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COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING
Smart
Growth
In October 1999 the
Wisconsin legislature acted in response to development issues
and planning needs when they adopted a comprehensive planning
law, commonly known as "Smart Growth." "Smart Growth"
has been loosely used to describe a method of planning that allows
a community to grow while maintaining the quality of life its
residents currently enjoy.
By the year 2010, all
Wisconsin communities that wish to regulate the use of land (i.e.,
zoning, platting, building codes, etc.) must have an adopted comprehensive
plan that meets the requirements set out in the statutes. While
the limited time and resources of the UW-Extension staff will
not generally allow them to write or otherwise participate in
the data collection or analysis of a community's comprehensive
plan, staff is ready to provide assistance in a variety of other
ways:
- Provide overall information and insights into the requirements
of the new "Smart Growth" law, including funding options
- Provide information about each of the law's nine core elements
and how they relate to a given community
- Assist communities in designing and facilitating public participation
efforts
- Help communities access data and resources available from
other agencies
- Coordinate intergovernmental cooperation among governmental
units
- Review plan drafts and provide constructive feedback
Calumet County has initiated a process
to develop a joint county-local government Comprehensive Plan.
This process involves local government officials and staff from
the Calumet County Planning and Zoning Department and UW Extension.
For more "Smart Growth" resources, visit the UW
Extension Center for Land Use Education website, or contact
the county UWEX office.
Visioning
Are you satisfied with
your community the way it is? Answering this question is a major
(and often the first) phase in a community-wide comprehensive
planning effort. Visioning is the process of looking
beyond the present to imagine the future. There are generally
five main steps:
- Understand current issues facing the community
- Identify problems the community can work to address
- Identify strengths the community seeks to preserve and perhaps
enhance
- Identify opportunities on which the community can build
- Based on a consensus of the participants, create a brief
written and illustrated report describing the desired future
that addresses all or most of the above.
Naturally, the more
participation there is by local officials, community leaders,
and residents, the more accurate and credible the final vision
will be. UW-Extension staff is available to help facilitate the
visioning sessions and to provide overall guidance in working
through the five steps listed above. A resource tool that can
give you an idea of the visioning process can be found at: http://www.drs.wisc.edu/vision/
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