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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCover & Chapter List & IntroBUTTE COUNTY GENERAL PLAN TECHNICAL UPDATE (GPTU) BACKGROUND REPORT FINAL DRAFT AUGUST 8, 2005 Final Draft August 8, 2005 Butte County General Plan Background Report i LIST OF CHAPTERS Chapter 1: Land Use Chapter 2: Population Chapter 3: Economics Chapter 4: Housing (published under separate cover) Chapter 5: Transportation and Circulation Chapter 6: Public Facilities and Utilities Chapter 7: Public Services Chapter 8: Recreation Chapter 9: Cultural Resources Chapter 10: Aesthetics Chapter 11: Mineral Resources Chapter 12: Water Resources Chapter 13: Biological Resources Chapter 14: Energy Chapter 15: Air Quality Chapter 16: Hazards and Safety Chapter 17: Noise Final Draft August 8, 2005 Butte County General Plan Background Report ii INTRODUCTION The Butte County General Plan is a comprehensive, long-term framework for the protection of the county’s agricultural, natural, and cultural resources and for development in the county. Designed to meet State general plan requirements, it outlines policies, standards, and programs and sets out plan proposals to guide day-to-day decisions concerning Butte County’s future. Nature, Content, and Purpose of the General Plan A general plan is a legal document that serves as a community's “blue print” or “constitution” for land use and development. State law requires every city and county in California to adopt a general plan that is comprehensive and long-term. The plans must outline proposals for the physical development of the county or city and any land outside its boundaries which in the planning agency's judgment bears relation to its planning (California Government Code Section 65300 et seq.). General plans must be comprehensive both in their geographic coverage and in the range of subjects they cover. General plans must also be long-term in perspective. General plan time horizons vary but typically range anywhere from 15 to 25 years into the future. Every general plan in California must address seven topics or “elements.” The importance of each of the required topics will, of course, vary from community to community. Following are brief descriptions of what State law requires be addressed in each of the seven elements: 1. The Land Use Element designates the general distribution and intensity of all uses of the land in the community. This includes residential uses, commercial uses, industrial uses, public facilities, and open space, among others. 2. The Circulation Element identifies the general location and extent of existing and proposed major transportation facilities, including major roadways, rail and transit, and airports. 3. The Housing Element assesses current and projected housing needs and sets out policies and proposals for the improvement of housing and the provision of adequate sites for housing to meet the needs of all economic segments of the community. 4. The Conservation Element addresses the conservation, development, and use of natural resources including water, forests, soils, rivers, and mineral deposits. 5. Overlapping the Conservation and Safety Elements, the Open Space Element details plans and measures for preserving open space for: protection of natural resources such as wildlife habitat; the managed production of resources such as agricultural and timber land; outdoor recreation such as parks, trails, and scenic vistas; and public health and safety such as areas subject to geologic hazards, flooding, and fires. Final Draft August 8, 2005 Butte County General Plan Background Report iii 6. The Noise Element identifies and appraises noise problems and includes policies to protect the community from excessive noise. 7. The Safety Element establishes policies and programs to protect the community from risks associated with seismic, geologic, flood, and wildfire hazards. The general plan may also address other topics that the community feels are relevant to its development, such as economic development, historic preservation, and urban design. For each locally-relevant mandated issue or optional issue addressed, the general plan must do the following: • •Describe the nature and significance of the issue in the community (Background Information); • •Set out policy in text and maps for how the jurisdiction will respond to the issue (Policy); and • •Outline specific programs for implementing policies (Implementation Programs). The format and structure of the general plan is left to local discretion, but regardless of the format or issues addressed, all substantive parts of the plan must be consistent with one another (i.e., internally consistent). For instance, the policies in the land use element must be consistent with those of the housing element and vice versa. Organization of the General Plan The Butte County General Plan consists of multiple documents. The General Plan Background Report, which inventories and analyzes existing conditions and trends in Butte County, provides the formal supporting documentation for General Plan policy. This report addresses the following seventeen subject areas: • •Chapter 1: Land Use • •Chapter 2: Population • •Chapter 3: Economics • •Chapter 4: Housing • •Chapter 5: Transportation and Circulation • •Chapter 6: Public Facilities and Utilities • •Chapter 7: Public Services • •Chapter 8: Recreation • •Chapter 9: Cultural Resources • •Chapter 10: Aesthetics • •Chapter 11: Mineral Resources • •Chapter 12: Water Resources • •Chapter 13: Biological Resources • •Chapter 14: Energy Final Draft August 8, 2005 Butte County General Plan Background Report iv • •Chapter 15: Air Quality • •Chapter 16: Hazards and Safety • •Chapter 17: Noise The countywide General Plan Policy Document contains explicit statements of goals, policies, standards, and implementation programs that constitute the formal policy of Butte County for land use, development, open space protection, and environmental quality. The Policy Document consists of the following eight countywide elements (there are also two additional chapters addressing Planning Area Plans and Implementation Standards): 1) Land Use Element 2) Agricultural Element 3) Transportation and Circulation Element 4) Housing Element (published under separate cover) 5) Public Facilities and Services Element 6) Cultural Resources Element 7) Health and Safety Element 8) Natural Resources Element General Plan Relationship to State Planning Law Requirements The Butte County General Plan has been prepared specifically to comply with (and as adopted does comply with) State general plan requirements (Government Code Section 65300 et seq.) and related State mandates. The following table delineates the relationship of various elements of the countywide Butte County General Plan to the seven State-mandated general plan elements. This is only a generalized list; specific related topics may be contained in other sections. The following is a generalized list of how the new document structure corresponds to the element organization: Final Draft August 8, 2005 Butte County General Plan Background Report v Relationship of Butte County General Plan Elements to State-Mandated Elements State-Mandated Elements Butte County General Plan Policy Document Recodification Butte County General Plan Background Report Land Use Element Land Use Element Agricultural Element Chapter 1: Land Use Chapter 2: Population Chapter 3: Economics Circulation Element Transportation and Circulation Element Public Facilities and Services Element Chapter 5: Transportation and Circulation Housing Element Housing Element (published under separate cover) Chapter 4: Housing (Housing Element Background Report) Conservation Element Natural Resources Element Land Use Element Agricultural Element Chapter 11: Mineral Resources Chapter 12: Water Resources Chapter 13: Biological Resources Chapter 14: Energy Chapter 15: Air Quality Open Space Element Natural Resources Element Land Use Element Agricultural Element Cultural Resources Element Health and Safety Element Public Facilities and Services Element Chapter 6: Public Facilities and Utilities Chapter 7: Public Services Chapter 8: Recreation Chapter 9: Cultural Resources Chapter 10: Aesthetics Chapter 11: Mineral Resources Chapter 12: Water Resources Chapter 13: Biological Resources Chapter 16: Hazards and Safety Safety Element Health and Safety Element Chapter 16: Hazards and Safety Noise Element Health and Safety Element Chapter 17: Noise Existing General Plan In this document, “existing General Plan” refers to the Butte County General Plan as of January, 2004, consisting of a collection of 12 elements that were adopted between 1971 and 1995. Since its adoption, the existing Butte County General Plan has been supplemented and portions of it superseded by the adoption of area plans, updates to existing elements, and additions of new elements. Some of the elements have been amended, while most have not. The following is a summary of the status of the various elements of the General Plan. • Land Use Element (Adopted October 1979; amended several times since its adoption) • Circulation Element (Adopted May 1984; minor changes were made in 1988) • Housing Element (Adopted 1981, revised 1994; new element adopted in 2004) • Conservation Element (Adopted August 1971; no changes or amendments) • Open Space Element (Adopted December 1976; no changes or amendments) • Seismic Safety Element (Adopted March 1977; no changes or amendments) • Safety Element (Adopted March 1977; no changes or amendments) • Noise Element (Adopted March 1977; no changes or amendments) • Scenic Highways Element (Adopted March 1977; no changes or amendments) • Recreation Element (Adopted August 1971; no changes or amendments) • Economy Element (Adopted August 1971; no changes or amendments) • Agricultural Element (Adopted February 1995; no changes or amendments) Final Draft August 8, 2005 Butte County General Plan Background Report vi A general plan update program in the early 1990s in Butte County which was never completed produced a new Draft Background Report that addressed all General Plan issues except those associated with the Housing Element, which was prepared separately. This draft, completed in March 1993 was called the Butte County General Plan Draft Background Report. The 1993 Draft Background Report was reformatted and renamed the “Master Environmental Assessment” (MEA) in 1996. The 1996 MEA changed the structure of the 1993 General Plan Draft Background Report, including changing the chapter order, rearranging sections into different chapters, and adding several new chapters. The document was only published as a public review draft. The May 1996 Butte County Master Environmental Assessment (MEA) was updated by Butte County Planning Division staff in 1998 and 1999. These 1998-1999 revisions were called the Butte County General Plan Technical Background Report and provided substantial updates to many of the sections in the 1996 MEA. The document’s structure remained the same as in the 1996 MEA. The 1998-1999 revisions were never officially published and remained in draft form. The 1998-99 documents were used as the starting point for this General Plan Background Report. However, the information has been comprehensively updated and the document was been completely reformatted.