TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Brian D. Bordona - Director of Planning, Building & Environmental Services
REPORT BY: Michael Parker, Planning Manager
SUBJECT: Initiation of General Plan Amendment to achieve consistency with the Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan
RECOMMENDATION
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Initiate a General Plan Amendment to achieve consistency with the Napa County Airport Land Use Commission’s recently adopted Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan (No Fiscal Impact).
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BACKGROUND
This item would initiate processing of a general plan amendment to achieve consistency with the Napa County Airport Land Use Commission’s (ALUC) recently adopted Napa Countywide Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan (ALUCP). Generally, local governments may not amend any one of the mandatory elements of their general plan more than four times in one calendar year (California Government Code Section 65358(b)). Most government agencies consequently establish local guidelines for managing the acceptance and processing of amendments during a calendar year.
Napa County’s local procedures for processing general plan amendments are set forth in Board of Supervisors Resolution No. 05-173 (Attachment A), which establishes the criteria for processing general plan amendments. The resolution states, among other requirements, that amendments initiated by the County will only be processed if the Board finds that the amendment is in the public interest and internally consistent with the Napa County General Plan, both among the elements and within each element, and all necessary changes are proposed to maintain consistency per Government Code Section 65300.5.
On December 4, 2024, the ALUC adopted the updated ALUCP for Angwin and Napa Airports. Staff is requesting that the Board initiate processing of a general plan amendment to achieve consistency with the ALUCP. It is in the public interest to achieve consistency between the two plans because the ALUCP intends to ensure that proposed land uses in areas around public-use airports are compatible with continued airport operations.
A general plan does not need to be identical with the ALUCP in order to be consistent with it. To meet the consistency test, a General Plan must do two things: it must specifically address compatibility planning issues, either directly or through reference to a zoning ordinance or other policy document; and it must avoid direct conflicts with compatibility planning criteria. The County can address compatibility planning issues by incorporating policies into existing General Plan elements. In addition to the general plan amendments, staff will also be amending various sections of the County’s Zoning Ordinance (Title 18) to achieve consistency with the ALUCP.
After adoption of an ALUCP revision, State law gives local jurisdictions 180 calendar days to amend their general plan, specific plans, zoning ordinances, and facilities master plans, as necessary, to be consistent with the amended ALUCP. Today’s action will commence the process however, because of noticing deadlines and consultation requirements imposed by State law, the amendments will not be completed within 180 days. Under Public Utilities Code Section 21676.5(a), if a local agency fails to either update their general plan or overrule all or part of the ALUCP, then it is required to submit all land use development actions involving property within the airport influence area to the ALUC for consistency review. Once the general plan is revised and deemed consistent, then only certain more substantive land use actions must be submitted for review.
Staff anticipates the general plan and zoning code amendments will be scheduled before the Planning Commission and ALUC for a recommendation in late June/early July. The amendments will be considered by the Board of Supervisors for final action after the Planning Commission and ALUC have conducted a public hearing and forwarded a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors, which staff anticipates will occur in late July/early August.
Today’s requested action is for the Board to direct staff to initiate a General Plan Amendment to achieve consistency with the Napa County Airport Land Use Commission’s recently adopted Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan.
FISCAL & STRATEGIC PLAN IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
No |
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Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Mandatory |
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Consequences if not approved: |
If not approved, the County will be unable to amend the General Plan as necessary to be consistent with the ALUCP. |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: This action consists of initiating processing of a general plan amendment, which is not a 'project' as defined by 14 California Code of Regulation 15378 (c) (State CEQA Guidelines), and accordingly, no CEQA review is required at this time. However, the general plan amendment will require environmental review which will commence once processing is initiated.