Understanding California General Law

Access entire 2003 plan guidelines

WHY IS IS NECESSARY TO UNDERSTAND CALIFORNIA GENERAL PLAN LAW?

To understand why a Town Council is needed, one needs to understand a little about California General Plan Law. The state has ultimate authority over land use, and delegates this authority to cities based on the state’s approval of the city’s general plan. The general plan consists of all the community plans (a political jurisdiction) and must contain a minimuym of seven (7) state-mandated elements:

  1. Land Use
  2. Open Space
  3. Conservation
  4. Housing
  5. Circulation
  6. Noise
  7. Safety

Note: this list may contain additional elements the county or city wishes to adopt, such as Education, Air Quality, Environment, Historical Preservation, etc.

The community plan process has created most of the problems we are contend with today. The community plan for Point Loma was written in the 1970s for a different world – an economic world that no longer exists. Today’s developers propose projects that fit the existing community plan, and in the process creates problems for current residents. Two examples are the condos going up in Roseville and the proposed project at Kellogg beach.

A Town Council is needed to create and express the political will of the residents of the community – to specify a community plan that works for us today. As long a Town Council exists, we can continue to adjust and modify the community plan in order to stay honor current needs of the community.