The General Plan is the overarching policy document for Placer County. It provides a policy framework to guide decision-making for the next 25 years in the areas of land use, growth and development, housing, circulation, health and safety, open space, natural resources, sustainability, and economic development, among other topics.

A General Plan typically has three defining features:

1. General. As the name implies, a general plan provides general guidance that will be used to direct future growth and resource conservation decisions. It contains the goals and policies upon which planning commissions and board of supervisors base their land use decisions.
2. Comprehensive. A general plan covers a wide range of social, economic, infrastructure, and natural resource factors. These include topics such as land use, agriculture, housing, circulation, utilities, public services, recreation, biological resources, and many other topics.
3. Long-range. General plans provide guidance on reaching a future envisioned for 20 or more years (the proposed General Plan will look out about 25 years to the year 2050). To help achieve this envisioned future, the updated General Plan will include policies and actions that address both immediate and long-term needs.

The State of California requires that counties adopt a General Plan to guide their long-term physical growth and development. The County’s General Plan was last comprehensively updated by the Board of Supervisors in 1994. By statute, the General Plan is required to be updated periodically. While there is no requirement for how often to update the General Plan, the planning period has traditionally been 15–25 years. Some cities and counties update their general plans as often as every five years, while others update in portions over time mainly due to budgetary and staffing limitations.

A variety of factors contribute to the need to update the General Plan. Communities seldom stand still; they are continually growing, changing, and evolving. The County's current General Plan no longer reflects current conditions, nor does it directly address many of the issues now facing the County and the region.

New laws affecting General Plans have been passed, new social and environmental issues have emerged, and new and innovative planning strategies have been developed.

Additionally, the County has grown and changed with significant development and population growth particularly in western Placer County, there have been frequent amendment requests due to development pressure, new growth has strained infrastructure, and housing affordability has become a significant issue. With these changing conditions, priorities have changed.

The Housing Element is Placer County’s strategic plan for housing and is a required chapter in the General Plan. Placer County, along with all California cities and counties, is required to adequately plan and meet the housing needs of everyone in the community. The Housing Element identifies enough potentially developable land suitable for residential use to meet its Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation (i.e., units by income level) developed and assigned by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG).

Although the County does not build the housing, the Housing Element does create a plan and regulatory framework, which provides opportunities for the private sector to do so, where market conditions determine when and where housing is built. The goal is to address a range of housing issues such as affordability, design, housing types, density and location, and establishes goals, policies and programs to address existing and projected housing needs.

The first step in preparing a General Plan update for a county of this scale, with multiple distinct communities, numerous anticipated focus topics, is to establish an achievable scope. What will be the focus of the update? Which policy guidance is most crucial to allow our communities to thrive? How do we best protect and cultivate what we hold dear?

To build broad acceptance of the next General Plan, and to complete the Plan within a reasonable timeframe and on budget, the scope must be meaningful and manageable. The short-term work plan includes seven tasks:

1. Overview. Audit the existing General Plan’s policies and implementation programs.
   
2. Early Outreach Preparation. Develop methods and outlines for outreach.
   
3. Major Issues. Identify preliminary issues to explore through community outreach.
   
4. Public Outreach. Market the planning effort to increase awareness/participation; reach out to community members and stakeholders for input on focus topics.
   
5. Scope/Financing. Provide the Board of Supervisors with options for the planning scope and budget.
   
6. Recruitment. Recruit a consultant to implement the Board-approved scope.
   
7. Commencement. Begin the update and complete a draft document within four years.