What is a General Plan?

Every county and city in California is required by state law to prepare and maintain a planning document called a general plan. A general plan is designed to serve as the jurisdiction’s “constitution” or “blueprint” for future decisions concerning land use, infrastructure, public services, and resource conservation. All specific plans, subdivisions, public works projects, and zoning decisions made by the Count must be consistent with the General Plan. The current program is designed to update the County’s 1981 General Plan. The General Plan update program will:

• Provide the public opportunities for meaningful participation in the planning and decision-making process;

• Provide a description of current conditions and trends shaping Lake County;

• Identify planning issues, opportunities, and challenges that should be addressed in the General Plan;

• Explore land use and policy alternatives;

• Ensure that the General Plan is current, internally consistent, and easy to use;

• Provide guidance in the planning and evaluation of future land and resource decisions; and

• Provide a vision and framework for the future growth of the County.

A general plan typically has three defining features:

• General. As the name implies, a general plan provides general guidance that will be used to direct future land use and resource decisions.

• Comprehensive. A general plan covers a wide range of social, economic, infrastructure, and natural resource factors. These include topics such as land use, housing, circulation, utilities, public services, recreation, agriculture, biological resources, and many other topics.

• Long-range. General plans provide guidance on reaching a future envisioned 20 or more years in the future. To reach this envisioned future, the General Plan will include policies and actions that address both immediate and long-term needs.

For More Information 

During the General Plan update, questions and comments can be forwarded to Rick Coel at the location shown below. An easy way to send a message to the General Plan team is to click on the "Public Comments" button on the top of this page.

Rick Coel
Planning Division
Community Development Dept.
255 N. Forbes Street
Lakeport, CA 95453
Phone: (707) 263-2221
Fax: (707) 263-2225
e-mail: richardc@co.lake.ca.us

What is Covered in the General Plan?

California law requires that all cities and counties adopt a General Plan, a "constitution" that includes the goals and policies upon which the County can base their land use decisions. All subdivisions, public works projects, and zoning decisions must be consistent with the General Plan.

The General Plan is required to have the following components, or "elements" although they can be reorganized to better fit the County's needs.

• LAND USE - designates the general location and intensity of housing, business, industry, open space, education, public buildings and grounds, waste disposal facilities, and other land uses.

• CIRCULATION - identifies the general location and extent of existing and proposed major roads, transportation routes, terminals, and public utilities and facilities. It must be correlated with the land use element.

• HOUSING - a comprehensive assessment of current and projected housing needs for all economic segments of the community and region. It sets forth local housing policies and programs to implement those policies.

• CONSERVATION - addresses the conservation, development, and use of natural resources including water, forests, soils, rivers, and mineral deposits.

• OPEN SPACE - details plans and measures for preserving open space for natural resources, the managed production of resources, outdoor recreation, public health and safety, and the identification of agricultural land.

• NOISE - identifies and appraises noise problems within the community and forms the basis for distributing new noise-sensitive land uses.

• SAFETY - establishes policies and programs to protect the community from risks associated with seismic, geologic, flood, and wildfire hazards.

Beyond these required elements, the County may adopt additional elements that cover subjects of particular interest to the County.

General Plan Consultants 

To help prepare a comprehensive General Plan update, the City of Tulare hired a consulting team led by URS and Matrix Design Group.  The team dedicated to updating the General Plan includes expertise in general plan updates, planning and land use law, housing, transportation, infrastructure, environmental resources, economic development and fiscal assessment, and project management.

The firms making up the consulting team are:

URS
      Environmental analysis (EIR)

Matrix Design Group
     Planning lead, GIS,
     Project management,
     Public participation

Mintier & Associates
     Planning, Housing

Vernazza Wolfe Associates
     Housing

TJKM
     Circulation

ADE
     Economic development