Sonoma County outlines timeline for updating land-use policies through General Plan

Sonoma County today embarked upon a comprehensive overhaul of its General Plan, a more than eight-year initiative that will shape development, conservation and land-use policies in unincorporated areas for a generation. The Board of Supervisors received an overview of the project during its meeting this afternoon.

The County will mount a robust public engagement campaign to ensure the General Plan update reflects the diverse perspectives of residents and charts an inclusive vision for the county’s future, said James Gore, chair of the county Board of Supervisors. He urged residents to visit PermitSonoma.org to sign up for email updates and to take a brief survey on how they would like to engage with the County.

“How can the County improve your quality of life? How can the County enhance public services and infrastructure? Where should people live and work? How will changes in the County influence the future for your children? With your participation, the General Plan update will answer these and many other questions about our shared future,” Gore said.

The General Plan is the foundation for all zoning and land-use decisions in unincorporated areas of the county. It was created in 1978 and updated in 1989 and 2008 to reflect the changing needs and aspirations of the county’s residents. All three General Plans have sought to strike a balance between development and conservation, focusing growth in areas with water, sewer, transportation, employment and educational infrastructure to serve the needs of a population that has grown from fewer than 200,000 residents in 1970 to nearly 500,000 today. This “community-centered” approach to managing growth was matched with policies preserving agricultural lands, open space and diverse community character.

Permit Sonoma, also known as the Permit and Resource Management Department, presented the Board of Supervisors with a report today outlining the more than eight-year process to update the county’s General Plan. In the first stage, expected to take 18 months, staff will audit policies and implementation programs in the existing General Plan, identify major issues to explore through community outreach, contact stakeholders for input, propose a budget for the update and recruit a consultant to prepare a scope of work. Updating the General Plan, accompanied by environmental reviews, is expected to take five years. Implementation is expected to take another two years.

“The general plan is the most important land use document serving the county,” said Tennis Wick, director of Permit Sonoma. “It distills community values into action on future land use for a generation. Our general plan effort will include extensive community engagement, research and planning.”

The General Plan update will incorporate revisions to the County’s long-term plan for housing, known as the Housing Element. Under state law, this section of the General Plan must be revised every eight years. Permit Sonoma is currently conducting an extensive public participation program with a focus on equity as a part of the Housing Element update and will submit a proposal to the Board of Supervisors in the coming year.

 The County’s five-year Strategic Plan, adopted in 2021, will guide development of the General Plan update. The strategic plan identifies a series of goals to keep communities healthy and safe, confront the effects of climate change, improve racial equity, make the county’s infrastructure more resilient, and enhance the operational excellence of County government.

More information is available at PermitSonoma.org.

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Media Contact:
Bradley Dunn, Permit Sonoma Policy Manager
Bradley.Dunn@sonoma-county.org
(707) 321-0502
2550 Ventura Ave
Santa Rosa, CA 95403