned denser subdivisions would "change the whole community." "We moved there because we wanted to be in a rural area," a resident told the board. Concerned residents also cited traffic, school capacity and biological-resource questions, including burrowing-owl habitat.

Applicants and their counsel said the initial step will allow them to prepare detailed project applications and environmental review. Counsel emphasized the projects are intended to provide homes near the existing Citrus Hills High School and that any future development would undergo usual CEQA review and public outreach. One applicant representative said proposed designs would include density transition from smaller lots near the campus to larger lots away from the school, and that infrastructure improvements for roads and utilities would be addressed during project review.

Planning staff told the board that FGPA initiation is a planning-stage action and that more detailed technical studies, traffic mitigation and conservation commitments would be produced during project processing; any changes to land-use maps would require subsequent planning-commission recommendations and a return to the board for final decisions.

After extended public comment, the board approved initiation of both FGPA requests and required applicants to file implementing applications within six months. Supervisors said initiation enables the county and applicants to pursue the required studies and public engagement while reiterating that no development is authorized by initiation alone.