Solano County seeks panel members to help update General Plan

Article Last Updated: Wednesday, Nov 02, 2005 - 11:06:43 pm PST

County seeks panel members to help update General Plan

By Barry Eberling

FAIRFIELD - County supervisors are looking for citizens who are willing to spend three years helping to shape Solano County's future.

They are forming a 15-person citizens advisory committee to update the county General Plan. The General Plan sets a multi-year vision for transportation, land use, open space, health and safety, noise, conservation and other issues.

“It's often referred to as the Constitution,” planner Harry Engelbright said. “It's the document that sets the framework and direction for the county.”

Parts of the existing General Plan date back to the early 1970s and 1980s.

Committee members can expect to meet one or two times a month for two years. They are to meet several more times the third year. Meetings are to be held at the county government center in Fairfield.

The committee's recommendations will go to the county Planning Commission and ultimately to the Board of Supervisors.

Each of the five supervisors will appoint three members to the committee, plus an alternate. Applicants are to fill out an application that includes such questions as why they want to be on the committee.

Supervisors on Tuesday discussed the citizens advisory committee. The original idea was to have people representing certain segments of the community, such as farming, business and the environment. Supervisors decided to forgo having categories.

Supervisor John Silva doesn't want a committee made up only of experts on the General Plan subjects. It's important to have people who simply live here and work at such places as Travis Air Force Base or a department store, he said.

The county plans to put out advertisements for the committee. Appointees must be county residents. They don't have to live in the unincorporated, rural county, but can live in local cities.

Reach Barry Eberling at 425-4646 Ext. 232 or beberling@dailyrepublic.net.

How to apply

Applications will soon be available on the county Web site at www.co.solano.ca.us/. They can also be obtained by writing the county Department of Resource Management, 675 Texas St., Suite 5500, Fairfield, 94533.

For more information, contact Engelbright at 784-6765.