Planner presents consolidated general-plan goals; council debates wording for implementation items

At the March 25 Bountiful City Council work session, planner Francisco Astorga presented a consolidated draft of goals and actions intended to form the comprehensive general plan. Astorga said the document compiles the community vision and guiding principles developed since January 2024 and organizes goals and actions across plan elements.

Astorga told the council the planning team had kept certain statutory language unchanged to maintain compliance with prior state review. He noted the department of workforce services previously required exact phrasing for a housing implementation list tied to Senate Bill 34, and staff retained that wording rather than substitute locally crafted place-type names. "We didn't want to amend the specific language ... because the Department of Workforce Services indicated that we weren't in compliance," Astorga said.

Several council members asked about consistent terminology in the draft. One member asked whether the plan should refer directly to the new place types the council had developed; another urged replacing instances of "non-motorized" or "pedestrian facilities" with the more widely used term "active transportation," citing regional partners and the Wasatch Front Regional Council. Council members and staff agreed the suggestions were valid and noted there was not sufficient time remaining in the meeting to finalize wording; the council asked staff to track suggested edits and resume the discussion at a future work session.

Astorga said the Planning Commission will also review the full plan document before it returns to the council as the legislative body for final adoption. Council members praised the staff's compilation work and requested follow-up on specific wording changes, active-transportation references and any remaining compliance checks tied to state requirements. The council agreed to pick up the conversation at an upcoming work session.