Land Use

General Plans Provide Balance in Communities

Why is it important?

Beginning in 1937, all cities and counties in California were required to adopt master plans, now called general plans. These documents generally assign land to a particular use including residential, commercial, industrial, and open space. Therefore, general plan land use designations are a predictor and designator for future land use with timeframes usually between ten and twenty years into the future. The general plan preserves natural capital by restricting development in sensitive areas, allows financial capital to grow by allowing business land uses, and develops social capital through residential development standards that encourage interaction by residents in neighborhoods.

How are we doing?

A large portion of the Sierra Nevada is reserved in local general plans as open space. This space is used for agriculture, forestry, and recreation. Some counties have different definitions for the same use. For example, Amador and Plumas counties have no agricultural zone and instead use a very low-density residential zone for agricultural land. Development spreading from the Sacramento metro area is visible in the North Central Sierra in the vast tracts of low- and medium-density residential areas in its western reaches. The western portion of the South Central Sierra contains large tracts of low- and very low-density residential, although most of these portions of Tuolumne and Mariposa counties remain in agriculture or open space. Developable land in the East Sierra is visible in strips following Highways 395 and 6, while nearly all of the remainder is preserved as public or open space.