The Lake Havasu City Planning and Zoning Commission on May 7 received a kickoff briefing from Logan Simpson, the city’s consultant for a statutorily required general plan update that must be refreshed every 10 years.

The presentation described the update’s scope, schedule and public outreach strategy, and solicited commission involvement in workshops, technical review and community promotion. Consultants said the process will include an existing-conditions report, a sequence of visioning and scenario workshops, a 60-day draft review period, and an eventual council adoption and voter ratification step for jurisdictions of this size.

Terry Hogan, lead consultant with Logan Simpson, said the general plan is a “30,000 foot policy document” that establishes the community’s long-range vision for growth and guides zoning, capital improvements and other implementation steps. Hogan told commissioners the plan will address the statutory elements for a city of Lake Havasu’s population, plus additional topic areas the state requires for communities above certain population thresholds.

Consultants described five phases for the project that together run roughly a year and a half from launch through a final legislative process. The team said the launch and discovery phases are complete or nearly complete and that the project is moving into the envision and build phases, which include public workshops and iterative drafts. Hogan explained that the process culminates with a 60-day public review of a draft plan followed by responses to comments and final legislative hearings; for jurisdictions over 50,000, the adopted plan is placed on the ballot for voter ratification.

The presentation emphasized public engagement. The project website is live and hosts questionnaires and project materials; consultants reported nearly 500 responses to the first questionnaire as of late April. Hogan described multiple outreach tactics — in-person and virtual workshops, drop-in events at community venues, targeted listening sessions, and a planned steering committee of about 11 community members selected from roughly 29 applicants — to reach a range of residents including seasonal and year-round populations.

On public participation goals, Hogan said the project team will track demographic participation and adjust outreach to reach underrepresented groups. City staff and the consultant asked commissioners to serve as ambassadors, attend workshops if possible and help distribute printed materials and QR-code flyers to community groups.

The airport and surrounding land uses drew particular attention. Rusty Mitchell of Peacemaker Aviation, a Logan Simpson teaming partner, urged early planning for the airport’s long-term role. “Now is the time to look out and see how you want that airport to support the area 10 years from now or 15 years from now because it’s gonna grow,” Mitchell said, noting that runway capacity and compatibility planning can influence future military or commercial use.

Commissioners asked about consultant in-person attendance and how often the team will return to the commission. Hogan said the consultants expect to return several times — at kickoff, through major phases and for the recommendation hearings — and Mr. Gilbert, a city staff member, said the city will provide regular updates even when the consultant is not presenting in person.

Next steps outlined to the commission included finalizing the existing-conditions report, convening a technical advisory committee to truth-test data, selecting the steering committee, launching listening sessions and scheduling visioning and scenario workshops over the summer. The consultant team said it will publish a participation recap showing who was heard and where feedback came from.

No formal action on the general plan update was taken by the commission at the meeting; the item was informational. Earlier in the meeting the commission approved minutes from the prior meeting by a 7–0 vote (motion by Vice Chair Tiffany Wilson, second by Commissioner Gabriel Medley).

The commission was told to expect additional workshops and a formal recommendation hearing later in the process, and staff encouraged commissioners to help promote the outreach materials to neighborhood groups and organizations.