Assembly committee holds informational hearing on general plans, updates and new tools including UC Davis PlanSearch

The California State Assembly Local Government Committee held an informational hearing on March 12 to review how local general plans are prepared, updated and implemented, and to discuss technical support and funding needs for jurisdictions across the state. Panelists from academia, local government and the Governor’s Office described costly update cycles, staffing shortfalls, and new tools intended to help local planners.

Dr. Catherine Brinkley, associate professor at the University of California, Davis, opened the hearing with an overview of the general plan’s role and a demonstration of PlanSearch, a searchable statewide database of adopted general plans. “General plans are often called comprehensive plans,” Brinkley said, noting that every California jurisdiction—482 cities and 58 counties—must adopt one. She reported that more than half of California’s general plans are more than 10 years old, with roughly 13% older than 15 years, and that some plan elements have not been updated since the 1970s.

Brinkley outlined the standard plan elements—transportation, safety and hazard, environmental justice, housing, land use, conservation, open space and noise—and described recent state laws that have added or clarified requirements for elements such as environmental justice and safety. She showed how PlanSearch can be used to…