Chapter 2. Public Guide

Transcription

1 Chapter 2. Public Guide 2.1 Purpse This chapter prvides a guide fr reading and using the It describes the rganizatin f the Plan, the layut f a typical chapter, and the relatinship f this dcument t ther planning dcuments. 2.2 Backgrund The State f Califrnia requires a general plan t address specified prvisins f each f seven mandated elements Land Use, Circulatin, Husing, Cnservatin, Open Space, Nise, and Safety t the extent that the prvisins are lcally relevant. State law ffers cnsiderable flexibility t g beynd the mandatry elements f the general plan. T minimize redundancies, the elements f this Plan have been cmbined and rganized alng functinal lines, and include legally mandated elements, and ptinal elements. 2.3 Overall Plan Organizatin This Plan is divided int the fllwing five principal parts: Part 1 Setting. Part 1 describes the planning area, the purpse and use f the Plan, and hw the Plan relates t ther dcuments. Als included are plicies regarding public participatin and gvernance, which includes maintenance and amendments t the Plan as well as inter-gvernmental crdinatin. Part 2 Building Cmmunities. Part 2 addresses urban and rural lands and fcuses n the built envirnment, such as the general lcatin, apprpriate mix, timing, and extent f land uses, and supprting infrastructure. This part f the Plan includes the state required Land Use and Circulatin elements and a summary f the Husing Element, which is updated n a different schedule than the rest f the Elements included in this part that als address the built envirnment are the Cmmunity Infrastructure and Services, Telecmmunicatins, and Ecnmic Develpment elements. Part 3 Resurce Management. Part 3 fcuses n the natural envirnment and hw land use activities interact with it. The state-required Cnservatin and Open Space elements are cmbined in this part f the Plan including sectins n waste management, cultural, scenic, mineral, and bilgical resurces. Als included are the Water Resurces and the Energy elements. Part 4 Health and Safety. Part 4 includes plicies and prgrams t prtect peple, prperty, and the envirnment frm risks assciated with seismic, gelgic, nise, fld, air quality, and wildfire hazards. This part f the Plan cntains the state required Nise and Safety elements, as well as the Air Quality Element. Part 1, Chapter 2. Public Guide 2-1

2 Part 5 Appendices. Part 5 includes the Implementatin Actin Plan, Glssary and Definitins, Acrnyms, Reference List, Cmmunity Area Plans Plicy Extract, and Castal Plans. 2.4 Chapter Structure Individual chapters in this Plan are structured accrding t the fllwing divisins: Element Organizatin and Cmbined Element Organizatin: Prvides additinal guidance abut chapter rganizatin. The Land Use and Cnservatin and Open Space elements are large elements with multiple sectins and, in the case f Cnservatin and Open Space, cnslidated elements. The cmplexity f these chapters warranted additinal explanatin and they are the nly elements cntaining this sectin. Purpse: Presents the purpse f the chapter. Relatinship t Other Elements: Explains the chapter s relatinship t ther elements f the Backgrund: Discusses key findings frm the technical backgrund studies and ther research supprting the prpsed plicy directin. Depending n the cmplexity f the particular tpic, this sectin may be brken int subsectins. Gals and Plicies: Presents gals and plicies t set directin and guide decisins assciated with the tpic. Standards: Identifies the standards that will be used t apply plicies t a given situatin. Implementatin Measures: Identifies measures that will be taken t implement the 2.5 Key Terms As suggested abve, the cre f this Plan fcuses n gals, plicies, standards, and implementatin measures. Because f the frequency f use and relative imprtance in the Plan, these terms are explained briefly belw. Gal: A gal is a general expressin f cmmunity values and, therefre, may be abstract in nature (2003 General Plan Guidelines, Gvernr s Office f Planning and Research). Gals shuld be expressed as ends nt actin; they set the directin twards an ideal future. Gals are nt necessarily quantifiable r time dependent. Plicy: A plicy is a specific statement that must be fllwed when making decisins. It indicates an unambiguus cmmitment f the Cunty t a particular curse f actin designed t achieve a specific gal. Standard: A standard is a specific, ften quantified rule r measure that helps define hw a plicy will be enacted. Standards define the abstract terms f gals and plicies with cncrete specificatins. Part 1, Chapter 2. Public Guide 2-2

3 Implementatin Measure: An implementatin measure is an actin, prcedure, prgram, plan, r technique used t carry ut General Plan plicy. 2.6 Maps The General Plan includes fficial and backgrund maps. Official maps shw the gegraphic applicatin f the Plan plicies, while backgrund maps (referenced as figures in the main text) prvide supprt infrmatin. The fficial maps cnsist f the fllwing map sets: Land Use. These maps shw planned land uses using General Plan land use designatins. These maps d nt always reflect existing land use, but rather the planned use. They indicate the kind and intensity f planned land uses, such as rural residential, 5 t 20 acres per dwelling unit. Bilgical Resurces. These maps shw identified sensitive bilgical resurces. The level f detail and accuracy is highly variable s prject-specific mapping is usually necessary t determine the actual lcatin and extent f such resurces. These maps are useful fr reginal planning and t flag the need fr specific n-site review t determine the nature and extent f the resurces present. Fld Hazard. This map series shws areas subject t peridic flding, based n cmputer versins (Q3) f the 100-year fldplain. The hardcpy FEMA FIRM and fldway maps, which are referenced by this General Plan, prvide specific regulatry implementatin f fldplain management. Gelgic. These maps shw relative slpe stability, majr faults, and areas subject t liquefactin. The level f detail and accuracy f these maps is als variable s, again, mre specific n-site review is ften necessary. Circulatin/Public Facilities. This map series shw the general lcatin and extent f existing and prpsed majr transprtatin rutes, airprts, prt terminals, and ther utilities and facilities. The Cunty nw uses a Gegraphic Infrmatin System (GIS) t generate its maps s the abve maps are actually individual layers in a unified cmprehensive base map and are available in virtually any scale. Official versins f these maps will be prduced as hardcpies at set scales and be generated as PDF files fr digital distributin. There are inherent limitatins n the accuracy assciated with any cuntywide map set. State planning law, in fact, refers t diagrams rather than maps t emphasize this pint. It is clear, hwever, that lcal gvernments need t be able t administer their plans with substantial certainty, and be clear abut which land use designatins and plicies apply t any given parcel f land. The linewrk n the General Plan map sets shuld be interpreted accrding t the fllwing rule: Where a line is intended t fllw an administrative bundary such as a city limit r parcel line r a natural r manmade feature such as a river r rad, the actual Part 1, Chapter 2. Public Guide 2-3

