Preparing for the Planning Process
To Plan or Not to Plan
Planning is not right for all communities at all times. While some communities call for endless planning studies in order to avoid making controversial decisions or taking action, other communities initiate new planning studies for the sole purpose of complying with a legal mandate or garnering free grant money. These conditions often result in a community going through the motions and producing a plan that ‘sits on the shelf.’ Old plans that were never implemented are a good indicator that the community undertook planning for the wrong reasons or failed to secure support for the planning initiative.
The plan commission is charged with the legislative function of preparing a community’s comprehensive plan. Because most plan commission members are not planners and have little knowledge of planning per se, guiding a planning process and preparing a comprehensive plan or other community plan can seem a daunting task. The big question that most plan commission members often ask is: how do we get started? What are the first steps in preparing a plan?
Determining the Need for Planning
The first step in initiating a new planning project is to identify your community’s need for planning. There are three major reasons communities plan. The first and primary reason is to address issues of local concern. For example, a community may be struggling to site a new power line, control the loss of farmland, or prevent haphazard development. Planning enables communities to step back, examine local issues and alternatives, and devise a plan of action to guide local decision-making.
Another reason for planning is to update outdated or inconsistent plans. Planning documents can and do become out-of-date. A community’s vision, goals, objectives and policies are likely to evolve as social, economic, technological and environmental conditions change. The factual content of a plan, such as current and projected population may also need to be updated on a fairly regular basis. Communities should review their plans on an annual basis and make substantive updates at least once every five or ten years as conditions warrant.
Finally, legal requirements are a motivating factor for many communities to plan. State statutes related to planning and land use regulation are updated regularly.
