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According to s. 66.1001, beginning on January
1, 2010, if a town, village, city, county or regional planning
commission engages in official mapping, subdivision regulation,
or zoning, those actions must be consistent with the community
comprehensive plan. The Wisconsin Comprehensive Planning
Law (s. 66.1001) does not mandate how a local community
should grow, rather it requires public participation at
the local level in deciding how a community wants to look
and be in the future.
What is a comprehensive plan?
Comprehensive plans come in all shapes, sizes, and varieties.
Their purpose is to provide communities with information
and policies that will guide future planning and community
decisions. Comprehensive plans incorporate a twenty-year
vision and provide a rational basis for local land use decisions.
Because communities vary greatly, the uniqueness of individual
comprehensive plans reflects community-specific and locally
driven planning processes.
In Wisconsin, the law defines the contents
of a local comprehensive plan specified in nine elements.
While a local government may choose to include additional
elements, a comprehensive plan must include AT LEAST all
the following nine elements"
- Issues and Opportunities
- Housing
- Transportation
- Utilities and Community Facilities
- Economic Development
- Agricultural, Natural and Cultural Resources
- Land Use
- Intergovernmental Opportunities
- Implementation
The law provides flexibility to local governments
in addressing statutory requirements. Most communities choose
to connect specific objectives, policies, and programs from
throughout their comprehensive plan to responsible parties
and timeframes in the implementation element, so that their
hard work does not collect dust on the shelf. A central
aspect of implementation is exercising land use regulation
authorities. As mentioned above, according to s. 66.1001,
beginning on January 1, 2010, if a town, village, city,
county, or regional planning commission engages in official
mapping, subdivision regulation, or zoning, those actions
must be consistent with that community's comprehensive plan.
For more information about Comprehensive Planning,
please visit the State of Wisconsin - Department of Administration's
web page at:
http://www.doa.state.wi.us/section.asp?linkid=128&locid=9
4/12/2007
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