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The Marin Countywide Plan is the County's long range guide for use of
land and protection of natural resources. The Plan sets forth policies and programs to be used by the
public, planning staff, and decision makers when reviewing and analyzing proposed development. The
Plan strives to balance current and future needs for urban, rural and natural uses of Marin's 520 square
miles of land through the beginning of the 21st century. The first Countywide Plan was adopted by the
Board of Supervisors in 1973 and updated in 1994. After several years of community participation and public hearings, the Plan was revised and upated by the Board of Supervisor's on November 6, 2007.
The Plan provides specific policy direction for land in unincorporated
areas and general guidelines for the cities and towns of Marin. The Plan goes beyond a typical General
Plan in that it is truly comprehensive including discussion of issues in the incorporated cities. The
Countywide Plan has eleven chapters or elements. State Law requires some elements while the County has
adopted additional elements on topics of special interest and concern. The elements are:
You may view the executive summary of any of the elements by clicking on the element you wish to view or click on Goals of the Plan to view the overall guiding premise of the Plan. The entire General Plan is now available online. Please note that modifications to the General Plan may have occurred since the publication of this document. Contact the Marin County Community Development Agency for modifications since 1994.
The Countywide Plan (General Plan) Update
The Community Development Agency is currently in the process of updating the 1994 Countywide Plan, which was first created in 1973 and revised in 1982. In addition to specifically addressing land use issues in the unincorporated areas of Marin County, the Countywide Plan represents the County's position on issues of inter-jurisdictional and regional concern. Historically, the Countywide Plan has been updated approximately every ten years. The Countywide Plan was last updated in 1994.
The Countywide Plan Update is expected to be a four-year process that will be completed in 2004. We are currently in the second phase of this process, which is the preparation phase for the update. Background reports are being prepared to identify existing environmental conditions, and to make policy recommendations based upon new trends, issues and Federal or State law since the update to the last Countywide Plan in 1994. The background reports for air quality, noise, biology, congestion management, flooding, geology, transportation, trails, energy, Targeted industries, agriculture, community facilities,and archeology are available online.
The existing Plan, which has withstood the test of time, is considered to be an exceptional document by many. Consequently, the primary focus of the update will be to incorporate the concept of sustainability as the overarching theme of the Plan, using the Sustainability Guiding Principles developed by the Sustainability Working Group and to concentrate on issues not previously addressed by the Plan.
Copies of the Countywide Plan are available for review at Marin County Libraries. The Plan may also be reviewed or purchased at the Community Development Agency Public Counter. Cost of the complete plan is $35.00. Information on related supplemental documents and costs as well as mail order instructions is available from the Document Library.
For more information go to: Countywide Plan Update
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