In 2009, the City of Hemet organized a citizens committee to assist in the upgrade of the city’s general plan. The last amendment made to the general plan was in 1992.
What is a general plan?
A city’s general plan is one of the most important documents of the city. It is the city’s constitution. Every city has a general plan. This plan guides planners, developers, builders and leaders on the growth and land development of communities, for both the current period and the long term.
The General Plan is the foundation for establishing goals, purposes, zoning and activities allowed on each land parcel to provide compatibility and continuity to the entire region as well as each individual neighborhood- Wikepedia, 2009
Hemet General Plan
Without an updated general plan, builders, planners and leaders will have to rely on the last general plan which was updated in 1992.
That general plan was compatible with the residents and communities of 1992. The average age of the resident back then was close to 70 years old. Today in 2009, the average age of a San Jacinto Valley resident is 42 years old and most likely with a family. The Green Coalition has lobbied the GPAC to consider the growth in the last 10 years and the impacts of that growth in the environment. As such, the Green Coalition has encouraged the GPAC to make sustainability a cornerstone of the new general plan. Read the letter to the GPAC in September 2009.
September 21, 2009
The Honorable Members
Hemet General Plan Action Committee
Hemet, CA
Re: Sustainability in General Plan elements: Creating a sustainable community for the Hemet- San Jacinto Valley
Please accept our thanks for the great service you personally provided to our community. We are proud to belong to a community where fellow citizens like you donate their much-valued time, intelligence, and discretion in order to update a general plan that they believed would best benefit the citizens of Hemet.
Hemet is approaching its centennial. Through the last century, it has seen many transformations, from culture, demographics to form. Urban growth accelerated dramatically in Hemet within the last decade alone. The American Dream that promised life, liberty, and the pursuit of affordable, single-family housing and fresh open space is what Hemet offered to those who seek. But as the influx of new generations of home seekers increase, that dream for many, has been displaced by all too familiar trends that creep through small town America --Increased traffic, pollution, threat to open space, population density, waste proliferation and extended use of resources. Unless Hemet moves toward sustainable development, it may end up offering a lower quality of life for its citizens.
Sustainable development provides a framework under which communities can use resources efficiently, create efficient infrastructures, protect and enhance quality of life, and create new businesses to strengthen their local economies. A sustainable community is guided by a set of long-term goals and is committed to apply an overall philosophy of sustainability in all the elements of the general plan. Sustainable development policies, if included in the Hemet general plan can help us create a healthy community that can sustain our generation, as well as those that follow ours.
It is with these thoughts that we, from the Green Coalition of the San Jacinto Valley petition each member of the general plan action committee, as well members of the Hemet City Council, to adopt sustainability principles in each element of the general plan. We honorably submit for your review and consideration proposes language and concepts that can be included in the Hemet General Plan update.
