General Plan

About Our General Plan

Every California city must adopt a comprehensive, long term General Plan. The General Plan must cover a local jurisdiction’s entire planning area and address the broad range of issues associated with the city’s development. The General Plan is the city’s constitution or blueprint for its long range physical development.

The City of Chino Hills General Plan is the master plan for the physical development of the community and is comprised of 8 elements: 

Land Use
Circulation
Housing
Conservation
Safety
Parks, Recreation and Open Space
Noise
Economic Development

The General Plan establishes goals and objectives to guide decision-making by City officials and staff. It also identifies land use designations, including the maximum density allowed, for all property within the City.

The most current complete General Plan document is available below.

City of Chino Hills - General Plan (2015 Update (PDF) 

General Plan 2023 Update

The General Plan is based on the community's vision for the future. From the time of its incorporation, Chino Hills has envisioned itself as a community with a high quality of life, surrounded by hillsides. The General Plan 2023 Update will refine the City's vision with input from the public to maintain the City's high quality of life and meet the challenges of today.

A major reason for the General Plan 2023 Update is to revise the Land Use Element of the General Plan and related documents to accommodate land use changes promulgated by the Chino Hills 2021-2029 Housing Element, adopted August 16, 2022. As required by State law, the Housing Element identifies sites for future housing development to meet the State mandated fair share of regional housing needs.  

The General Plan 2023 Update, also incorporates changes required by other State laws, including Senate Bill (SB) 379, Assembly Bill (AB) 2140, SB 1241, SB 99, AB 747 and AB 1409. These State laws require the General Plan Safety Element to address wildland and urban fire hazards, flood hazards, climate change adaptation and resiliency strategies, and emergency evacuation routes.

General Plan 2023 Update Schedule

The General Plan 2023 Update started in Fall 2021 with the collection of baseline data. It will include preparation of technical studies related to Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas, Geologic Conditions, Noise, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT), and Traffic. An environmental impact report (EIR), as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and CEQA Guidelines, will also be prepared to assess the potential environmental impacts of General Plan implementation. 

Completion of the General Plan 2023 Update is expected in early 2024. 

General Plan 2023 Update Public Input

Public input is an essential part of the General Plan 2023 Update process. The City has, and will continue to, solicit community input throughout the General Plan update and adoption process. Community surveys, workshops, and press releases are some of the key methods applied for obtaining public comments.

Community Surveys

To date, the City has conducted two community surveys to obtain public responses on the following General Plan aspects: Vision and Environmental Justice.

Vision: Community Development Department posted an online survey requesting members of the public to review each of the existing General Plan Vision Statements and to indicate whether the statement:

  • Is still applicable
  • Is no longer relevant
  • Needs to be updated, and if so, suggested updates.

The survey was posted on the City website from February 22, 2022, to April 10, 2022. A total of 177 responses were received. The majority of survey respondents indicated that the Vision Statements are still relevant. 

However, for Vision Statement No. 6: A Chino Hills that plans for its State-mandated allocation of housing units under the Regional Housing Needs Assessment, only 47% of the survey respondents found this statement still relevant. Comments made in response to statement No. 6 include:

  • The city has enough housing we can't afford to keep building more housing developments regardless of the state-mandated allocation. 
  • Too much building low income.
  • This needs to be fought. The state's one-size-fits-all approach will destroy the city.
  • Chino Hills needs to reject state mandates in court.
  • Do not give in to State.  Keep Chino Hills as a family community.
  • Chino Hills needs to fight for its original plan. 
  • Chino Hills should not allow the allocation of affordable housing.
  • We should reject this mandate. 
  • Housing update is allowing more high density housing than needed.
  • Chino Hills needs more new homes. 
  • Please make housing affordable but do not overbuild.
  • We have too many apartments and it’s changing the beauty of Chino Hills.

 A full set of the Vision survey responses and comments can be viewed at the link below.

Vision statement survey responses

Environmental Justice: Government Code Section 65302 requires that General Plans include either an Environmental Justice element or related goals, policies, and objectives integrated into other elements, that identify any disadvantaged communities within the Planning Area, and provide policies to reduce the unique or compounded health risks facing those communities. Although Chino Hills does not have a “disadvantaged community” (DAC) as defined by the California Health and Safety Code, an Environmental Justice assessment is included as part of the General Plan 2023 Update. The assessment included a survey, workshop, baseline study, analysis and recommended General Plan policies. 

The Environmental Justice survey was conducted from October 1, 2022 through December 2, 2022, and was available to the community on-line and during the November 10, 2022 General Plan Workshop. (See General Plan Workshops, below.) A total of 114 responses to the Environmental Justice survey were received.  Issues of concern addressed by the survey respondents included: unsafe or limited walking and biking conditions; unsafe or unaffordable housing; air pollution; and cost of healthy foods. 

