The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research serves as the State’s comprehensive planning agency. OPR studies future research and planning needs, fosters goal-driven collaboration, and delivers guidance to state partners and local communities, with a focus on land use and community development, environmental protection, climate risk and resilience, general well-being of Californians, and high-road economic development.
Government Code section 65040.2 requires that OPR adopt and periodically revise the State General Plan Guidelines (GPG) for the preparation and content of general plans for all cities and counties in California. A general plan is each local government’s blueprint for meeting the community’s long-term vision for the future. Under Government Code section 65300, all cities and counties must adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of their jurisdiction and any other land area outside of the jurisdiction that bears relation to its planning. The General Plan Guidelines serve as a resource to help jurisdictions draft and update their general plans.
Purpose
OPR staff plan to hire consultants to update the General Plan Guidelines in the timeframe of 2024-2026. OPR’s request for information (RFI) seeks input on updating the existing General Plan Guidelines and defining the consultant team’s scope of work.
There are several goals that OPR staff aim to accomplish by updating the General Plan Guidelines. Goals include to edit the Guidelines to reflect changes or amendments to applicable laws since 2017; to update data, tools, and maps associated with the Guidelines; to align the Guidelines with plans or programs from other California state agencies published in or after 2017; to make the document more interactive and user-friendly; to embed equity, climate resilience, and climate adaptation in all elements of the Guidelines; and to provide advice on aligning strategies and metrics in the implementation sections of general plans with State equity, housing, and climate priorities.
Dates
For your response to be considered, you must provide it by October 20, 2023.
Listening Session
OPR will host one listening session listed below where participants will be able to provide feedback to this RFI. Register in advance for the listening session:
When: Oct 16, 2023, 02:00-3:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Topic: General Plan Guidelines Request for Information Listening Session.
Submissions
To respond to this Request for Information, please provide public comment during the October 16 General Plan Guidelines Request for Information Listening Session or fill out this form by October 20.
If you cannot access the submission form or would like to share a supplemental attachment, email your response or supplemental attachment to Planning @opr.ca.gov with the email subject line, “General Plan Guidelines RFI.”
All comments received, including attachments and other supporting materials, may be subject to public disclosure pursuant to the Public Records Act or other laws. Respondents should only submit information that they wish to make publicly available and should not enclose any information considered confidential or inappropriate for public disclosure. In responding to this RFI, DO NOT include any information that might be considered proprietary, trade secrets, and/or confidential. Completion of this RFI shall be performed at no cost to the State. This RFI will not result in the award of a contract agreement.
For further information or questions, please email: planning@opr.ca.gov