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Grant County APC gives favorable recommendation to new comprehensive plan
Summary
The Grant County Area Plan Commission voted unanimously Sept. 4 to give a favorable recommendation for the county's draft comprehensive plan, a state grant-funded document that updates the county's planning guidance for the first time since the 1990s.
The Grant County Area Plan Commission on Sept. 4 voted unanimously to give a favorable recommendation for the county's draft comprehensive plan, a guiding document prepared with state technical assistance that will move next for a public hearing and possible adoption by the county commissioners.
Consultants from Taylor Seifer Williams Design Group presented the plan to the commission. "My name is Scott Seifger. With me tonight is Matt Pytel, and we are with Taylor Seifer Williams Design Group," Seifger said during the presentation, describing a year-long process funded by a state planning technical assistance grant.
The plan updates a countywide vision last prepared in the 1990s and responds to grant criteria from the state Office of Community and Rural Affairs (the grant administrator cited during the meeting). Consultants said the document organizes recommendations into 13 topical elements required by the grant and state statute and looks roughly 15 years ahead.
Matt Pytel, the consulting lead on priorities, told the commission the draft contains 97 strategies, of which 36 are identified as high priority, and summarized high-priority recommendations across topics including land use, housing, transportation, agriculture, natural resources, broadband and parks and recreation.
Commission member Dana Richmond moved that "the area plan commission make a favorable recommendation for the adoption of this comprehensive plan," naming the draft "Grant County Comprehensive Plan, Cultivating County" (date noted in the motion). Karen Poland seconded the motion. The commission conducted a roll-call vote; members recorded in the roll call voted yes and the motion carried.
State review and next steps: Consultants said the document has been through the grant-required technical review. The draft includes appendices with public-input materials and a reference to the county's hazard mitigation plan; consultants said the state reviewer required the hazard mitigation plan be referenced in the appendices. Presenters said the plan will go to a public hearing before the county commissioners in October, where the grant administrator will lead the hearing as required by the grant; final adoption by the commissioners could occur at that meeting or at a subsequent meeting.
The consultants and staff discussed outreach and materials availability. The draft contains an executive summary, an existing-conditions chapter, a steering-committee summary and the substantive topical analysis and action plan. Consultants said they will provide a final file and printed copies upon adoption; the consultants and county staff agreed to post a compressed PDF for public review before the commissioners' public hearing.
The commission's favorable recommendation does not itself adopt the plan; it forwards the draft and supporting materials to the county commissioners for the required public hearing and final decision.
