Highland planning commission reviews draft general plan; public comments due Oct. 16

The Highland City Planning Commission received a staff and consultant presentation on a draft general plan update and set deadlines for commissioner and public feedback.

Rob, a planning staff member, opened the presentation by describing the plan’s legal role, saying “the general plan with a very limited exception is advisory only.” He and consultant staff outlined chapters on land use and place making, housing (including the state-required moderate-income housing chapter), transportation, water use and preservation, parks and trails, environment and sustainability, and public facilities and services.

The consultants said the draft is intended as a high-level guide to help the city balance Highland’s low-density, open-space character with targeted residential infill and a strengthened town center. Sam, a planning consultant, described the future land use map and said it “channels your efforts over the next decade into making this town center area the heart of the community.”

Sean Elliott of Hales Engineering, who led the transportation work,…