The General Plan is the overarching policy document for Placer County. It provides a policy framework to guide decision-making for the next 20 to 25 years in the areas of land use, growth and development, housing, circulation, health and safety, open space, natural resources, sustainability, and economic development, among other topics.

A General Plan is a state requirement and typically encompasses three defining features:

1. General. As the name implies, a general plan provides general guidance that will be used to direct future growth and resource conservation decisions. It contains the goals and policies upon which planning commissions and board of supervisors base their land use decisions.
2. Comprehensive. A general plan covers a wide range of social, economic, infrastructure, and natural resource factors. These include topics such as land use, agriculture, housing, circulation, utilities, public services, recreation, biological resources, and many other topics.
3. Long-range. General plans provide guidance on reaching a future envisioned for 20 or more years (the proposed General Plan will look out to the year 2050). To help achieve this envisioned future, the updated General Plan will include policies and actions that address both immediate and long-term needs.

The General Plan has chapters, or “elements”, that cover specific topics. The State of California requires all cities and counties to include elements for seven topics: land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open space, safety, and noise. The General Plan is also mandated to cover environmental justice, though this topic can be addressed within other elements or as a standalone element. The County can choose to include additional elements beyond those required, such as “Public Facilities and Services” and “Administration and Implementation.”

Project Kickoff (complete)

An early task of the General Plan update was to research and document baseline conditions in Placer County. This task resulted in a series of technical reports covering topics including agricultural and forest resources, air quality, climate resiliency, community services, demographics, economic development, historic resources, public health, and recreation, among others. These reports will inform the development of land use alternatives, community planning, Draft General Plan, and the Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

Visioning (complete)

Creating a General Plan that represents Placer County residents’ shared principles and values is the top priority of the General Plan update. An early step in the General Plan update was to establish the community’s vision, which will describe the future of Placer County as the community would like it to be in 2050. This process also established guiding principles to guide County policies and decisions about housing, jobs, transportation, public services and more.

Land Use and Community Plans (in progress)

This phase includes two subphases: the Review Phase and the Analysis Phase. During the Review Phase, each of the County’s 15 community plans, area plans, and master plans was reviewed for current relevancy, redundancy with other planning documents, and effectiveness of implementation. Similarly, land use throughout the county, which regulates where housing, retail, offices, etc. are located, was assessed to identify areas where the currently allowed uses should be studied further for potential changes. These areas were deemed “opportunity areas.” During the Analysis Phase, strategies to improve the efficiency of community planning will be studied further as well as specific proposed changes to land use.

Goal, Policy, and Action Development

During this phase, the current General Plan will be evaluated to understand the efficiency and effectiveness of policies and implementation programs. This will include identifying where the current General Plan is not compliant with current standards and regulations and summarize the status of specific actions. The evaluation will help guide the update’s format, organization, clarity, policy gaps, and redundancies.

The General Plan update will be a comprehensive rewrite to accommodate current growth projections, address current community issues and concerns, and meet new state statutory requirements. The focus of this task will be the development of new goals, policies and actions for each of the elements, which will include new focus areas, e.g., healthy communities, complete streets, climate adaptation and resilience, social justice, etc., based on the approved community vision and guiding principles.

General Plan Preparation

Preparation of the draft General Plan will include revisions to the outline and format of the existing general plan, updates to goals, policies, and actions based on feedback and new requirements, and updates to the chapters, or “elements,” with the exception of the Housing Element. The Housing Element will be updated separately in response to state-mandated timelines specific to that element.

Environmental Review

The General Plan update will include preparation of a Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in accordance with the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The purpose of the EIR is to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the physical impacts to the environment that would result from implementation of the goals, policies, and actions of the General Plan and how the goals, policies, and actions will be implemented through the Zoning Ordinance and other regulatory documents. The Draft EIR will include a detailed discussion of countywide and cumulative impacts of future development and recommended mitigation measures that could be applied to minimize the environmental impacts.

The General Plan Update kicked off in 2023 and is anticipated to be adopted in 2029. Due to expanded community engagement phases throughout the process, the update timeline has been extended from the original adoption target of 2026.

