Modesto General Plan

The plan document

Read Modesto's official General Plan: Modesto General Plan → · 2008-10 (UAGP); current chapters amended March 2019 · March 2019 (Chapters; GPA-10-001). Housing Element adopted December 5, 2023 and certified by HCD April 10, 2024.

Elements · 7 Verifier-checked summaries

• Modesto Urban Area General Plan — Chapter III, Community Development Policies (Land Use), March 2019 → Land Use March 2019

  Chapter III (Community Development Policies), dated March 2019, is the Land Use element and complies with Government Code Section 65302(a). It establishes land uses across three areas defined in Chapter II: Downtown Area, Baseline Developed Area, and Planned Urbanizing Area, presented on the Land Use Diagram (Figure III-1). Table III-1 designations include Residential (Low-Density R1 up to 7.5 du/gross acre; Medium-Density R2 10.9-14.5 du; Medium-High-Density R3 21.8-29.0 du), Mixed Use, Commercial, Industrial, Downtown, Village Residential, Business-Commercial-Residential, Regional Commercial, Business Park, and Open Space. Goals include III.A Zoning Consistency (rezonings of five acres or more inconsistent with a designation require a General Plan amendment), III.B Quality of Life (Policy III.B.1 infill incentives), and III.C Neighborhoods (Policy III.C.1 complete neighborhoods with transit within a half-mile).

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• City of Modesto 6th Cycle Housing Element 2023-2031 (Adopted) → Housing Adopted December 5, 2023; HCD found in substantial compliance April 10, 2024

  The adopted 6th Cycle Housing Element covers the 2023-2031 planning period and sets goals, policies, and implementation programs for preservation, conservation, improvement, and production of housing. Its five housing goals are: Goal 1, provide adequate residential sites and encourage a variety of housing types (Policy 1.3 facilitates accessory dwelling units); Goal 2, provide a broad range of housing for all income levels (Policy 2.1 supplies below market-rate housing for extremely low-, very low-, low-, and moderate-income households); Goal 3, reduce or remove governmental constraints; Goal 4, maintain and conserve the existing housing stock; and Goal 5, affirmatively further fair housing consistent with the Fair Housing Act. Modesto's Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) for the cycle is 11,248 total units, part of the Stanislaus County total of 34,344 units.

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• Modesto Urban Area General Plan — Chapter VII, Environmental Resources, Open Space and Conservation (Conservation), March 2019 → Conservation March 2019

  Chapter VII (Environmental Resources, Open Space and Conservation), dated March 2019, carries the Conservation element, addressing geology and soils, agriculture, wildlife and other natural resources, archaeological and cultural resources, air quality, and energy conservation. It notes Modesto sits amid rich Central Valley agricultural land growing fruits and nuts, with almonds a major share, and that almost all farmland in the General Plan Area is rated by the California Department of Conservation as Prime or of Statewide Importance. The General Agriculture Resource Goal is to minimize loss of agricultural land through relatively compact, reasonably high-density development. Planned Urbanizing Area agriculture policies bar annexing agricultural land unless consistent urban development is approved, support continuing agricultural uses until urbanization is imminent, and encourage the County to retain surrounding agricultural uses. The chapter also identifies groundwater recharge and farmland as managed-production resources and steps to stabilize groundwater basins.

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• Modesto Urban Area General Plan — Chapter VII, Environmental Resources, Open Space and Conservation (Open Space), March 2019 → Open Space March 2019

  Chapter VII houses the Open Space element through its Local Open Space Plan, mandated by the State Government Code. It addresses the six statutory open space categories: preservation of natural resources, public health and safety, managed production of resources, outdoor recreation, buffer zones to military activities, and protection of places, features, and objects. For natural-resource preservation, it identifies three waterways in the Modesto Urban Area — the Stanislaus River, Tuolumne River, and Dry Creek — all proposed to be acquired and maintained as Regional Parks, with detailed Comprehensive Planning District policies in Chapter III. Public health and safety open space covers earthquake fault zones, unstable soils, floodplains, watersheds, and high fire-risk areas. Managed production covers agricultural and rangelands; outdoor recreation covers parks and river access, with Section VI-D addressing the neighborhood and community park system.

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• Modesto Urban Area General Plan — Chapter VII, Environmental Resources, Open Space and Conservation (Noise), March 2019 → Noise March 2019

  Section G of Chapter VII is the Noise element, required by Government Code Section 65302(f), guiding land use patterns that minimize residents' exposure to excessive noise. Sound is measured in A-weighted decibels (dBA), and Table VII-2 uses the community noise equivalent level (CNEL) to classify noise as normally acceptable, conditionally acceptable, normally unacceptable, or clearly unacceptable by land use category. Policies require new residential construction within the 65 dBA contours (per the General Plan Master EIR) to reduce interior noise to 45 dB. Table VII-3 sets non-transportation noise exposure thresholds: citywide excluding Downtown, daytime hourly Leq 55 dBA / maximum 75 dBA and nighttime 45 / 65 dBA; Downtown, daytime 60 / 80 dBA and nighttime 50 / 70 dBA. Noise-sensitive uses should not see increases exceeding 3 dBA where a threshold would be exceeded, or 5 dBA where levels remain acceptable.

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• Modesto Urban Area General Plan — Chapter VII, Environmental Resources, Open Space and Conservation (Public Safety), March 2019 → Safety March 2019

  Sections J through M of Chapter VII form the Safety element, addressing seismic and geologic hazards, flood hazards, fire hazards, and miscellaneous issues including landslides, erosion, expansive soils, subsidence, and evacuation routes. The City has adopted a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) whose top five natural hazards for Stanislaus County are earthquake, flood, dam failure, wildfire, and landslide; policies require the LHMP be monitored, evaluated, and updated every three years. The plan notes no known geologic faults or Alquist-Priolo Special Studies Zones in Modesto, but the Uniform Building Code places all of California in Seismic Risk Zone 3, requiring new structures to resist collapse in an intensity 8.0 earthquake under the current California Building Code. Flooding is limited to property along Dry Creek and the Stanislaus and Tuolumne Rivers; new urban development is approved only where protected from the 200-year flood and compliant with the City's Floodplain Management Ordinance (Title 9, Chapter 4).

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• Modesto Urban Area General Plan — Chapter III, Community Development Policies (Environmental Justice integrated in Land Use), March 2019 → Environmental Justice March 2019

  Environmental Justice is integrated into the Land Use chapter (Chapter III, Community Development Policies, March 2019) rather than presented as a standalone element; numerous land use goals and policies carry an explicit "(environmental justice)" tag. Policy III.B.1 (Infill Incentives) promotes infill and redevelopment in existing urbanized areas to enhance community character, support transit use, promote non-motorized transportation, and increase housing diversity. Policy III.B.3 (Property Maintenance) encourages upgrading poorly-maintained properties. Goal III.C (Neighborhoods) prioritizes complete, compact neighborhoods with housing, jobs, shopping, and transit within walking distance, and makes access to healthy foods and grocery stores selling fresh fruits and vegetables a high priority. Policy III.C.1 (Complete Neighborhoods) requires a mix of affordable and market-rate housing, schools, parks, retail, civic facilities, and transit within a half-mile of all dwelling units. Policies III.C.2 and III.C.3 protect established neighborhoods and locate neighborhood shopping centers with full-service food stores.

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Element summaries are generated from the official document text and held unless every fact is grounded in the source. Links open the jurisdiction's own published documents.