Local Comprehensive Plan Survey&

Content Review Summary

Board of Directors

March 6, 2008

Survey of Local Planning Documents

Purpose: To gather all local planning documents published within MPO To compile a regional GIS database of water and sewer lines To gain an understanding of local issues, strengths, challenges

Survey: Administered to 81 local jurisdictions May 18, 2007 to July 20, 2007 75% of jurisdictions responded Three main survey questions:

What is your most current comprehensive plan? Do you have any other planning related documents? Do you have any GIS data from these plan documents?

Survey Data Product

Updated the regional inventory of comprehensive plan documents in our resource center

Compiled a water and sewer regional GIS dataset Updated regional adopted land use GIS dataset Collected additional planning documents

Purpose of Content Analysis

To identify common concerns throughout the Region To evaluate differing community needs To gather local input at every stage of the planning process

Local Comprehensive Plan Adoption Year

Local Comprehensive Plan Horizon Year

Major Themes & Subjects

Transportation & Traffic (System Capacity, Aging Facility) Existing Land Use (Trends, Planning Principles) Goals & Objectives Future Proposed Land Use Economic Development (Trends, Vitality) Plan Implementation (Guidelines, Strategy) Demographics (Trends) Housing (Quality, Value) Community Facilities & Services (Capacity, Maintenance)

Common Strengths

Character & Identity Residential Real Estate (Diversity, Quality) Growth (Population, Physical) Parks & Recreation (Opportunity) Land Use (Mixed Use, Redevelopment) Education (Quality Schools, Access to Higher Education)

Common Challenges

Land Use & Zoning Issues (Build Out, Land Locked, Redevelopment)

Economy (Stagnant Growth) Character, Identity, Image (Preserving Community Character) Transportation (Congestion, Facility Maintenance) Housing (Aging Stocks, Improving Quality) Open Space, Parks & Recreation (Maintenance, Quality) Facilities and Service Provision (Maintenance) Environment (Preserving Resources) Downtowns (Creating positive identity, Preserving Downtown)

Projections & Service Boundaries

Of the 39 plans that were analyzed, 24 have projections Projection Types

Population (22) Acreage Needs/Land Absorption (7) School Enrollment (4) Housing/Households (4) Services/Capacity (3) Employment (2) Development (2)

Urban Service Boundary About 20% of all plans include an urban service area

Summary

Most local jurisdictions have working comprehensive plans

Some plan elements are missing or outdated Many communities throughout the Region share

common challenges and strengths The strengths of some places are challenges in other

places, and visa versa Land Use and Providing Services are two of the main

concerns throughout the Region