Posted by: thepinetree on 12/19/2014 04:24 PM
Updated by: thepinetree on 12/19/2014 04:30 PM
Expires: 01/01/2019 12:00 AM
:
Calaveras County Draft General Plan Now Available For Public Review
San Andreas, CA...The Draft General Plan for Calaveras County is now available for public review and comment. The release on December 18, 2014 begins a 90-day review period. The draft plan is available on the Planning Department’s web site. Hard copies will be available for viewing at the Planning Department, all County library branches, and may be purchased at the San Andreas Print Shop. A disc containing all of the Draft General Plan documents may also be purchased from the Planning Department. Draft #3 of the Land Use Map will be posted at the Planning Department and will be available for on-line viewing beginning the week of December 22nd. Additional information enclosed....
The 2014 Draft General Plan is now available for public review and comment. The draft
plan consists of three primary components: the land use map that depicts the density
and intensity of uses on all lands within the unincorporated portions of Calaveras
County; the policy document, consisting of brief discussion of each element of the Plan
and the goals, policies, and implementation programs; and a Background Report, that
provides some of the more detailed information that led to the development of the goals
and policies document.
The draft plan is divided into eight sections, or elements:
Land Use – Identifies where different land uses should locate, and the density
and intensity of those uses.
Circulation – Links the land uses with the ability to move people and goods,
addressing not only the road system, but also pedestrians, cyclists, and transit
users.
Housing – Addresses housing needs in the County, with policies and programs
intended to provide housing for all segments of the County’s populace.
Resource Production – An optional element addressing agriculture, timber, and
mining.
Conservation and Open Space – Addresses a wide range of issues, including
recreation, biological resources, water, soil, and cultural resources.
Noise – Considers noise issues associated with land uses and transportation and
proposes standards to protect the County’s citizens from excessive noise
exposure.
Safety – Addresses hazards such as wildfire, flooding, and landslides.
Public Facilities and Services – Addresses water and sewer service, libraries,
park facilities, and providing the services that citizens need to build our
communities.
While state law lays out a number of provisions that must be included in a general plan,
there is great flexibility provided to the County to develop a plan that addresses our
specific needs. This draft plan tends to address the minimum requirements of state law,
although goals and policies addressing agriculture, economic development, and water
supply have been included.
It should be noted that this is just the first draft. Changes to policies and land use
designations are expected once the public has a chance to review the draft and the
Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors has an opportunity to review it.
Planning staff and its consultants have tried to take into consideration previous Board
direction, public comments that have been received throughout the update process, and
agency input.
Growth Projections
The Draft Plan is intended to provide for the expected growth over the next 20 years.
Approximately 9000 new residents are expected to come to the county, based on
projections by the state. This equates to the need for approximately 3700 new
residential units by 2035.
Growth rates have varied dramatically in the county over the last two decades. During
the 1990s the County population grew by 4.4%. From 2000 to 2010 growth averaging
2.4%. Growth was likely much higher through 2006, but the recession in the latter part
of that decade slowed growth. That trend has continued since 2010, with Calaveras
County experiencing a net loss in population of approximately 2.3%.
The draft plan takes this relatively slow growth into consideration. However, there is
sufficient land in each land use category to accommodate five times the expected
growth, using conservative build-out scenarios. The direction of the policies and land
use designation is to direct the majority of future growth toward existing and planned
communities where infrastructure and services exist, protecting the resource-based
industries of agriculture, timber and mining, and promoting tourism.
In May 2013 the Board of Supervisors reviewed a draft Land Use Map (Draft #2.) This
map provided for approximately 24,000 new residential units, and between 58,000 to
81,000 new residents. (The difference in the total number of residents is based on
inconsistencies with Census data. While the census states that the average household
size is 2.41 persons, the figures provided calculate to 1.59 persons per household.)
That map was refined, consolidating some of the rural designation so that the map did
not resemble a checkerboard of different land uses, and scaled back some of the
community center designations where it was clear that such growth was not likely to
occur within the time horizon of the plan. The resulting map provides for nearly 21,000
new residents, again using a very conservative estimate of buildout, and an additional
population of between 50,000 to 73,000 new residents.
Land Use Requests
In May 2013 the Board provided an opportunity for property owners to request specific
land use designations. Staff received requests covering 115 lots. Attachment 1 shows
the disposition of those requests. Many were found to be appropriate and included in
Draft #3. But most were not included in this draft. There were a variety of reasons, but
primarily they fell into three categories: Insufficient infrastructure to support the
proposed land use; the request was inconsistent with the intent of the plan to direct
growth into existing communities; and that the request was considered a pre-entitlement
for some future larger development.
Other Optional Elements
Several optional elements were considered during the preparation of the general plan
update process. These were water, economic development, and energy elements. In
2013 the Board of Supervisors directed staff not to include these elements. However,
many of the policies that were in the draft optional elements were included in this draft
plan. These are contained in the Land Use, Conservation and Open Space, and Public
Facilities and Services Elements.
Community Plans
One of the most controversial and complex aspects of this draft plan was dealing with
the desire of many in the community to incorporate existing and proposed community
plans. On January 28, 2014, the Board of Supervisors held a workshop where this
issue was discussed with the Planning Department. While no vote was taken, the
general direction (although not everyone agreed) was that including the community
plans into the General Plan update would take too much time, and could potentially
create internal conflicts with the plan.
However, Planning staff recognizes the huge effort by citizens in the various
communities that went into developing those draft plans, and did not want to waste that
planning effort. While independent community plans are not included as a part of this
draft plan, many of the policies and land use designations have been incorporated.
Staff found, while reviewing the draft community plans and existing community plans,
that there was a common thread to many of them, and that policies that a community
wanted to have applied just to that community actually was appropriate county-wide.
Where there were community-specific policies, these are included in a special section of
the Land Use Element, Community Planning Policies. Staff has generated a crossreference
table (Attachment 2) that identifies where each community plan policy is
covered by a general plan policy. The text of the policy is not identical, but staff
believes that the intent of the policy is met.
A final change regarding community plans are the boundaries shown on the Land Use
Map. Many of the Community Plan boundaries went well beyond the area that is part of
that specific community, being general rectangles covering large areas of the rural parts
of the County. While staff recognizes that people living within those areas might identify
with a community, they don’t necessarily live within it. The Community Area boundaries
shown on the Land Use Map coincide with areas of existing or potential future higher
intensity development.
Housing Element
The draft plan that is being released does not include a Housing Element at this time.
That element is still being prepared, and will be reviewed on a separate track from the
rest of the plan in order to meet State timelines for adoption. The Housing Element will
be considered an amendment to the 1996 General Plan, however, it will be developed
to fit seamlessly into the draft plan.
Public Comment
The release of the Draft General Plan on December 18, 2014 begins a 90-day public
review and comment period. During this time a series of community workshops and
other public meetings will be held. Staff encourages the citizens of Calaveras County to
review the draft, and provide written comments. Comments can be submitted to
Planning in writing, by e-mail, or through the Department’s website. At the end of the
comment period, near the end of March, the Board of Supervisors and Planning
Commission will hold a series of hearings to consider public comment, and make any
changes to the draft plan that the Board feels is appropriate.
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