Folendorf Highlights Challenges Facing Rural Counties At State Capitol
Sacramento, CA — The difficulties rural cities and counties face when developing General Plans, a long-term roadmap for growth and development, was the focus of a presentation that Calaveras Supervisor Amanda Folendorf made at the state capitol in Sacramento on Wednesday.
She was invited to be a panelist who spoke at the Assembly Local Government Committee, during a conversation about the purpose, and challenges, related to General Plan creation.
All 482 cities and 58 counties are required to develop a General Plan. It often requires the hiring of extra consultants and can span 1,000s of pages and several years to develop. It is especially tasking for smaller communities with limited staff.
Folendorf, the former Mayor of Angels Camp, and a supervisor in her second term, noted that Calaveras County’s most recent General Plan update took five years to complete, and it was 22 years since the previous update.
It was overseen by the Calaveras Planning Department, but outside expertise was brought in along the way. Delays included just needing to keep up with regular county business and unexpected challenges like the Butte Fire recovery. There were also changing state mandates and directives that had to be incorporated.
Folendorf said, “It is a Balancing act for small local jurisdictions.”
The county spent just under a million dollars developing the plan.
She added that larger jurisdictions can put in place fees to help cover the costs of doing a General Plan update, but that is unrealistic for smaller communities.
Folendorf lobbied for additional funding to meet state requirements, more local authority over land use, additional money for state infrastructure needs, and relaxed timelines.
Her main takeaways were for state leaders to understand and address the challenges, to highlight the need for infrastructure dollars, and to request less regulatory burdens.
On the issue of housing infrastructure, she spoke about the importance of having places for local firefighters and teachers to live. However, often times a housing project may be held up because of multimillion infrastructure needs by water districts, which is something the county does not oversee.
Overall, she concluded, “We need more tools in the toolbox.”
Democrat Juan Carrillo, the Chairman of the Committee, from Palmdale, responded, “I really appreciate the comments you made about rural communities. I believe that it is something we need to keep working harder on in this state.”
He added that grant applications make it harder for rural areas to compete for the limited dollars available.
Carrillo concluded, “Thank you for being here. I appreciate your time.”
