DATE: March 17, 2026
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Steven E. White, Director
Department of Public Works and Planning
SUBJECT: 2025 General Plan Annual Progress Report
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Consider and adopt Resolution accepting the 2025 General Plan Annual Progress Report (APR) and authorize the Department of Public Works and Planning to submit the 2025 APR to the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI) and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will authorize staff from the Department of Public Works and Planning (Department) to submit the 2025 Annual Progress Report (APR) to the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI) and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). The 2025 APR summarizes the implementation of the policies and programs of all elements (including the Housing Element) of the General Plan during the 2025 calendar year. The 2025 APR is due to LCI and HCD by April 1, 2026.
This item comes to your Board with a unanimous recommendation for acceptance by the Planning Commission (Commission). This is a countywide item.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board may determine not to accept the APR and direct Department staff to modify the report with specific direction regarding those modifications and return it to your Board for reconsideration.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. Sufficient appropriations for the preparation of the 2025 APR and its agenda item are included in the Department of Public Works and Planning Org 4360 FY 2025-26 Adopted Budget.
DISCUSSION:
Government Code section 65300 et. Seq. requires that cities and counties prepare and adopt a comprehensive, long-term General Plan to guide the physical development of their jurisdictions. The Fresno County Board of Supervisors, on February 20, 2024 adopted a comprehensive review of the General Plan and update to the Zoning Ordinance which addresses clarity, current consistency and California regulations/legislation.
On August 19, 2025, the Board adopted the County's Sixth Cycle Housing Element. On September 24, 2025, HCD certified the County's Sixth Cycle Housing Element.
The LCI's General Plan Annual Progress Report Memorandum, last updated on January 16, 2026, is provided to assist local governments with the development of the APR and states that their guidance is intentionally general to allow maximum flexibility in the form and content of APRs. The LCI's General Plan Annual Progress Report Memorandum includes suggested content to be included in the APR, but states that each jurisdiction should determine what locally relevant issues are important to include in their respective APRs. Although the County need not follow the LCI's guidance as law, County staff did utilize the LCI's General Plan Annual Progress Report Memorandum as guidance in the preparation of the 2025 APR.
There are two appendices attached to the 2025 APR. Appendix A provides the status of General Plan program implementation, and Appendix B provides the status of Housing Element program implementation, including progress towards meeting the County's Sixth-Cycle Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) obligation.
The 2025 APR meets the statutory requirements of Government Code Section 65400 and those of Fresno County General Plan Program LU-H.A.
Planning Commission Hearing and Action
At the February 12, 2026 Planning Commission (Commission) hearing, one member of the public addressed the Commission on four items; (1) why the APR did not report on all the various documents associated with the General Plan, (2) why all goals and policies and a number of programs of the General Plan were not reported on, (3) requests a report on the update of the Kings River Regional Plan (KRRP) and implementation of Programs LU-C.A and Policy LU-E.25, (4) questioned the County's disinterest in implementing several programs.
In response to item No. 1, the LCI guidance document specifically states: "Each jurisdiction should determine what locally relevant issues are important to include in the General Plan APR." and LCI also provides a list of suggested content, which the staff used to complete the APR. The document before your Board includes the items that the County has historically reported to the state. The County has never received any comments, corrections or recommendations from either LCI or HCD regarding any prior APR submitted to the state.
In response to item No. 2, the County is not required to provide progress on all 129 Programs. The County, in the 2024 and 2025 APR, has provided a representation of the various programs in the General Plan. The programs listed include those that showed progress, those that did not require any action, and those that were not implemented. The County reported no progress on 20 programs (15.5%), 25 programs required no action (19.4%), and progress on 84 of the remaining programs (65.1%).
In response to item No. 3, Programs LU-C.A requires the County, as funding is available, to update the KRRP. Regarding Policy LU-E.25 the County did receive an application for a General Plan Amendment (GPA #584), but the application is currently on hold at the request of the applicant. During the reporting year 2025, no formal action was taken related to Policy LU-E.25 and no funding has been identified/appropriated to update the KRRP.
In response to item No. 4, the County continues to evaluate each program in the County's General Plan and to work with the appropriate responsible entities to identify obstacles in implementing each program. Obstacles that have prevented the implementation include a lack of funding sources, staffing, and competing demands. Additionally, some programs have been implemented, just not to the commenter's satisfaction. The County continues to ensure requirements mandated by the County, State, and Federal Governments. County staff will continue to evaluate programs to determine whether a Program is required and/or necessary and take appropriate action at that time.
Following the Commission's discussion, the Commission unanimously voted, eight to zero, to approve a resolution recommending that your Board accept the 2025 APR. The Commission also recommended that the comments from the public be relayed to your Board. The summary of the Commission’s February 12, 2026, action is included as Attachment A; the Commission’s staff report and the APR are included in Attachment B.
SUMMARY
Staff has determined that the 2025 APR satisfies the requirements of Government Code, Section 65400 regarding APR preparation and Fresno County General Plan Program LU-H.A to serve as mitigation monitoring under Public Resources Code Section 21081.6. The 2025 APR details the continued implementation of General Plan programs and Housing Element programs.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #9, August 19, 2025
BAI #13, March 25, 2025
BAI #11, March 19, 2024
BAI #6, February 20, 2024
BAI #15, March 28, 2023
BAI #16, March 22, 2022
BAI #10, March 23, 2021
BAI #15, November 24, 2020
BAI #16, June 4, 2019
BAI #39, May 8, 2018
BAI #49, June 6, 2017
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Attachments A - C
2025 APR Presentation
On file with Clerk - Resolution
CAO ANALYST:
Maria Valencia