San Andreas, CA…Last night the San Andreas Town Hall was filled with a good sized crowd that weighed in on the now almost decade long General Plan update process. The Draft Plan was released on December 18, 2014. During the following 90 review and comment period there were over 400 comment letters submitted totaling over 1000 pages for review. The planning commission is scheduled to start the detailed review process July 9th. Planning Director, Peter Mauer at the start of last night’s meeting gave an update on the process. One of the biggest items items of contention during the Draft Plan comment phase was on the inclusion of the Community Plans in the General Plan. In some instances local community members had spend hundreds of hours working on their visions for their communities. Direction was given to include the Community Plans in the General Plan.

Lack of a General Plan has made it tough for especially large projects to go forward. It left them vulnerable to lawsuits based on a lack of or an inadequate general plan. Castle & Cook who has invested over $120 Million dollars in the Copperopolis area has been one of the hardest hit in the General Plan update process. Lack of clear legal footing has delayed the start of several of their projects.

Planning Director, Peter Mauer has received high marks from a good cross section of those involved. The General Plan update process now seems back on track to completion.