Draft 2023 Update of the Fresno County General Plan and Zoning Ordinance for 2020-2040
League Study Guide for the County’s April 2023 Draft Update of General Plan Goals, Policies and Implementation Programs
The County of Fresno has been working to update its General Plan and Zoning Ordinance for more than a decade. Draft plans are ready for public review.
In late April 2023, the County released for public review and comment these four draft documents: 2023-2042 Policy Document, Background Report, Zoning Ordinance and Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The comment period for all four documents ends at 5:00 PM on Tuesday, June 27, 2023.
With respect to the Draft Policy Document, the County proposes to delete or significantly revise 174 of 604 policies (29%) and to do the same for 82 of 121 programs (68%). The draft also adds 125 new policies and 58 new programs. Because it’s important that county residents fully understand the scope of these revisions, the County should provide a reliable redlined version of the current 2000 Policy Document so that everyone can easily see exactly what the County proposes to change, but the County has not done that. Therefore, in support of effective public engagement and transparency, the League has taken upon itself the task of preparing a redlined document showing all proposed changes to goals, policies and programs.
Below are links to the League’s Study Guide and to the County’s draft Policy Document, Background Report, Zoning Ordinance and EIR.
May 2023: League’s Study Guide for the Update of the General Plan Policy Document
April 2023: Draft Update of the General Plan Policy Document
April 2023: Draft Update of the General Plan Background Report
April 2023: Draft Update of the Zoning Ordinance
April 2023: Draft Environmental Impact Report
Pending Revision of the Fresno County 2000-2020 General Plan and Zoning Ordinance for 2020-2040
League Study Guide for the County’s Draft 2021 Update of the General Plan Policy Document
In 2005, County planners initiated a revision of the General Plan Policy Document. Now, 16 years later, the County has released for public review and comment its seventh draft update of the Policy Document along with a draft update of the General Plan Background Report and Zoning Ordinance.
To help county residents understand the proposed changes to policies and implementation programs in the July 2021 draft Policy Document, the League has published a Study Guide that shows all proposed changes to policies and implementation programs.
Below are links to the League’s Study Guide as well as links to the County’s July 2021 draft updates of the General Plan Policy Document, General Plan Background Report and Zoning Ordinance.
2021: League’s September 2021 Study Guide for the Update of the General Plan Policy Document
2021: Fresno County’s Proposed July 2021 Update of the General Plan Policy Document
2021: Fresno County’s Proposed July 2021 Update of the General Plan Background Report
2021: Fresno County’s Proposed July 2021 Update of the Zoning Ordinance
On January 15, 2021, the County published a Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the preparation of a draft environmental impact report (DEIR) for the update of these documents. As of September 1, 2021, the County had not released the DEIR, set a time for public review and comment on draft planning documents or provided dates for anticipated community meetings.
League Study Guide for the County’s Draft 2013 Revision of the General Plan Policy Document
In 2005, County planners initiated a revision of the General Plan Policy Document. Eight years later, in January 2013, the County released for public review and comment its third draft revision of the Policy Document. To help county residents understand the significance of the proposed changes, on February 25, 2013, the League published a two-volume Study Guide on the County’s proposed revision of the Policy Document. (The League’s Study Guide was updated in September 2014).
The Board of Supervisors did not adopt that third draft revision of the Policy Document. Instead, the County prepared three more draft revisions of Policy Document, the most recent being a sixth draft revision dated December 2017. See below.
2019: Introduction to the League’s 2014 Two-Volume Study Guide
2014: Study Guide Volume I — Significant Proposed Revisions
2014: Study Guide Volume II — All Implementation Programs and Policies under Review
2014: Critique — 63 Issues and Concerns
League Analysis of the County’s 2002 and 2015 Reports on General Plan Implementation
In September 2016, the League published a 126-page study documenting the County’s inability to demonstrate successful implementation of the General Plan. Based on data provided by the County for 2002 and 2015, the League study concluded that between 2002 and 2015 successful implementation of General Plan programs (as written) fell from 71% to 39%.
2019: Introduction to the League’s 2016 Study of General Plan Implementation
2016: League Study of the County's Annual Progress Reports for 2002 and 2015
League Annual Progress Report on General Plan Implementation for Calendar Year 2017
By law, the County must prepare annual progress reports (APRs) on “the status of the [General Plan] and progress in its implementation.” It is the League’s view that every APR prepared by the County after 2012 has been insufficient as an informational document. To highlight this deficiency, in the spring of 2019, the League prepared its own APR for calendar year 2017 and presented it to the Board of Supervisors.
At that time, the County was preparing an APR for calendar year 2018, and the hope was that the League’s 2017 APR would serve as a model for adequate reporting. Unlike the County’s APRs, the League’s APR was comprehensive, containing information from every annual report prepared by the County since adoption of the General Plan in 2000. The League’s APR demonstrated that the success rate of the implementation of the Fresno County General Plan during 2017 had fallen to 33%.
2019: Introduction to the League’s 2017 APR
2019: League’s Annual Progress Report on General Plan for Calendar Year 2017
Recent County Publications
2017: Fresno County’s Annual Progress Report on General Plan for Calendar Year 2017
2018: Fresno County’s Annual Progress Report on General Plan for Calendar Year 2018
2017: Fresno County’s Proposed Update of the General Plan Policy Document
2017: Fresno County’s Proposed Update of the General Plan Background Report
2017: Fresno County’s Proposed Update of the Zoning Ordinance
______ Fresno County’s Draft EIR for the Update of the General Plan and Zoning Ordinance - (The League will post this document once it is released for public review and comment.)
Network of Public-Benefit Organizations
In the summer of 2018, a group of nonprofit, public-benefit organizations formed to review General Plan implementation and advocate for robust public participation in the review and update of the General Plan and Zoning Ordinance. That fall, the League took the lead among this network of thirteen nonprofit public benefit organizations to ask the Board of Supervisors to hold a public hearing to clarify issues related to the update of the General Plan and Zoning Ordinance. The Board chose not to honor that request.
2018: December 4, 2018 Network Letter to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors
News Articles
07/02/19: In Crisis: Fresno County Long-Range Planning
08/06/19: Coming Soon - Fresno County's New 2020-2040 General Plan
