BEFORE THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
REGARDING THE PROPOSED ADOPTION OF A NEW GENERAL PLAN
FOR THE UNINCORPORATED AREA OF THE COUNTY
AND NOTICE OF INTENT TO CERTIFY
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR THE GENERAL PLAN

(Este aviso contiene informacion importante sobre audiencias publicas que han sido programadas en materia del Plan General propuesto para el Condado de Riverside y una enmienda al Reglamento Numero 348, el Reglamento sobre el Uso del Tierra para el condado. Es posible que esta propuesta afecte su propiedad y su comunidad. Se puede adquirir una copia de este aviso en espanol llamando al 1-///-///-////o mediante el sitio de web http:/www. Rcip.org/espanol.)

PUBLIC HEARINGS have been scheduled for March 10, 11, and 13 before the Riverside County Board of Supervisors regarding the proposed adoption of a new General Plan [Comprehensive General Plan Amendment (CGPA) No. 618] for all of the unincorporated area of Riverside County. A list of the times and subject matter to be considered during each day of the hearings is provided on Page 2 of this notice. The Planning Department of the Riverside County Transportation and Land Management Agency has determined that adoption of the new General Plan will have a significant effect on the environment, and has consequently directed the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR No. 441).

The purpose of the General Plan is to provide a comprehensive guide for future public and private land development activities. The new General Plan contains these seven elements, or chapters: Land Use, Circulation, Housing, Safety, Noise, Multipurpose Open Space, and Air Quality. The General Plan Housing Element was adopted in December 2001, and no further changes are currently proposed as the Housing Element adopted in 2001 is consistent with and will be a part of the proposed new General Plan.

EIR No. 441 discusses the impacts of the new General Plan on the environment. Based on the findings of EIR No. 441, the Planning Department of the Riverside County Transportation and Land Management Agency has determined that the proposed project will have significant impacts upon land use, agriculture, aesthetics/visual resources, air quality, biological resources, transportation and circulation, and water resources, which will be only partially avoided or lessened by the mitigation measures specified in EIR No. 441. Additionally, EIR No. 441 identified measures to mitigate the projects potentially significant impacts on cultural resources, energy, flood and dam inundation hazards, geology and soils, noise, parks and recreation, and public services to a less than significant level. EIR No. 441 also addressed the impacts of the proposed project on population and housing, hazardous materials, and mineral resources, and determined that these impacts were less than significant.

The Board of Supervisors will consider EIR No. 441 in conjunction with its consideration of the proposed project at the public hearings referenced herein. Any person wishing to testify in support of, or in opposition to, the proposed new General Plan, may do so in writing prior to the public hearings, or may appear and be heard at the location and times stated in this notice. All comments received prior to the public hearings will be submitted to the Board of Supervisors, and the Board of Supervisors will consider such comments, in addition to any oral testimony, before taking action to adopt the new General Plan. If you challenge the new General Plan or associated EIR No. 441 in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearings described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the Board of Supervisors at, or prior to, the public hearings. Please send all written correspondence to the following address: RCIP/General Plan, Riverside County Transportation and Land Management Agency, P.O. Box 1409, Riverside, CA 92502-1409.

Be advised that, as a result of the public hearings and comment, the Board of Supervisors may amend in whole or in part, the proposed new General Plan, and/or the environmental documents associated therewith. Accordingly, the proposed new General Plan may be changed in a way other than that specifically proposed. Additionally, County staff may recommend changes to the new General Plan prior to, or at, the public hearings referenced above, which may include, but are not limited to, changes recommended in response to public and Planning Commission comments received prior to the public hearings.

Riverside Countys proposed new General Plan would completely supersede the Countys existing General Plan in its entirety (The existing General Plan was adopted in 1984, and was amended in subsequent years to include 12 Community Plans, and numerous other policy and land use amendments). At the hearings, the Board of Supervisors will also consider a proposal to amend Riverside County Ordinance No. 348 to adopt a map defining new boundaries, only, for zoning districts (but not specifying any zoning on individual parcels) in Riverside County.

The General Plan will establish new mapped land use designations for all parcels in the unincorporated area. The new land use designations and the General Plan policies will serve as a guide for the types, densities/intensities, and locations of future residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, open space, and public facility uses and other land uses. Although General Plan land use designations will be adopted on a parcel-specific basis at this time, parcel-specific zoning will not be considered for change now. However, state law requires zoning to be brought into consistency with the Countys new General Plan following its adoption. Therefore, following the adoption of the new General Plan, the County intends to undertake, through additional public hearings, a program to rezone parcels in the unincorporated area, as needed, in order to ensure that all of the Countys zoning is brought into conformity with the new General Plan. Therefore, even though no zone changes are proposed at this time as part of the adoption of the new General Plan, the plans land use designations and policies will be used as a guide for the Countys future zoning decisions on individual properties.

The proposed new General Plan is one component of the Riverside County Integrated Project (RCIP), an integrated planning process that also includes a proposed Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) and a proposed transportation corridor plan (Community and Environmental Transportation Acceptability Process - CETAP) for Western Riverside County. The MSHCP and CETAP plans will not be considered at the public hearings that are the subject of this notice. Public hearings will be scheduled regarding the MSHCP and CETAP later this year.

SCHEDULE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS
BEFORE THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
REGARDING THE COUNTYS PROPOSED NEW GENERAL PLAN (CGPA NO. 618)
AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT NO. 441:

For additional information about the proposed new General Plan, associated EIR No.441, and the other components of the RCIP, click here to view the text and maps of the proposed new General Plan on-line, or contact the RCIP planning team by telephone at /-///-///-//// for recorded responses to typical questions, or, from Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Pacific Standard Time, to get further assistance from a planning team member.

You can also view hard copies of the new General Plan and associated EIR No. 441 at the public libraries listed below, or at the following offices of the Riverside County Planning Department: in Riverside, at 4080 Lemon Street, on both the 2nd and 9th floors; in Indio, at 82-675 Highway 111, Room 209; and in Murrieta, at 39493 Los Alamos Road.

Documents referenced in the EIR are available for review only at the Riverside office located at 4080 Lemon Street, 9th Floor, referenced above.

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