Vacaville Municipal Code Ch. 14.04.010 General Provisions

This division shall be known as the General Plan Amendment Ordinance of the City.

(Ord. 1972, Repealed and Replaced, 02/22/2022)

The General Plan serves as the long range master plan guiding the direction of development within the community. As conditions within the City change, it may become necessary to amend or update the General Plan to ensure its effectiveness. This division establishes the minimum standards for processing applications to amend the General Plan. However, the Director of Community Development may determine that significantly complex projects, such as a General Plan update, require a greater level of review, and may provide for additional notice or public participation beyond the provisions of this division.

The regulations of this chapter are established to achieve the following:

A. To comply with the requirements of the California Government Code as they pertain to planning, zoning, and development;

B. To establish the procedures for the review and processing of applications to amend the General Plan;

C. To ensure that the General Plan is internally consistent; and

D. To ensure that the General Plan remains an effective, timely guide for orderly growth and development, the preservation of open space land, and the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare.

(Ord. 1972, Repealed and Replaced, 02/22/2022)

This division is intended to supplement the California Planning and Zoning Law, Division 1 of Title 7 of the California Government Code, regulating the processing, review, and adoption of General Plans, updates, and amendments. Where this division establishes more restrictive objectives and procedures that are unique to the City and are consistent with the California Government Code, the more restrictive procedures shall apply. Any revision to Division 1 of Title 7 of the California Government Code that is applicable to this division, shall automatically be incorporated by reference into this division; provided, that the revisions are not less restrictive than those required by the City.

(Ord. 1972, Repealed and Replaced, 02/22/2022)

An amendment to the General Plan map or text may be initiated by:

A. A motion of the City Council or Planning Commission; or

B. An application by the owner or authorized agent of property for which the amendment is sought, and if the subject property is under multiple ownership, all of the owners or their authorized agents shall join in filing the petition; or

C. Any director of a City department to the Planning Commission and City Council.

(Ord. 1972, Repealed and Replaced, 02/22/2022; Ord. 2024, 8/25/2026)

A. Except as otherwise provided in Division 1 of Title 7 of the California Government Code, no mandatory element of the General Plan shall be amended more than four times per calendar year.

B. Several applications affecting the same mandatory element may be grouped together as components of the same amendment. Each amendment may include more than one change to the General Plan. Such components shall be considered one amendment provided the City Council, when taking an action, considers each component during one public hearing and takes one action on the amendments as a whole.

(Ord. 1972, Repealed and Replaced, 02/22/2022)