ACKNOWLEDGMENTS and FOREWORD
The 1990 edition of the General Plan Guidelines benefited from the contributions of many individuals involved in planning at both the state and local levels. The Office of Planning and Research appreciates their perceptive comments, constructive criticism, and beneficial advice. OPR wishes to acknowledge the following individuals for their valuable suggestions to the 1990 edition:
Jay D. Wickizer, Environmental Coordinator, and Dianne Mays, Fire Safe Staff Analyst, Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Bill Murphy, Assistant Chief, Local Assistance and Review Section, Division of Housing Policy Development, Department of Housing and Community Development
Bradford W. McAllester, Chief, Regional Planning and Intergovernmental Review Branch, and Ken DeCrescenzo, Division of Transportation Planning, Caltrans
Nancy J. Steiner, Associate Analyst, State Mining and Geology Board
Russell B. DuPree, Chief, Office of Noise Control, Department of Health Services
Tom Fante, Senior Planner, Office of Emergency Services
Tracey Harper, Office of Air Quality Planning and Liaison, Air Resources Board
Nancy Hanson, California Energy Commission
John Bowers, Chief Counsel, California Coastal Commission
Warren Cole, Chief, Planning Division, Department of Water Resources
California is frequently described as a land of contrast. The state's numerous local governments reect this diversity. Despite their different circumstances and needs, all cities and counties in California must prepare comprehensive, long-term general plans for the development of their communities. To assist local governments in meeting this responsibil ity, Government Code Section 65040.2 directs the Ofce of Planning and Research (OPR) to adopt and update guidelines for the preparation and content of local general plans.
The 1990 edition of the General Plan Guidelines supersedes all previous versions. Its main purpose is to establish the foundation upon which local planning agencies and decision makers can build a general plan that meets minimum state requirements.
These guidelines are advisory. Nevertheless, it is the state's only ofcial document interpret ing and explaining California's legal requirements for general plans. Land use professionals, decision making bodies, and the public depend upon the Guidelines as a standard for preparing local general plans. For this reason, the Guidelines strictly interprets state statutes, California case law, and California Attorney General's opinions. It also relies upon commonly accepted principles of contemporary planning practice.
Here is what the reader will nd in the 1990 General Plan Guidelines . The Introduction describes the theoretical, legal, historical, and institutional basis of local planning in California. Chapter I explores the general plan's nature, content, format, and availability. Building on Chapter I, Chapter II outlines a step-by-step approach to preparing and revising the general plan, within the framework of planning law.
Chapter III elaborates on the statutorily required general plan elements, citing relevant court interpretations and Attorney General's Opinions. In addition, Chapter III presents ideas for data and analysis as well as policy development.
Chapter IV reviews the California Environmental Quality Act's integral role in the general plan process. Chapter V discusses a wide range of general plan implementation techniques. Chapter VI explains the local general plan's relationship to various special statutory planning requirements such as the California Coastal Act and the California Integrated Waste Management Act.
The document concludes with a set of detailed Appendices , a Bibliography, and an Index. Appendices A and B are guidelines for preparing noise and geothermal energy elements, respectively.
The 1990 Guidelines address general plan issues element-by-element. At the same time, the guidelines encourage localities to streamline their general plans by combining the elements whenever possible.
The 1990 General Plan Guidelines is primarily an update of the 1987 edition. It contains changes in statute, new case law, and new examples of planning practice. In addition, the housing element portion of Chapter III has been comprehensively revised to reect current law. The magic of desktop publishing has given the document a new look that we hope will make it even easier to use.
Readers will nd that the basic format and approach of the guidelines are unchanged. This 1990 edition is the result of many months of research, writing, review, and rewriting. The Director of the Ofce of Planning and Research approved the Guidelines in November 1990.
