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Orem planning commissioners set fast timeline, chapter order and collaborative process for general plan update
Summary
At a March 5 work session, Orem Planning Commission and staff agreed on a rapid schedule for updating the city's general plan, a collaborative drafting process using shared Google documents, and a draft chapter order emphasizing land use, redevelopment and economics.
On March 5, 2025, the Orem Planning Commission continued a work-session discussion of the city's general plan update, with staff presenting a condensed timeline and a plan to use a shared Google document for iterative drafting and commissioner input.
Staff member Grant (planning staff) told commissioners the office plans two meetings a month, a Google Doc-based draft for continuous comment, and "multiple times and chances throughout this entire ribbon timeline kind of towards September" to review drafts. Jared (planning staff) emphasized the Google document as a "dumping ground for all your thoughts" so commissioners could refine ideas between meetings.
Commissioners prioritized which plan chapters to draft first and how the sections should relate. Most agreed to place the land-use chapter earlier in the document so readers find the section most people relate to quickly. Commissioners recommended the early chapter order begin with land use, then redevelopment and historic preservation, followed by economic development, transportation, housing, water, parks and recreation and public services, with urban design later in the document. Commissioners discussed how the chapters will interrelate, noting, for example, "when you're talking about land use, you have to talk about transportation" and that transportation, utilities and other elements influence feasible housing strategies.
Commissioners and staff discussed process details: staff will draft summaries after each work session and publish them in a shared Google Doc for comment, staff will circulate substantive weekly updates by email rather than asking commissioners to check the document daily, and the commission expects to engage the City Council at least three times during the update. Commissioners asked staff to produce a shortened, plan-focused introduction and to move a longer historical narrative to an appendix so readers can find plan goals without reading the full history first.
Commissioners requested a clearer table-of-contents style front matter that includes short explanatory sentences for each chapter so residents can quickly identify sections of interest. Staff said they will prepare a draft introduction, chapter order and a sample public-facing table of contents for review at the next work session. The commission agreed to continue this work at future biweekly sessions; staff said the next substantive work session will begin with redevelopment materials.
Ending
Staff said they will circulate the draft Google Doc and supplemental materials to commissioners and the council and will return to the commission with a draft introduction and the redevelopment chapter at the next scheduled work session.
