Orange County delays third public engagement for Land Use Plan 2050; staff offers two calendars

Tom Altieri, Orange County senior planner, told the Board of County Commissioners on April 8 that the county has postponed the third public engagement window for the Comprehensive Land Use Plan 2050 and temporarily paused Clarion Associates’ contract while staff provides additional information the board requested.

“This item has been put together in response to the board's request for additional information to help inform the land use plan process and decision making,” Altieri said, adding that a fact book and several reports are available on the project website and that staff will return to the board with more targeted materials over several meetings.

Altieri reviewed a packet attachment that lists the additional information the board requested and that staff color‑coded into three groups: yellow items (within planning staff purview and deliverable in weeks), blue items (require interdepartmental coordination and a longer lead time), and red items (outside planning staff purview and likely to require guest speakers and potential financial impacts). He presented two calendar options for proceeding: one that adds meetings between now and mid‑June with community engagement beginning in mid‑August and a second that schedules additional meetings between September and mid‑November with community engagement beginning in mid‑January and a later board checkpoint prior to public hearing.

Board members said they wanted staff to assemble the outstanding information before returning the draft to the public so the board could review answers first and then seek public feedback. Several commissioners asked that staff and consultants be available to explain methodologies behind proposals such as conservation clusters and criteria for locating rural conservation neighborhoods. Planning staff said they have obtained the consultant GIS data and can prepare responses if the board identifies specific questions to be answered.

Altieri also reminded the public that the project resources tab (orangecountylanduseplan.com) contains the fact book (137 pages), engagement summaries, a policy profile, alternatives evaluation, and appendices that include translated comments and survey responses.

The board did not take a formal vote on a calendar at the work session; staff left with direction to schedule meetings and prepare the yellow‑category deliverables for near‑term presentation and to coordinate timing for the blue and red items as needed.