- Where are we?
- Where do we want to be?
- How will we get there?
These
are the questions a comprehensive plan answers with its three major components:
the planning context or existing
conditions analysis; the community vision
and goals; and the implementation
plan.
The comprehensive
plan combines quantitative data with your community’s vision for itself to
guide physical, social, and economic change over the next 20-30 years. It facilitates
a community consensus-building process about your collective future, provides
the rational and legal basis for zoning and land subdivision decisions, and gives
your community access to state funding for improvements.
Where are we?
The
tool used to answer this question is the Community Needs and Opportunities
analysis. The planning team will collect and analyze data and maps to
understand land use, population, economic development conditions, housing,
natural and cultural resources, community facilities, transportation
facilities, intergovernmental coordination, and other areas that deserve
special attention in a community. This research will allow your community to
identify the issues that it needs to address and the opportunities on which it
can capitalize.
Where do we want
to be?
Through
design workshops and public meetings, your community will develop a shared
vision—the Community Goals report—and create character areas: focused areas of
planning, each with special conditions, qualities, and needs. These character
areas will define parts of the community to be enhanced or preserved, and they
will guide your zoning and land subdivision policies in the future. The major
tool that consolidates the community’s vision is the Future Development Map.
Along with the character areas, it will show a greenspace master plan,
transportation strategies, infrastructure boundaries and zones, physical
development patterns, and strategic partnering opportunities for community
programs.
How will we get
there?
The
final piece of the comprehensive plan, the Community Work Program, outlines
steps and strategies for achieving your community’s goals and implementing its
plans. The work plan will include a short term work plan, identifying priority
projects, potential collaborations, and funding strategies.
LEARN
MORE ABOUT COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING: