Communities vary considerably in the ways that they implement their plans. The recommendations of a small town, village or county might look very different from those of a city, village or urbanizing town or county. Just as planning efforts should be scaled to the community, plan implementation efforts should reflect the overall vision for the community, available resources, and political will to implement the plan.

The Plan Implementation Tools Glossary can be used by communities looking to identify potential plan implementation tools. Questions are also provided below to help you assess your community’s ability to implement each tool. After working through these questions, you should have a better idea of the human and financial costs associated with each tool, concerns regarding social or political support, and tradeoffs involved in selecting one tool over another.

1. Resources – Will the implementation strategy demand additional staff or funds? If so, what is the likelihood that staff or funds will be provided now and in the long-term?
2. Public Support – How is the implementation strategy perceived by the public? Was the public involved in selecting the strategy? Will they support the strategy through implementation?
3. Political Support – Who will be responsible for implementing the selected strategy? Were they involved in developing the strategy? Will they champion the selected strategy on to implementation?
4. Equity – How does the selected strategy affect various segments of the community (i.e. the general public, developers, interest groups, etc.)? Do the public benefits of implementing the strategy outweigh individual costs? Can the strategy be implemented in a way that it is fair and equitable to most people involved?
5. Administration – How difficult is it to manage, monitor and enforce the tool? What is a realistic timeframe for implementation given existing budget and staff constraints? How will the tool work with other existing or proposed tools?

 

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