The general plan.

It doesn't sound like a sizzling romance novel or blockbuster movie.

But county officials swear it's the next big thing.

The county's general plan is the framework on which county regulations are built in regard to land use, development, traffic and the environment. Bureaucrats are now in the throes of a revision that is expected to take at least a couple more years.

Officials have put on a traveling roadshow to different parts of the county to hear from the public about the plan. On Wednesday, people packed the community meeting room of the Napa City-County Library for the only information-gathering meeting to be held in the city of Napa.

The crowd was a veritable who's who of people involved in county politics: Supervisors and county planning commissioners drifted from one group to the next as citizens sat in clusters, offering their preferences for what the county should try to preserve and promote.

The crowd included former Assembly candidate Pat Krueger, prominent advocates for wineries, agricultural interests, environmental concerns, members of the Napa Valley Land Stewards -- folks who would seem to have plenty of access to local leaders without turning out for Wheat Thins and designer water on a weeknight.

But there they were, getting their licks in.

County employees armed with marking pens stood next to easels that held flip charts, scribbling down page after page of ideas.

If there was one overriding theme to the comments, it was: Preserve the county's agricultural feel by limiting development and traffic. Since that is largely consistent with the way the county's been doing business in recent years, it doesn't require a radical change in direction.

But there were many conflicting messages, as well.

Several people mentioned the need for affordable housing, some offering a more nuanced notion of "labor force" housing -- which is to say housing only for teachers, farm laborers or law enforcement officers who work in the county.

Some wanted to limit county land use regulations.

More housing without expanding development? Deregulation while preserving our agricultural feel?

The county has its work cut out for it.

Biz beat

This week the federal agency known as the Small Business Administration announced that it will give Register Business Editor Jeannie Claire its 2005 Small Business Journalist of the Year award. Jeannie edits our business pages and is responsible for the monthly publication Napa Valley Business Times. She has kept the focus on small operators, from antique shops to zinfandel producers, in her pages and her "Business Buzz" column, which runs on Mondays.

In a hard-hitting exclusive interview, Jeannie told the Register: "It is certainly an honor to be recognized by the SBA. In a community of Napa's size, it's important to inform the public about what small businesses are doing and the economic impact they have."