Consultant says Calaveras General Plan toothless

Article published Oct 24, 2006

By Dana Nichols

Record Staff Writer

(abridged)

SAN ANDREAS - Calaveras County's General Plan is a toothless mongrel incapable of either guarding the county's fields and forests or guiding the future development of its towns.

That is the consensus, at least, of both a land-use consultant hired by the county to evaluate its General Plan and of the vast majority of the residents, property owners, and other land-use advocates who spoke Monday at the first study session in what will be a several-year-long effort to revise the general plan.
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Stephanie Moreno, the county's director of community development, launched Monday's session with a review of how General Plans work in California to guide virtually every aspect of how a county or city manages its land, economic development, environmental issues, wildlife, water, and housing. The session was also a chance for those present to discuss the glum findings of a recently-released report by Mintier & Associates Planning Consultants.

That report concluded that the county's present General Plan "does not meet statutory requirements and is of limited usefulness as a guide for day-to-day decision making concerning land use, development, and environmental protection."

The report said that not only is the plan outdated but its wording is weak, saying that policies are "recommendations" rather than rules. The plan leaves it unclear who is supposed to carry out its rules and often fails to define clearly what exactly should be done and when.

Moreno said that while the plan does have broad goals for preserving open space and managing growth, there often simply aren't the specific measures defined for making that happen.

Steve Elias, an activist with the Sierra Club, was more blunt.

"Basically they are telling you guys you have an illegal General Plan," Elias said.

Contact reporter Dana M. Nichols at (209) 754-9534 or dnichols@recordnet.com