A full set of the Environmental Justice survey responses and comments can be viewed at the link below.

Environmental Justice Survey

Workshops

To date, the City has conducted five workshops related to the General Plan 2023 Update. These include:

  • February 1, 2022 – General Plan Vision Statements: held at the City of Chino Hills Council Chambers during the Planning Commission meeting.
  • May 17, 2022 -  General Plan Vision Statements and Vision Survey Results: held at the City of Chino Hills Council Chambers during the Planning Commission meeting.
  • July 5, 2022 - General Plan Land Use Element Preliminary Review: held at the City of Chino Hills Council Chambers during the Planning Commission meeting.
  • July 5, 2022 - General Plan Land Use Element Preliminary Review: held at the City of Chino Hills Council Chambers during the Planning Commission meeting.
  • November 10, 2022 – General Plan 2023 Update “Planning For Our Future:” held at the McCoy Barn.

To date, to promote the General Plan 2023 Update and its surveys and workshops, the following press releases were provided to the Public:

PR22-015 City General Plan Update Community Surveys

PR 22-070 General Plan Environmental Justice Survey

PR22-075 General Plan Workshop November 10

General Plan 2023 Update Baseline Data

As baseline data related to the General Plan 2023 Update, it will be posted on this webpage for convenient public access.

Baseline Traffic Data

General Plan 2015

The City of Chino Hills most recently completed a Comprehensive Update to the General Plan that was adopted February 2015. The Update consists of the comprehensive update of the General Plan Land Use Map and six of the City’s General Plan elements: Land Use, Circulation, Conservation, Safety, Noise, and Economic Development. The General Plan Land Use Map is available below. 

General Plan 2015 Land Use Map - 24 by 36 (PDF)

General Plan 2015 Land Use Map – 8.5 by 11 (PDF)

The Update is the first comprehensive update since the City’s founding General Plan was adopted in 1994. Consistent with the existing General Plan, the Update seeks to maintain the high quality of life in Chino Hills. The Update focuses on the following key objectives:

  • Compliance with applicable federal, state, and regional policies.
  • Update baseline information relative to land use, geology, biological resources, cultural resources, vehicular traffic and infrastructure, noise, and air quality.
  • Provide a General Plan that is easy to use.
  • Provide a General Plan that looks forward to the next twenty years.

The current Housing Element was adopted February 24, 2015, and is formatted and  included in the updated General Plan document. 

The Parks, Recreation and Open Space Element was updated in 2008, and is available below as a separate document. 

City of Chino Hills Parks, Recreation and Open Space Element (2008) (PDF) 

General Plan 2015 Final EIR

The Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the City of Chino Hills General Plan Update incorporates the Draft EIR. It includes all Appendices to the Draft EIR.

The Final EIR also includes Attachment A, which consists of:

  • Comments received on the Draft EIR;
  • Responses of the City, as Lead Agency, to significant environmental points raised in the review and consultation process.

The Final EIR also includes Attachment B which contains the Mitigation Monitoring Program (MMP) for the City of Chino Hills General Plan Update.

The Final EIR and all Appendices and Attachments are available below:

Final Program EIR for the City of Chino Hills (PDF)

2015 General Plan (this is the same link as above)

EIR Appendices (PDF)

Attachment A – Comments and Responses to Comments on the Draft EIR (PDF)

Attachment B – Mitigation Monitoring Program (MMP) (PDF)

Measure U (Ordinance No. 123) - Residential Density Increase Limitations (can we give add a summary of this?)

Measure U (Ordinance Number 123) - Residential Density Increase Limitations (PDF)

Policies for the Southeast Area - Zoned 1DU/40AC

The General Plan Land Use Element establishes special policies for the Southeast Area of the City of Chino Hills. The policies include:

Goal LU-1: Protect Chino Hills’ Natural Environment.

Policy LU-1.1: Preserve Chino Hills’ Rural Character by Limiting Intrusion of Development into Natural Open Spaces.

Action LU-1.1.17: For the southeastern portion of the City designated with an asterisk as "*40 ac. min. lot size" in the City’s Zoning Map dated January 14, 2013, as shown in Figure 3-2 of the General Plan Update EIR, retain the City’s General Plan policies and statements adopted and in effect prior to this General Plan Update. The existing designations for this southeastern portion remain unchanged by this General Plan Update and the Zoning Map Amendment.

These policies are recorded in the City Zoning Map and in the Minutes from the City of Chino Hills Council meeting of February 24, 2015, and the Minutes from the City of Chino Hills Planning Commission meeting of July 7, 2015.

Zoning Map with 40 AC Minimum Area Shown (PDF)

City Council Minutes from February 24, 2015 (PDF)

Planning Commission Minutes from July 7, 2015 (PDF)