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Warren County planners present draft "Warren County 2040" comprehensive plan to supervisors, adoption slated as next step
Summary
County planners and consultants presented a draft final comprehensive plan after nearly two years of outreach, outlining seven goals, priority actions and an implementation appendix; supervisors asked about prioritization, costs and next steps toward adoption.
Nora Bell Greenberger, senior designer with Sildell and Associates, and staff from the Warren County Planning Department presented the draft final Warren County 2040 comprehensive plan to the Warren County Board of Supervisors and described next steps toward formal adoption.
The draft plan, developed over almost two years with more than 900 survey responses, three public workshops and multiple department interviews, lays out a vision and seven goals to guide county policy and investments through 2040 and includes an implementation appendix with department-specific “to‑do” lists and proposed metrics for annual progress reports.
Greenberger told the board the plan pairs outward‑facing chapters on the county’s natural and built environment, economy and institutions with inward‑facing implementation tools for county departments. She said priority actions range from continuing existing services — public safety, mental and public health, municipal technical assistance and regional broadband efforts — to new initiatives such as an organics composting pilot. She said many priority actions are attainable and that planning staff have identified grant awards already aligned with actions so some work can proceed without new local funding.
Supervisors focused questions on implementation and sequencing. Supervisor Wiles asked whether the numbered priority actions were ranked; planning staff replied the list is not ordered and departments will need to coordinate to determine sequencing based on funding and capacity. When Supervisor Verma asked whether costs are attached to each goal, staff replied that estimating costs and identifying funding sources will be part of the implementation phase. Planning staff said they will develop metrics and prepare annual progress reports to track completion of actions and whether objectives meet their goals.
Several supervisors emphasized the plan’s emphasis on local context. Supervisor Crystal read a passage noting the need to avoid “one size fits all” approaches for rural, urban and tourism‑driven areas and urged supervisors to consider countywide benefits when evaluating projects. Greenberger highlighted housing, noting objectives to increase unit diversity and leverage county‑owned property for housing development; she also highlighted transportation coordination with CDTA after that agency’s recent acquisition noted in the plan.
Greenberger said the next formal step is for the Board of Supervisors to adopt the plan; staff outlined a public hearing and adoption timeline and stressed adoption is the final step necessary to demonstrate county support when applying for implementation grants. The board scheduled a public hearing on the draft plan and staff said they will bring back a formal adoption resolution for future board action.
The presentation closed with an offer from planning staff to meet individually with supervisors and department heads to review appendix implementation tasks and the plan’s evaluation metrics.
