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The Department of Resource Management recommends that the Board of Supervisors receive a presentation from staff on continued discussion on scope and issues identification for the County’s General Plan update; Provide feedback and direction to staff on next steps
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Published Notice Required? Yes __ No _X _
Public Hearing Required? Yes __ No _X _
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Department of Resource Management recommends that the Board of Supervisors:
1) Receive a presentation from staff on continued discussion on scope and issues identification for the County’s General Plan update; and
2) Provide feedback and direction to staff on next steps.
SUMMARY:
The General Plan is the County’s comprehensive policy document guiding growth, development, and resource management over a 20-year or greater horizon. Solano County’s current General Plan was last comprehensively updated in August 2008. Staff seeks continued Board input to shape the next steps in the General Plan update process, anticipated to be completed by 2028 to coincide with the expiration of Measure T. To support this, at the March 25, 2025 meeting, the Board received an overview of the current General Plan including history (Housing Element certified in 2024), statutory requirements, and the factors contributing to the need for a timely update.
At that meeting, the Board confirmed the need to pursue a targeted update by 2028, while clarifying that the effort should be a thorough review and focused revision of existing chapters and policies rather than a complete overhaul of the plan. The Board directed staff to initiate the consultant procurement process, and to facilitate as an early task a countywide summit with the cities, LAFCO, and other stakeholders to understand growth and development priorities of these entities. The Board also directed staff to evaluate the future of Measure T and ensure that its agricultural and open space protections are integrated into the General Plan update, alongside priorities related to growth management, economic development, infrastructure and service capacity, climate resilience, equity, and community engagement.
In response to this direction, staff conducted outreach to the City mayors at the May 14, 2025 4C’s meeting regarding participation in a land use summit, intended to provide a listening session for the Board to receive presentations from staff from each city regarding their land use and growth priorities. The summit was tentatively scheduled for mid-August but the County subsequently received correspondence from the City Managers’ group requesting that the summit be delayed to give them additional time to prepare. The County agreed to the City Managers’ request and will continue working with them to participate in a future summit. To maintain momentum in the General Plan update process staff is returning to the Board at this time to continue to build upon the discussion from March 25th by beginning to identify and discuss macro and policy issues that will need to be considered as part of the update.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The costs associated with preparing the agenda item are nominal and absorbed by the Department’s FY2025/26 Working Budget.
DISCUSSION:
General Plan Context
State planning and zoning law (California Government Code §65000 et seq.) requires all counties maintain a legally adequate General Plan that addresses seven mandatory elements: land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open space, noise, and safety. Over time, additional State requirements have added environmental justice, climate adaptation, wildfire hazard mitigation, and other policy areas to the list of topics that must be addressed.
The General Plan serves as Solano County’s “development constitution,” guiding decisions on land use, infrastructure, and resource management. All zoning and subdivision regulations must be consistent with its provisions. The County’s growth management policies, originating in the 1980 General Plan and reinforced by Proposition A (1984) and Measure T (2008), have long focused on city-centered development and the preservation of agricultural and natural resource lands.
The 2008 General Plan, organized into eleven chapters, also identified four Special Study Areas (Middle Green Valley, Suisun Valley, Collinsville, and Old Town Cordelia). Two have been completed, while the status of both Collinsville and Old Town Cordelia will be evaluated during an update along with potential new study areas including a proposed overlay for the Pleasants Valley area.
Discussion Topics from March General Plan Study Session
• Interjurisdictional Coordination: Broad support for a countywide summit involving LAFCO, cities, and key agencies to align growth, infrastructure, and development policies.
• City Collaboration & Growth Management: Emphasis on understanding each city’s general plan, evaluating sphere of influence expansions, and balancing growth with agricultural preservation.
• Community Engagement: Support for a Citizens Advisory Committee, off-site/evening meetings, and broad outreach to groups such as the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, First Five, the Farm Bureau and others as determined by the Board.
• Measure T: Consensus to explore approach and to pursue an extension with possible revisions and to ensure its integration into the updated General Plan.
• Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation (SALC) program effort and its informing updates to the Agriculture chapter.
