Welcome to the Policy Planning website page. This page provides information on the County's General Plan , Regional, Community and Specific Plans, demographic information and administration of Land Conservation Act of 1965 (Williamson Act).
Please be advised that the webpage can be translated into different languages using the feature located on the top right corner "Select Language".
GENERAL PLAN INFORMATION
The Fresno County General Plan is a comprehensive, long-term framework for the protection of the county’s agricultural, natural, and cultural resources and for development in the county. Designed to meet State general plan requirements, it outlines policies, standards, and programs and sets out plan proposals to guide day-to-day decisions concerning Fresno County’s future.
GENERAL PLAN DOCUMENTS
REGIONAL, COMMUNITY & SPECIFIC PLAN MAPS
- Regional Plan Documents and Maps (contact Policy Planning for availability)
- Community Plan Documents and Maps (contact Policy Planning for availability)
- Specific Plan Documents and Maps (contact Policy Planning for availability)
REVISING AND AMENDING THE GENERAL PLAN
A general plan is a long-term document with a planning horizon of 15 to 25 years. To achieve its purposes, the plan must be flexible enough to respond to changing conditions and at the same time specific enough to provide predictability and consistency in guiding day-to-day land use and development decisions. Over the years, conditions and community needs change and new opportunities arise; the plan needs to keep up with these changes and new opportunities. From time to time, the County will be asked to consider proposals for specific amendments to the plan. The County will initiate some of these proposals itself, but most will be initiated by private property owners and developers. Most general plan amendments involve changes in land use designations for individual parcels. Like the adoption of the general plan itself, general amendments are subject to environmental review, public notice, and hearing requirements and must not create inconsistencies with other parts of the plan.
Printable General Plan Amendment (GPA) Handout(PDF, 57KB).
General Plan Amendment Pre-Application (Pre-GPA)
The purpose of the Pre-Application process is to ensure that the proposed project is not in conflict with the General Plan Policies and to inform you of Plan Policies which may pose issues to your project. The other purpose of this process is to provide information on requirements for filing the formal General Plan Amendment (GPA) application. A Pre-GPA will require the following:
WILLIAMSON ACT INFORMATION
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The California Land Conservation Act of 1965--commonly referred to as the Williamson Act--enables local governments to enter into contracts with private landowners for the purpose of restricting specific parcels of land to agricultural or related open space use. In return, landowners receive property tax assessments, which are much lower than normal because they are based upon farming and open space uses as opposed to full market value. Local governments receive an annual subvention of forgone property tax revenues from the state via the Open Space Subvention Act of 1971.
WILLIAMSON ACT INFORMATIONAL HANDOUTS
WILLIAMSON ACT FORMS
To speak to someone in the Policy Planning Unit, please call:
Phone - (559) 600-4230
Office hours Monday through Thursday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm (12:30 pm on Friday)