General Plan

General Plan Update

The City of Ventura launched the first phase to update its General Plan in November 2020. Visit www.planventura.com for the latest information, documents, and ways you can participate.

About the General Plan

The General Plan is the embodiment of the community’s vision for the future of Ventura. It is the City’s comprehensive framework of guiding policies on land use, housing, roads, recreation, historical and natural resources, balance of adequate water supply infrastructure, public safety services, and noise, and serves as a basis for decisions that affect all aspects of our everyday lives from where we live and work to how we move about. It is implemented by decisions that direct the allocation of public resources and that shape private development.

Current General Plan

The 2005 General Plan was adopted August 8, 2005 and evolved from the 2000 Ventura Vision strategies reflecting the planning objectives and smart growth principles of the community. The Vision strategies set the framework for the General Plan.

Comprehensive Plan

1989 Comprehensive Plan
Final EIR for the 1989 Comprehensive Plan
1989 Land Use Plan Map for Coastal Zone properties.

Historical Reference

As we are currently updating our General Plan, looking back to see how the City viewed the future can be helpful. Read the 1964 General Plan to see what the City thought Ventura would be like in 1990. While this plan is no longer valid, it is still a fascinating glimpse into the eyes of Ventura in decades past. Also, staff finds General Plans from this era to be much more straightforward, as they pre-date new State requirements that arguably make General Plans too long and too complicated to get through.