• Infrastructure & Services: Recognition of utility, transportation and public service capacity constraints.
• Education & Workforce: Recommendation to involve educational institutions to strengthen workforce education and capabilities and ultimately enhance economic development potential and opportunities.
• Equity & Inclusion: Ensuring that all communities across the County have equitable access to infrastructure, services, and opportunities for economic participation, with attention to historically underrepresented areas.
• Consultant Procurement: Direction to develop a selection process to secure planning consultant(s) to manage the update process.
Focus of Discussion
The Board will receive a power point presentation that begins to identify macro issues and recent trends that will need to be considered as part of the General Plan update. It is anticipated that these initial Board discussions will be conducted in a working session process designed as an open, thematic series of discussions that connects the Board’s adopted priorities to the policies and goals of the General Plan while exploring the realities of current and future challenges. The conversation is organized around interrelated focus areas rather than a strict sequence of agenda items.
A key focus area is to evaluate the alignment of Board priorities-particularly in economic development (E1-E4), housing (H1-H2), and agriculture (A1-A3)-with the General Plan’s existing framework. This includes examining whether current policies support fiscal sustainability, accommodate needed growth, support the agricultural industry, and preserve the County’s rural and agricultural character. Recent trends will also have to be considered including the push for various types of energy development on agricultural lands and changes in the retail market and the movement of goods impacting how we should approach economic development. Staff anticipates having a separate session focused on economic development in the near future to further understand what we should be focusing on in unincorporated areas.
A second focus area reviews progress in meeting General Plan goals since 2008, such as the completion of the Middle Green Valley and Suisun Valley plans, adoption of the Agricultural Mitigation Ordinance, implementation of the Climate Action Plan, zoning updates, and infrastructure-related planning efforts. These serve as a foundation for identifying which policies remain relevant and which require revision.
The framework also incorporates discussion of current challenges, including interest in annexations and city sphere expansions, infrastructure capacity limits (including transportation and energy capacity), Measure T’s restrictions, climate and water resource pressures, RHNA obligations, and policies for Williamson Act lands. It is clear that development pressures on the County are building as the Bay Area and Sacramento regions build out and the County’s open space and agricultural lands become attractive for its resources and for development. The recent California Forever proposals are indicative of this pressure.
Another key element is compliance with current State laws, requiring integration of topics like environmental justice, climate adaptation, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) standards, and greenhouse gas reduction targets. The Board can consider whether these are best addressed as separate chapters/elements or embedded throughout the plan.
Finally, the working sessions will emphasize collaboration and public engagement through coordinated efforts with cities, regional partners, and community stakeholders, employing strategies such as countywide summits, advisory committees, and accessible public meetings. This approach ensures the update process reflects shared values, statutory obligations, and strategic direction for the County’s future.
Board Guidance and Direction
Staff is seeking initial feedback from the Board on several key topical areas that will be important drivers in the General plan update. Staff is beginning the process to bring a consultant on board but finds early Board feedback critical to properly frame expectations for future work by a consultant group. Staff has already begun identifying aspects of the General Plan likely to need update based on current trends and in response to recently established Board priorities as will be discussed at a high level in the power point presentation. A consultant team as an initial task will conduct a deeper dive into those issues. The current land use map will likely require further evaluation in response to Board established priorities in housing and economic development. Additional tools may need to be considered to protect critical agricultural lands as large scale multi decade urban expansion plans create speculative pressures that extend far beyond existing urbanized areas. Goals and policy changes may be necessary to reflect the community’s vision, statutory requirements, or simply to incorporate best practices in growth management. There have also been several revisions to State law that will need to be addressed and incorporated into the General Plan update.
It is also important to note that the General Plan update process is iterative in nature. The General Plan update will likely evolve throughout the process to best incorporate input from the community.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board could choose not to receive a presentation or not to provide direction to staff at this time. Staff does not recommend this alternative, however, since the General Plan is set to be updated with a goal of accomplishing this prior to the expiration of Measure T in late 2028 and Board direction on the anticipated scope and scale of the update will better inform future work of a selected consultant on the next steps in the process.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
None.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION