San Joaquin County's future is being debated ... and the next opportunity to have your voice heard is coming up tomorrow, Thursday, May 5.
That's when the San Joaquin County Planning Commission will hear a report on community meetings hosted throughout the county, as well as take comment from residents, regarding the future growth and development of the county as a whole.
"We had our third set of 14 meetings throughout the whole county," said Senior Planner Raymond Hoo of the county's Community Development Department.
Those just wrapped up and included a session in Escalon to take residents' comments on April 12, along with a session in Farmington on Monday, April 18.
"Thursday's meeting is really to give the Planning Commission the information we got from the public so the commission can make an informed decision," explained Hoo.
The meeting at the Public Health/Planning Auditorium at 1601 East Hazelton in Stockton is just the next step in what has been an extensive process for updating the county's general plan, Hoo added.
It started with basic information gathering, then a more detailed set of community meetings about a year and a half ago, culminating with one final set of community meetings this year.
"These were in regards to alternatives for land use and growth in the county," Hoo said of the final round. "All of the stages dealt with specific issues."
When the process started in 2008, it was to introduce county residents to the general plan update process and was very broad based, Hoo explained. Toward the end of 2009, residents were asked to provide information on what they felt the key issues facing the county were and what opportunities they wanted to see provided, with the third set dealing with the growth.
"We basically want to get an overall vision of what they (residents) see the county being in 20 years," Hoo said.
There are alternatives being presented to the planning commissioners for review and Hoo said residents will also have the chance to comment on them again as well.
Growth alternatives include a 'base case' scenario in which the current general plan would continue at the status quo; alternative A in which growth would occur in the unincorporated areas of the county such as Lockeford, Linden and Woodbridge; Alternative B with growth only in the incorporated cities, Stockton, Manteca, Escalon and the like; and alternative C, which would promote economic growth along the Highway 5 and 99 corridors with a limited amount of population growth.
"We will also ask what they like, what they don't like," Hoo said of offering the alternatives to the planners.
There will be time for residents to offer comment at the May 5 meeting as well, which begins at 6:30 p.m.
Hoo will introduce the item to the planning commission and representatives from the Sacramento-based planning consultant firm of Mintier-Harnish, which is working with the county on the general plan update, will also be on hand.
While Hoo said there is no specific time limit on completing the general plan update, they hope to offer a recommendation to the full San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors later this year.
That's when the San Joaquin County Planning Commission will hear a report on community meetings hosted throughout the county, as well as take comment from residents, regarding the future growth and development of the county as a whole.
"We had our third set of 14 meetings throughout the whole county," said Senior Planner Raymond Hoo of the county's Community Development Department.
Those just wrapped up and included a session in Escalon to take residents' comments on April 12, along with a session in Farmington on Monday, April 18.
"Thursday's meeting is really to give the Planning Commission the information we got from the public so the commission can make an informed decision," explained Hoo.
The meeting at the Public Health/Planning Auditorium at 1601 East Hazelton in Stockton is just the next step in what has been an extensive process for updating the county's general plan, Hoo added.
It started with basic information gathering, then a more detailed set of community meetings about a year and a half ago, culminating with one final set of community meetings this year.
"These were in regards to alternatives for land use and growth in the county," Hoo said of the final round. "All of the stages dealt with specific issues."
When the process started in 2008, it was to introduce county residents to the general plan update process and was very broad based, Hoo explained. Toward the end of 2009, residents were asked to provide information on what they felt the key issues facing the county were and what opportunities they wanted to see provided, with the third set dealing with the growth.
"We basically want to get an overall vision of what they (residents) see the county being in 20 years," Hoo said.
There are alternatives being presented to the planning commissioners for review and Hoo said residents will also have the chance to comment on them again as well.
Growth alternatives include a 'base case' scenario in which the current general plan would continue at the status quo; alternative A in which growth would occur in the unincorporated areas of the county such as Lockeford, Linden and Woodbridge; Alternative B with growth only in the incorporated cities, Stockton, Manteca, Escalon and the like; and alternative C, which would promote economic growth along the Highway 5 and 99 corridors with a limited amount of population growth.
"We will also ask what they like, what they don't like," Hoo said of offering the alternatives to the planners.
There will be time for residents to offer comment at the May 5 meeting as well, which begins at 6:30 p.m.
Hoo will introduce the item to the planning commission and representatives from the Sacramento-based planning consultant firm of Mintier-Harnish, which is working with the county on the general plan update, will also be on hand.
While Hoo said there is no specific time limit on completing the general plan update, they hope to offer a recommendation to the full San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors later this year.