4 lcatin f the administrative bundary r feature is the intended lcatin f the General Plan line. 2.7 Relatinship t Other Dcuments This Plan supersedes the Humbldt Cunty Framewrk Plan that was adpted in It als cnslidates and supercedes the fllwing dcuments: Jacby Creek Cmmunity Plan (1982) Freshwater Cmmunity Plan (1985) Frtuna Cmmunity Plan (1985) Willw Creek Cmmunity Plan (1986) Hydesville-Carltta Cmmunity Plan (1986) Garberville-Benbw-Redway-Alderpint Cmmunity Plan (1987) Avenue f the Giants Cmmunity Plan (2000) Orick Cmmunity Plan (1985) Nrthern (1965) (cvering Orleans, Trinidad- Westhaven (inland), Fieldbrk-Glendale, and Blue Lake unincrprated area) Arcata General Plan (1966) (unincrprated area arund Arcata nt in the castal zne r Jacby Creek) Suthern Humbldt General Plan (1968) (unincrprated Ri Dell and the inland prtin f Shelter Cve) Lcal Castal Plans. Within the Castal Zne, this Plan will supersede the fllwing Lcal Castal Prgram land use plans nce the castal related prtins f this dcument are effectively certified thrugh the Califrnia Castal Cmmissin: Nrth Cast Area Plan Trinidad Area Plan McKinleyville Area Plan Humbldt Bay Area Plan Eel River Area Plan Suth Cast Area Plan Cmpanin Dcuments These are dcuments that are bund separately but are part f the General They include the fllwing: Husing Element Technical Reprt The Husing Element (2004) is bund as a separate dcument and serves as the husing element prtin f the General Plan fr unincrprated areas. McKinleyville and Eureka Cmmunity Plans. The McKinleyville (2002) and Eureka (1995) cmmunity plans, because f their cmplexity, will remain standalne separately bund dcuments, and serve as the applicable general plans fr thse areas. Their land use designatins and plicies are subject t amendment as part f this General Part 1, Chapter 2. Public Guide 2-4

5 Dcuments Related t this Plan Envirnmental Impact Reprt. This dcument shuld be referred t fr mre extensive infrmatin n existing cnditins, ptential impacts f the Plan, and hw impacts will be mitigated. A range f alternatives t the Plan are als discussed in the EIR. Cunty Regulatins. Varius Cunty regulatins are affected by this Plan and are imprtant vehicles fr carrying ut plicy directives. They are nt part f the General Plan but must be cnsistent with it. The Zning Regulatins. Sectins f Title III, Divisin 1 f the Humbldt Cunty Cde, prvide zning implementatin fr this General These rdinances have been revised t reflect the plicies f this General The structure f the Zning Ordinance parallels that f the Land Use Element in that they bth cntain maps depicting the distributin f land uses thrughut the cunty and descriptins f develpment standards fr varius designatins identified n the maps. Hwever, while the General Plan embdies a lng-term perspective the Zning Ordinance is immediate in its applicatin. Subdivisin Regulatins. Title III, Divisin 2, f the Humbldt Cunty Cde gverns subdivisins f lands and has been apprpriately revised s that it is cnsistent with this Building Regulatins. Divisin 3, f the Humbldt Cunty Cde gverns cnstructin, grading, and fld plain management and is als an imprtant tl fr the implementatin f this Plan and is referenced where apprpriate. Backgrund Reprts Numerus technical backgrund reprts were prepared t prvide a range f infrmatin and detail necessary t cmplete the Technical data fund in this Plan riginated frm these reprts unless therwise nted and referenced in Appendix D. Althugh nt part f the Plan, these reprts can be fund n the Cunty website. Sme f the key reprts are listed belw. Building Cmmunities (February 2002) Natural Resurces and Hazards (September 2002) Mving Gds and Peple (Octber 2002) Agricultural Resurces and Plicies (August 2003) Cmmunity Design Tlkit (Octber 2003) Frest Resurces and Plicies (Octber 2003, revised April 2006)) Residential Land Availability Survey (February 2004) Sketch Plan Alternatives (June 2004) Draft General Plan Energy Element Technical Reprt (Octber 2005) Living in a Netwrked Wrld Telecmmunicatins (December 2004) Water Resurces Technical Reprt Cmmunity Infrastructure and Services Technical Reprt Humbldt Cunty Master Fire Prtectin Plan (August 2006) Related Studies: Harbr Revitalizatin Plan and Rail Study Airprt Master Plan Prsperity! Update District Sphere Reprts (LAFCO) Part 1, Chapter 2. Public Guide 2-5