Development Services

Planning

Turlock General Plan

Seven general plan elements are required by State law, which permits the required contents of the elements to be combined at the discretion of the local government producing the Plan. The seven required elements are: Land Use, Circulation, Housing, Open Space, Conservation, Noise, and Safety.

Themes of the Turlock General Plan

• Establish limits to urban growth that will maintain Turlock as a freestanding city surrounded by productive agricultural land.
  
  
• Maintaining an economically and socially diverse population by promoting a greater variety of housing types citywide and a localized mix of housing types in some areas.
  
  
• Providing commercial and industrial sites consistent with Turlock’s growth.
  
  
• Fostering development that offers alternatives to auto use, especially for non-commute trips.
  
  
• Creating an economic and social balance among different city sectors.
  
  
• Using growth management to implement General Plan policies and quality of life objectives.

The purposes of the City’s General Plan are both abstract and concrete. The Plan document expresses the abstract ideas and visions of the community. The six themes described above together convey a sense of what is most important to the City’s residents and how the community will focus its efforts in dealing with change during the coming decades. But the Plan will be in use long before the City’s vision is achieved. The Plan is a document for landowners and developers to consult prior to formulating development proposals, and for City officials to consult when reviewing proposals for private development and public projects.

This Plan focuses on what is concrete and achievable; the inclusion of sections focusing on implementation and financing is evidence of this. As a guide to the City’s physical development, the Plan offers criteria for evaluating the consistency and desirability of development proposals, and it also sets forth actions to be undertaken by the City. These range from public works projects to revisions of the Zoning Ordinance. Because of the requirements that a variety of other City actions be consistent with the General Plan, regular ongoing use of the Plan is essential.

Comprehensiveness

The General Plan must be comprehensive. This requirement has two components. First is a geographic component, which requires that the Plan cover the entire incorporated area of the City, as well as any other land which bears relation to the City’s planning. Figure 1-2 illustrates the Planning Area Study Boundaries, which extend beyond Turlock's city limits and ultimate Sphere of Influence. This larger geographical area has been included in the Plan's study area because the City believes these unincorporated communities and lands "bear relation" to planning activities the City undertakes. Second, the Plan must address the full range of issues associated with the City’s physical development.

Internal Consistency

The consistency requirement established by State law (Government Code Section 65300.5) and interpreted in several significant judicial decisions requires the separate parts of the Plan to be fully integrated and to relate internally without conflict. This horizontal consistency requirement extends to the diagram and figures, as well as to text, and to data and analysis in addition to policies.

All portions of the Plan, whether required by the State or included at the option of local government, have equal legal weight. None may supersede another. Furthermore, if a single element of the General Plan is judged to be inadequate with respect to legal requirements, the entire Plan may be considered inadequate. Comprehensive General Plan revisions such as the one that resulted in production of this Plan provide an ideal opportunity to satisfy the requirements of both comprehensiveness and consistency.

Amendments to the Plan

The Plan may be amended from time to time, but opportunities for such amendments are limited to four times per year. Each amendment may make an unlimited number of changes to the Plan. Because the requirement for internal consistency is never relaxed, particular care must be taken to ensure that amendments maintain consistency with text and diagrams in all Plan elements.