Green Bay council adopts 'Go Big Green Bay 2050' plan after amendments on bikes, housing incentives and design

The Green Bay Common Council unanimously adopted the Go Big Green Bay 2050 comprehensive plan on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, approving a package of amendments that add language to prioritize intermunicipal bike connections, ask staff to review new funding or incentive tools for housing infrastructure, and encourage design review processes for public infrastructure projects.

The planadoption followed a public hearing and more than an hour of council debate and amendments. Mayor (name not specified in the record) opened the hearing and staff said the plan had been published and publicly noticed. After public testimony and council amendments the council moved to adopt the plan; the motion to adopt was made by Alder Prophet and seconded by Alder DeLay and the plan was adopted unanimously.

The vote came after public comments from residents and stakeholders who urged the council to prioritize multimodal connections and housing production. "I just think it's a great plan," said Noel Halverson, introduced in testimony as "president and CEO of Naval Works Green Bay," who said he had advised staff and supported the plan as a tool to guide growth. Greg Persling, who identified himself as one of Green Bay's representatives on the Brown County Planning Commission, urged stronger cross-jurisdictional bike connections on the city's west side, citing Packerland Drive and links toward Howard and the Mountain Bay Trail. Jennifer Sundstrom of the Northeast Realtors Association told the council she was speaking for about 900 members and said the plan and code updates were needed to increase housing supply and diversity.

Why it matters: the comprehensive plan sets the city's long-term land use and transportation priorities and frames subsequent zoning and subdivision code changes. Council members said the amendments clarify the plan's intent on bikes, housing incentives and design without locking staff into narrow technical prescriptions.

Major amendments adopted

- Bike network / intermunicipal connections:…