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County planners brief Rossmoor on General Plan update and housing-element resubmission
Summary
Orange County staff and consultant Denovo Planning Group described a countywide general-plan update (a 20-year blueprint) and a housing-element resubmittal to HCD; residents raised concerns about housing-unit targets, zoning, environmental justice and outreach for unincorporated communities.
Cindy Salazar of the County of Orange Public Works planning division and Ashley Bradkin of Denovo Planning Group presented the countys early-stage General Plan update to the Rossmoor board, describing it as a 20-year planning document required by state law.
Salazar and Bradkin said the countys work will update goals, policies and actions across topics including land use, open space conservation, safety and circulation; it will incorporate state-law changes (notably new safety-element wildfire requirements and environmental-justice considerations) and reformat material to improve public accessibility. Outreach steps include a direct mailer to unincorporated properties, a multilingual online survey, advisory-committee briefings and community workshops.
On the housing element, staff said the county resubmitted a third draft in July 2023, received HCD comments in September and plans another resubmittal in the fall. The housing-element conversation highlighted a higher Regional Housing Needs Allocation figure for the current cycle (speaker-stated figure presented in meeting as "10,46") compared with the prior cycles 5,000 units; staff emphasized that the housing element is a policy document that does not itself grant entitlements or rezone properties, though state law can allow certain uses such as accessory dwelling units under specified rules.
Residents at the meeting expressed concern about potential conversions of commercial buildings or churches to housing, the effects of state law on single-family neighborhoods and the need for the county to conduct meaningful local outreach. County consultants said the general-plan update will customize policies to different unincorporated communities and that the housing-element process includes additional, separate updates and public hearings later in the program timeline.
Directors asked staff to keep the community informed as the county proceeds through visioning, drafting and environmental review stages; staff said the draft general plan is expected in 2025 with public hearings anticipated in winter 2026.