The State of California requires that counties adopt a General Plan to guide their long-term physical growth and development. The County’s General Plan was last comprehensively updated by the Board of Supervisors in 1994. By statute, the General Plan is required to be updated periodically. While there is no requirement for how often to update the General Plan, the planning period has traditionally been 15–25 years. Some cities and counties update their general plans as often as every five years, while others update in portions over time mainly due to budgetary and staffing limitations.

A variety of factors contribute to the need to update the General Plan. Communities seldom stand still; they are continually growing, changing, and evolving. The County’s current General Plan no longer reflects current conditions, nor does it directly address many of the issues now facing the County and the region.

New laws affecting General Plans have been passed, new social and environmental issues have emerged, and new and innovative planning strategies have been developed.

Additionally, the County has grown and changed with significant development and population growth particularly in western Placer County, there have been frequent amendment requests due to development pressure, new growth has strained infrastructure, and housing affordability has become a significant issue. With these changing conditions, priorities have changed.

The General Plan and the Zoning Code differ in their level of scope and detail. The General Plan outlines a long-term vision for Placer County’s future development through long-term policies that guide future development. The Zoning Code implements General Plan policies through detailed development regulations, such as specific use types and building standards. State law requires the County to ensure consistency between land uses specified in the General Plan and the Zoning Code. Development projects must meet the specific requirements in the Zoning Code, as well as the broader policies set forth in the General Plan.

Land use designations are established in the General Plan, and regulate where each type of use (i.e., residential, commercial, industrial) is allowed. The Zoning Code then implements these designations by establishing more specific zone districts and development standards.

A land use designation is established by the General Plan and determines what is allowed to be there. Land uses range from “low density residential” such as single-family home neighborhoods to “commercial”, such as retail and services, and “industrial”, such as warehouses or manufacturing. These are high level designations that typically only list the land use (low density residential, commercial, industrial, etc.) and a vision for the areas with these designations. Zone districts, which are included in the Zoning Code, take these land use designations a step further for implementation. Zone districts will list specifically what is allowed (single-family home, drive-thru restaurants, offices, etc.) and the development standards they must comply with. Development standards include maximum building height, required parking spaces, signage or lighting requirements, and much more. Generally, you can think of land use designations as defining where uses are allowed, and a zone district establishing how they are allowed.

While most community plans cover similar topics as the General Plan, they focus on a smaller geographic area. The General Plan is a comprehensive, countywide document that plans for the long-term physical development of the county. It defines environmental, social, and economic goals sets out policies and identifies ways to put these policies into action. While the intent and structure of community plans are similar to the General Plan in many ways, the primary difference is the geographic scope of the plan. The General Plan is a countywide document, while community plans provide more detailed policies, standards, and implementation measures that guide the physical, social, and economic development of specific geographic areas, or defined communities.

The General Plan outlines how the County will make decisions that affect us all, like transportation, jobs, housing, environmental quality, natural hazards, public services, and how the County prioritizes funding and improvements related to these topics. The General Plan also establishes the baseline for zoning, which regulates how you can use your property, such as what can be built where. Some specific areas where it could affect you include how long your commute to is to work, school, or services; when your local roadways are improved; the location and types of parks; how to support the local economy; the supply of housing and what types of housing are allowed; and how the County plans for and responds to natural disasters such as wildfire. A General Plan update is one of the few moments when residents can shape the policies and prioritize of the County that will shape the next 20 to 25 years of Placer County.

The General Plan update provides an opportunity for community members to weigh in on the future of Placer County. Opportunities to engage are available throughout the process, through online surveys and maps, open houses, stakeholder workshops, and more. Visit the projects Upcoming Events webpage to stay up to date on planned meetings and community events. You can also visit the engagePlacer webpage to provide feedback throughout the process, outside of scheduled events.

Comprehensive updates to the General Plan, which include a full review of the entire document, typically occur every 20 to 30 years. Minor updates based on development trends, new state requirements, or other changes may occur more frequently. The Housing Element of the General Plan is mandated by the State to be updated every eight years.