The background
Updating the plan began in 2023, with the goal of creating a tool city leaders and administration could reference when looking at future planning and development, Senior Planner Samuel Haas said.
“We don’t want the comp plan to tell us what to do,” Haas said. “We want it to help inform our decisions.”
Through the efforts from planning consulting firm Freese and Nichols, the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee and city staff, the plan was first presented to City Council on March 19.
The details
The plan is divided into four chapters, including the community snapshot, focus area and engagement, land use and economic strategy, and appendices.
As part of the plan, the Future Land Use Map was updated to include more generalized zoning that allows a broader view of where developments are throughout the city, Haas said.
The new categories within the map include:
- Main Street
- Rural living
- Complete neighborhood
- Local corridor
- Regional corridor
- Mixed use center
- Industrial
- Public use
- Development deferment
These broader categories do not change the zoning of any part of the city, serving as a guiding map solely. The full map can be found here.
The plan is not legally binding, and can be amended and changed over time to meet the needs of the city, Freese and Nichols representatives said.
Additional information on city long-term planning can be found here.
