GROWTH MANAGEMENT
EDUCATION - Local Programs
PDR Task Force, January 31
Click
here to be directed to a Washington County Web site page for
more information.
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 Growth
Management Education
Written materials, presentations,
and one-on-one consultations on topics related to urban or rural
growth and development. Issues include cell towers, extraterritorial
jurisdiction, conservation subdivisions, sprawl, site design,
TIFs, demographic trends, GIS, stormwater runoff, farmland preservation,
and zoning.
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 "Planning
101" for Local Officials
Launched in late-2002,
this program is a combination self-study/workshop educational
series designed to help local elected officials and planning commissioners
stay abreast of the innovations and changes in the fields of planning,
zoning, and land use. Participants have described the program
as very user-friendly, convenient, and rich with information.
Fully illustrated chapters include:
Why Is Planning Important?
The Public Planning Process
Plan Commission Powers
Major Wisconsin Land Use Laws
What Do All The Acronyms Mean?
Wisconsin's Open Meeting Law
"Smart Growth" In Wisconsin
Zoning
Land Divisions
Variances
Types Of Plans & Tools
Public Participation
Intergovernmental Cooperation
Other Agencies: DNR, DOT, etc.
Farmland & Open Space Preservation
Design & Site Plan Review
Brownfields & Redevelopment
Economic Development, Housing & Transportation
Environmental Impacts
Property Rights
Appendix: Cell Towers, CAFOs, Moratoria . . .
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 Smart
Growth Assistance
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 U.W. Extension staff will not usually allow them to write
or otherwise participate in the data collection or analysis of
a community's comprehensive plan, the staff is ready to provide
assistance in a variety of other helpful ways:
- Provide overall information and insights into the requirements
of the new "Smart Growth" law, including funding options.
- Provide detailed 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.
For more on Smart Growth
visit
the Sheboygan County UW-Extension web site and view a 46-slide,
highly visual presentation about its possible impacts on community
planning.
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Community
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.
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 Development
Impact Analysis
One community found
out too late that development does not occur in a vacuum. Within
a year the impact of a particular development showed up in many
ways, including increased traffic, more accidents, higher road
maintenance costs, groundwater depletion, lowered air quality,
school crowding, stormwater runoff flooding, and more. All of
these had a cumulative impact on the community's budget. If only
there was a way to forecast development impacts or to compare
the impacts of competing development proposals. . . .
Recent software products have been unveiled that strive to do
just that. In March 2003, at the Town of Lima (Sheboygan County)
board meeting, UW-Extension staff demonstrated a new software
package that helps analyze the potential impact of new development
proposals. Not only can this analysis help evaluate the pros and
cons of a given proposal, it can also help a community prepare
for the impacts in advance. Further, this analysis can provide
a relatively objective way to assess the direct costs of the development
and charge them back to the developer if a community has an impact
fee structure in place.
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