General Plan and Specific Plan Guidelines

General Plan Guidelines

The Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation’s (LCI) General Plan Guidelines (GPG) will serve as a reference to jurisdictions undergoing updates to their long–range plans, supporting both the preparation of general plan content and the engagement of the general public throughout that process. This year’s GPG update will include guidance on planning legislation passed since the last GPG update, required and optional elements of general plans, and the relationships between general plan elements and LCI’s identified core planning principles, or topics which we see as cross-cutting across elements.  

Read the General Plan Guidelines timeline in a text format
  • Project Initiation
    • Kick off the project by identifying timelines, project plans, and community partners to involve in the process.
  • Opportunities and Challenges
    • Explore and identify opportunities and challenges and capture feedback on the preliminary structure and content of the guidelines.
  • Initial Draft—We are Here
    • Present an initial public draft of the guidelines for state agency and topic-specific advisory group review.
  • Open House Draft
    • Present a complete draft of the guidelines for public review.
  • Final Public Draft Guidelines
    • Present the final public draft guidelines and the interactive guidelines website. After public review, the guidelines will be updated and finalized. This is expected to occur in fall 2027.

Specific Plan Guidelines

LCI’s Specific Plan Guidelines (SPG) will clarify the roles of specific plans, help jurisdictions understand decision frameworks around when to use a specific plan, and the actual specific plan development process. These guidelines will also address relevant legislation passed since the last SPG update. 

Updates

LCI is pleased to announce it is returning to the American Planning Association Conference! Please join us at our session “California Town Hall: California’s Core Planning Principles Across Every Stage of Planning” to see how the General Plan Guidelines’ Core Planning Principles can help jurisdictions address unique planning challenges. After a short presentation on the General Plan Guidelines, attendees will collaborate to use the guidelines to tackle new and challenging local planning scenarios. More information to come!  

View materials and learn more about past engagement events

For more information about LCI’s General Plan and Specific Plan Guidelines, reach out to planningupdate@lci.ca.gov 

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