General Plan
Ross General Plan 2007- 2025
State law requires every city and county to have a general plan containing at least seven elements covering land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open space, public safety and noise. In June 2007, the Town Council adopted a new general plan to guide future development in Ross through 2025. Although the plan recognizes that some change is necessary, its underlying philosophy is that the existing character and design of Ross is to be protected and enhanced.
A steering committee of six Ross residents and a Town Council Member liaison developed the new general plan over a two and a half-year period. Residents who attended a 2005 community visioning event provided the foundation for the plan’s vision statement; others helped to shape the plan through comments made during the public review process. In preparing the general plan, the steering committee gathered information from residents and experts on many critical issues facing the town, weighed the pros and cons of policy alternatives, and edited and refined ideas until the final plan reflected the best thought of the committee. As a result of their hard work, the general plan is an elegant and highly readable document.
The Town Council relies on the policies and programs established in the general plan when setting priorities and determining actions to take on issues that come before the Council. In the past few months, the general plan has guided the creation of an advisory design review process, the adoption of additional secondhand smoke regulations, the formation of a street tree working group, and the initiation of a new downtown plan.
Printed copies of the Ross General Plan 2007-2025 are available for $25 at the Town Administration office. The complete on-line version of the plan can be downloaded here or if you prefer you may download the individual chapters below:
Part I - Our History and Where We Are Today
Part II - Our Relationship With the Natural Environment
Part III - Excellence of Design
Part IV - Assuring the Health and Safety of the Community
Part V - Easy and Safe Travel Throughout Ross
Part VI - The Future Use of Our Land