General Plan

Only areas below are considered part of the General Plan.

What is a General Plan

A general plan is a set of long-term goals and policies that decision makers will use to guide growth and development in the City of Menifee for the next several decades. City councils, planning commissions, and staff use the goals and policies of the general plan as a basis on which to make their land use decisions. General plans address a variety of issues, including
  • Land use
  • Housing
  • Economic development
  • Community design
  • Transportation
  • Open space
  • Parks and recreation
  • Infrastructure
  • Natural resources
  • Safety
  • Noise
California state law requires each city and county to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan; the adoption of a general plan is also a condition of incorporation. The Menifee General Plan consists of 4 primary components:
  • Vision and Values
  • General Plan Elements (goals and policies)
  • Implementation Actions
  • Environmental Impact Report (including technical studies)

Reading the General Plan

How to read the City of Menifee's General Plan, it is very common, and quite easy, to confuse the meaning of the myriad of terms used in developing a general plan. The primary terms- Vision, Values, Goals, Policies, and Implementation Actions- all have specific definitions, but are not always applied correctly. To avoid confusion and better clarify how the components of the Menifee General Plan will operate, please review the following definitions.

Community Vision & Values

The City of Menifee General Plan Vision 2030 describes the desired, positive future of the City by conceiving important desired characteristics. The vision provides a picture of how growth should occur in Menifee over time-but it does not mandate how much growth should be accommodated. The Community Values express what really matters to the community the beliefs about basic considerations that should apply to whatever the city does. Examples of values that are important to Menifee include: small town rural character, balanced growth, circulation, natural resources, etc. These values, along with others identified by the Planning Commission and City Council, are the underpinning of the General Plan's goals and policies.

General Plan Elements

General Plans are required to include 7 elements (Land Use, Housing, Circulation, Noise, Safety, Open Space, and Conservation). The organization of these 7 elements, and any optional elements, are determined by the local jurisdiction. The General Plan is required to be comprehensive in nature and internally consistent. Menifee's General Plan is made up of 8 elements: Land Use, Housing, Circulation, Open Space, and Conservation (the combination of 2 mandatory elements), Community Design (optional), Economic Development (optional), Safety, and Noise. Menifee's General Plan is made up of the following elements:
Each general plan element has a supplemental, stand-alone background document (with definitions) to support its goals and policies. The background documents provide an additional level of detail on the topics covered in the general plan elements and are summaries derived from detailed technical studies prepared in conjunction with the General Plan Elements and Environmental Impact Report. The background documents and definitions will not be adopted as part of the general plan and any changes to the background documents or definitions will not require a general plan amendment. The background documents (and any related background exhibits) are available via a web-link on each general plan element webpage.

Implementing the General Plan

General Plan Implementation Actions have been developed for the city to carry out the goals and policies identified in the General Plan. This stand-alone document was developed concurrently with the 2013 General Plan but is not adopted as a part of the General Plan. The implementation actions document is intended to be used as a working tool by each department and since it is maintained outside of the plan, it provides flexibility for the city to prioritize and amend strategies as needed and does not require a General Plan amendment to update. The strategies serve to prioritize activities the city should initiate or maintain to ensure the vision of the General Plan is achieved.