Updating the Granite Bay Community Plan began in August of 2008, when the Board of Supervisors directed the County Planning Department to begin review of the document. The Plan, originally adopted in 1989, provides the framework for long-term growth and development. The Plan’s primary purpose is to direct the future land use and development in a manner that preserves the character and independent identity of the community. The circulation element of the plan, which included trail mapping, was updated in 2005.

By setting goals and policies for Granite Bay that are distinct from those applied countywide, the Community Plan outlines how the Placer County will manage growth, while retaining Granite Bay’s unique attributes. Planning staff has been working with the Granite Bay MAC, the public and Supervisor Kirk Uhler’s office.

A series of public meetings on the Plan began in 2009. The meetings were intended to help maintain a high level of citizen participation and open communication. At the first meeting, attended by over 400 people, staff provided an overview of the Plan’s review process. County staff also noted that a six-month comment period would end in June. The comment period allowed residents and property owners to submit suggestions for policy and/or land use changes.

The public took advantage of the opportunity to comment on plan revisions and by the June deadline the Planning Department had received:

• 284 Policy Change Request forms;
• 49 Land Use Change Request forms, affecting 53 parcels (341 acres), and the potential for 392 additional residential units.

The majority of these requests were individual parcels that would be allowed to subdivide their property through the Minor Land Division process if the proper land use designation was obtained.

In October 2009, more than 300 people attended another community workshop. At the workshop, the public participated in a community survey where they provided input and comment on community-requested policy and land use changes.

The Planning Department provided an update on the Granite Bay Community Plan review to the Supervisors in April 2010 and discussed several alternatives to keep the planning process moving forward. At their budget workshop in August, 2010, the Board of Supervisors voted to only update the policy section of the Community Plan and not make changes to the Land Use Map.

The Granite Bay Community Plan has been the focus of regular monthly meetings of the Granite Bay Municipal Advisory Council Subcommittee Working Group. Started in December 2010, the Working Group reviewed the goals and policies of the Community Plan and provided feedback on changes to the document to the Board of Supervisors.

For more on the Community Plan review process, contact Senior Planner Chris Schmidt at 530-745-3076 or send him an e-mail.