About the General Plan

The General Plan provides the fundamental basis for the City’s land use, development and conservation policy, and represents the basic community values, ideals and aspirations that govern the City. The City's General Plan addresses all aspects of development, including land use; community character; economic development; circulation and transportation; open space, natural resources and conservation; public facilities and services; safety; and noise.

California Government Code Section 65300 requires the General Plan to be comprehensive and internally consistent, and to provide long-term guidance for the community. Although the General Plan is required to address the issues specified by State law, it may be organized in a way that best suits the City of Oroville.

The overall role of the Oroville 2030 General Plan is to:

• Define a realistic vision of what the City desires to become in 25 years.
• Express the policy direction of the City of Oroville in regard to the physical, social, economic, cultural and environmental character of the City.
• Serve as a comprehensive guide for making decisions about land use, community character, economic development, circulation, open space, the environment, and public health and safety.
• Serve as the City’s “constitution” for land use and community development. According to State law, the General Plan accomplishes this by providing the legal foundation for all zoning, subdivision and public facilities ordinances, decisions and projects, all of which must be consistent with the General Plan.
• Provide clear and easy-to-understand guidance that encourages public involvement and understanding.

Long-Range Emphasis

The General Plan is not the same as zoning. Although both designate how land may be developed, they do so in different ways. The General Plan and its diagrams have a long-term outlook, identifying the types of development that will be allowed, the spatial relationships among land uses, and the general pattern of future development. Zoning regulates present development through specific development standards such as lot size, building setbacks, maximum sight coverage, maximum heights, and identifies allowable uses and the required permitting process. Developments must not only meet the specific requirements of the Zoning Ordinance, but also the broader policies set forth in the local general plan.

What Does the General Plan Cover?

The City's General Plan includes this introduction, the Guiding Principles and eight separate “elements” that set goals, policies and actions for each given area. These elements cover the seven topics required by California State Government Code Section 65302. As previously mentioned, the Housing Element, one of the required elements, was adopted under a separate process and is available as a separate document. A brief explanation of the topics included in the Oroville General Plan is provided here.

State Required Elements

Land Use Element

The Land Use Element designates all lands within the City for specific uses such as housing, commercial, industrial, open space and recreational, public facilities and agricultural uses. The Land Use Element also provides development regulations for each land use category and overall land use policies for the City.

Transportation and Circulation Element

The Transportation and Circulation Element specifies the general location and extent of existing and proposed major streets and other transportation facilities. The Element must correlate with the Land Use Element to ensure that adequate pedestrian, bicycle, motor vehicle and emergency access is provided to serve both new and existing land uses.

Open Space, Natural Resources and Conservation Element

This Element combines two elements required under State law: the Open Space Element and the Conservation Element. It addresses the six State-categorized types of open space: open space for the preservation of natural resources, open space used for the managed production of resources, open space for outdoor recreation, open space for public health and safety, open space in support of the mission of military installations and open space for the protection of Native American sacred sites. This Element also addresses biological resources, water quality, mineral resources, agricultural resources, cultural resources, air quality (including climate change), and energy conservation.

Safety Element

The Safety Element is intended to protect the community from risks associated with the effects of seismic and other geologic hazards, flooding and dam inundation, and hazardous materials, and to ensure adequate emergency preparedness. The Safety Element includes goals, objectives, policies and actions to address current and foreseeable safety issues.

Noise Element

The Noise Element addresses noise problems in the community and analyzes and quantifies current and projected noise levels from a variety of sources. The Noise Element includes goals, objectives, policies and actions to address current and foreseeable noise problems.

Housing Element

As previously stated, the City’s Housing Element was adopted in 2009 pursuant to State law. Government Code Section 65588 requires the Housing Element be updated every five years and include specific components such as analysis of existing housing stock, analysis of existing and projected housing needs, and quantification of the number of housing units that will be developed, preserved and improved through its policies and actions. The Housing Element is available as a separate document.

Optional Elements

Community Design Element

This optional Element discusses urban design principles that are intended to guide both public and private development and protect and enhance the positive characteristics of Oroville’s built environment, including characteristics that contribute to its sense of place and contribute to a high quality of life for its residents

Economic Development Element

This optional Element describes the baseline economic conditions in Oroville, reviews the extensive set of economic development programs and initiatives already underway in the city, and establishes goals, policies, and actions to guide a long-term vision for Oroville’s economy.

Public Facilities and Services

This optional Element assesses the current state of public services and facilities within the City, including law enforcement, fire services, schools, libraries, government facilities, water, wastewater, storm water drainage, solid waste and utilities. Goals and policies in this Element focus on ensuring minimum service levels within Oroville.

Environmental Review

Cities and counties weigh a variety of factors when deciding whether to approve a proposed land use or other project. One such factor is what kind of effect a project would have on the environment.

The California Environmental Quality Act guides the process of gathering such information. A nickname for this law is “CEQA” (pronounced “See-Kwa”). The process is quite complex and technical.

The following provides an overview of some basic concepts though. The term “environment” includes natural and man-made elements of our surroundings. This includes land, air, water, minerals, plants, animals and noise. It also includes things like historic buildings.

Determining the Level of Environmental Review

In some cases, state-level decision-makers have decided that no environmental review is necessary. Some kinds of projects are exempt from the environmental review process. There are two types of exemptions. These include "statutory exemptions" exempted by the CEQA statute as determined by the Legislature, and "categorical exemptions" as determined by the State’s Resources Agency and as found in the CEQA Guidelines.

The “Initial Study”

If a project is not exempt, the next step is to prepare an initial study. Such a study asks the question “are there facts that indicate that a project could have a significant effect on the environment?”

“Negative Declarations”

If the answer is “no,” then a “negative declaration” occurs. When an agency uses a negative declaration, it is saying two things. It is reaching a conclusion (or making a “declaration”) that an environmental impact report is not necessary (the “negative”). An environmental impact report is a more detailed analysis of a project’s effects on the environment.

There are two situations in which a “negative declaration” is used. One is when decision-makers conclude that a project will not have a significant effect on the environment. The other is when the project has potentially significant effects, but they can be reduced or avoided by imposing certain conditions on the project. This type of negative declaration is known as a “mitigated negative declaration.”

“Environmental Impact Reports”

If the initial study shows that the project may have a significant effect on the environment, the next step is to prepare the more extensive environmental impact report. Such reports are often referred to by the initials “EIR.”

Such reports contain a number of items. It describes the proposed project. It identifies and analyzes each significant environmental impact expected to result from the proposed project. The report also recommends steps to avoid or minimize those impacts. These actions are called “mitigation measures.” Possible alternative projects are considered too, including the option of no project.

Impact on the Decision Making Process

The information from the environmental review process helps decision-makers decide whether to approve a project. The report also helps them decide whether putting conditions on a project’s approval helps. But the ultimate decision on whether to approve a project is up to decision-makers (after complying with CEQA).

If the project approval includes mitigation measures, the agency must adopt a reporting or monitoring program to assure those measures occur.