In its broadest context, planning is an approach to problem solving, a process for making informed decisions about the future. Everyone plans to some extent by trying to anticipate the consequences of possible courses of action and selecting what appears to be the best course. In the narrower context of planning for a city or county, planning is usually characterized by a number of activities:
In practice, these activities are rarely distinct, sequential steps. These steps often overlap in a cyclicalrather than linearprocess in which experience provides the impetus for continuous course corrections. Like budgeting, governmental planning is a political process for allocating scarce resources among competing demands. Because of its cyclical nature, the purpose of planning is not merely to prepare plans, but also to enable the plans's users to make intelligent, informed decisions.
THE STATE'S INTEREST IN LOCAL PLANNING
Time and again the Legislature has afrmed the state's interest in local planning through statements of legislative intent. Taken together, they represent the current state policy which should guide local planning. In California, the state has delegated much of the responsibility for implementing those policies to local government. The central mechanism for balancing policies and making necessary trade-offs is the local general plan.
By requiring each city and county to prepare a general plan, the Legislature has acknowledged the need for an ofcially adopted statement of local policy regarding each community's development. By specifying the minimal content of the general plan, the Legislature has established the state's policy concerning local government's basic responsibilities for plan ning and development. Additionally, the Legislature has declared that:
Decisions involving the future growth of the State, most of which are made and will continue to be made at the local level, should be guided by an effective planning process, including the local general plan, and should proceed within the framework of ofcially approved statewide goals and policies directed to land use, population growth and distribution, development, open space, resource preservation and utilization, air and water quality, and other related physical, social and economic development factors.
(Government Code Section 65030.1)
Legislative Milestones In California's Planning Laws
1907 First Subdivision Map Act enacted.
1915 Cities authorized to create planning commissions.
1917 Initial zoning law enacted.
1927 Cities and counties authorized to prepare master plans (general plans).
1929 Adoption of master plans made mandatory for those cities and counties establishing planning commissions (based largely on the 1928 U.S. Department of Commerce Model Standard City Planning Enabling Act). Subdivision Map Act revised enabling local government to require dedication of improvements.
1937 All cities and counties required to adopt master plans. Cities and coun ties authorized to prepare "precise plans" (similar to specific plans of today) to implement the master plan.
1951 Planning law recodified into Government Code Sections 65000 et seq.
1955 Land use and circulation elements required in the general plan.
1965 Planning and Zoning Law reorganized. Cities and counties authorized to prepare "specific plans."
1967 Housing element required in the general plan (effective July 1, 1969).
1970 Conservation and open-space elements required in the general plan.
1971 Seismic safety, noise, and scenic highway elements required in the general plan. Zoning and subdivision approvals required to be consis tent with the adopted general plan, this elevated the importance of planning in California.
1974 Subdivision Map Act recodified from the Business and Professions Code into the State Planning and Zoning Law.
1975 Safety element required in the general plan. Legislative intent added clarifying internal consistency in the general plan.
1980 Detailed content standards and adoption procedures added to the housing element requirement (effective October 11, 1981).
1984 Planning statutes substantially revised, seismic safety and scenic highways elements dropped as required elements, seismic safety merged with safety element (AB 2038, Chap. 1009).
This summary does not include other major planning and land use statutes that have been important in shaping local planning, such as the California Envi ronmental Quality Act, the Williamson Act, the California Coastal Act, the California Timberland Productivity Act, and the Cortese-Knox Local Government Reorganization Act of 1985 (see Appendix D for a list of major state planning statutes).
THE LEGAL BASIS OF LOCAL PLANNING
Local planning and land use regulation rest on powers granted to cities and counties by the state constitution, but state legislation shapes the manner in which these powers are exercised. Basically, cities and counties draw upon two broad categories of legal powers in their planning programs: corporate powers and police powers. Corporate power is the authority to collect money through bonds, fees, assessments, and taxes, and to spend it to provide services and facilities, such as streets, water, sewage, disposal facilities, parks, recreation, and the like.
Police power, reserved to the states by the Federal Constitution and delegated to cities and counties by Article XI, Section 7 of the California Constitution, is the authority to regulate a citizen's behavior, including the use of private property, to promote health, safety, morals and general welfare of the public. The police power is elastic, evolving to accommodate changing community values, but its use is constrained by constitutional principles of equal protection, due process and unlawful taking or damaging of property. Land use planning, zoning, subdivision regulation, and building regulation are all exercises of police power.
State law shapes the local exercise of these powers by requiring every city and county to prepare and adopt a general plan. State law also species the content, as well as procedures and deadlines for adoption. Conceptually and legally, the general plan guides the exercise of police power through land use regulation (e.g. zoning and subdivision regulations) and the corporate power through the provision of capitol facilities.
Just as there are two kinds of powers, there are two classes of cities and counties in California: charter and general law. While state planning requirements apply equally to all counties and general law cities, the State Constitution and statutes allow chartered cities greater exibility than other cities and counties in carrying out their municipal functions.
ORGANIZATION FOR LOCAL PLANNING
As noted earlier, the California Constitution has delegated the police power, the legal basis for many planning measures including general plans, to cities and counties. The state Legislature has reinforced this local planning emphasis by statutory means. It is important, therefore, to understand the fuctions of two primary local governmental entities that are involved in the general plan process, namely the planning agency and local legislative body.
General Plan Functions of the Planning Agency
State law has established a planning agency in every city and county. The legislative body of each city and county must by ordinance, "assign the functions of the planning agency to a planning department, one or more planning commissions, administrative bodies or hearing ofcers, the legislative body itself or any combination thereof . . . ." In the functions of a planning agency. (Government Code Section 65100)
Among other things, each planning agency must perform all of the following functions:
(a) Prepare, periodically review, and revise as necessary, the general plan.
(b) Implement the general plan through actions including, but not limited to, the adminstration of specic plans and zoning and subdivision ordinances.
(c) Annually review the capital improvement program of the city or county and the local public works projects of other local agencies for their consistency with the general plan.
(d) Endeavor to promote public interest in, comment on, and understanding of the general plan, and regulations relating to it.
(e) Consult with and advise public ofcials and agencies, public utility companies, civic, educational, professional, and other organizations, and citizens generally concerning implementation of the general plan. (Government Code Section 65103)
The legislative body may establish rules, procedures or standards for its planning agency (Government Code Section 65102). With regard to general plan adoptions and amend ments, cities and counties often organize their planning agencies so that the planning staff conducts research, prepares and evaluates alternatives and presents its reports and recom mendations to a planning commission during a public hearing. The commission examines the staff's recommendations and reports and considers public comments. The commission then determines a preferred course of action and sends a written recommendation to the local legislative body.
Local governments may have more than one planning commission. Cities and counties, for instance, may divide their jurisdictions into planning areas, each of which is served by its own commission. As another example, local governments might have one commission for long range planning and another for short range or project planning. Alternatively, two or more jurisdictions may establish a joint area planning agency, planning commission or advisory agency for areas of mutual planning interest. Some local governments opt for no planning commission at all. (see Government Code Sections 65100 and 65101).
The Local Legislative Body
The local legislative body is either a city council (for incorporated areas) or board of supervisors (for unincorporated areas). With regard to general plan adoptions or amend ments, the council or board reviews its planning commissions's recommendations and conducts at least one public hearing. The local legislature also considers its commission's actions as part of a hearing requested, in writing, by an interested party (Government Code Section 65354.5). Thereafter, the council or board may adopt, modify or deny a general plan amendment. If a local legislative body proposes to make a substantial modication to a general plan action and if the change has not been previously considered by the commission, the matter must rst be referred back to the commission for review and comment.
Many distinct historical developments, principles of planning practice, and circumstances form the backdrop for local planning in California. These circumstances, seemingly unrelated, are actually interrelated in the long run. They are:
All parties involved in the general plan process should consider these circumstances as they embark upon a general plan project. The ensuing chapters specify the legal constraints and ramications that statutes, case law, and Attorney General's Opinions impose upon all phases of the planning process.