Planning & Zoning and council agree to subcommittee approach; comprehensive plan overhaul deferred

The City Council and the Planning & Zoning Commission met in a joint session to review the draft comprehensive master plan prepared by the city's consultant. Commissioners told the council the draft did not reflect CPAC and community input in several respects and that the draft uses unfamiliar jargon and land‑use recommendations inconsistent with many residents’ expressed priorities.

Planning & Zoning commissioners requested that the council not adopt the draft as presented. Specific concerns included: apparent increases in density in areas the community expects to remain rural or low‑density; mixed‑use designations in locations commissioners and residents found incompatible with adjacent parcels; and the plan’s organization and readability for a general public audience.

Council members and commissioners agreed to pursue a more surgical approach: P&Z will form a subcommittee to focus on the future land use map (FLUM) and the definitions of land‑use/density categories, while Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee will focus on the parks/open‑space portions of the plan (including tree preservation and parkland dedication mechanisms). Both groups will include P&Z members, council members, staff and citizen volunteers. The council agreed not to adopt the full draft by the Nov. 6 meeting and directed P&Z and PRAC to begin focused subcommittee work and to use the council discussion board and town‑hall events for public vetting.

No vote was taken to discard the consultant work; rather, the council directed more detailed edits and subcommittee review so that a clearer, shorter public‑facing document (with appendices for technical data) can be prepared.