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Star planners outline targeted edits to comprehensive plan and several land-use redesignations
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Summary
City planning staff and councilors reviewed proposed edits to the comprehensive plan and several land‑use redesignation requests (including parcels near Firebird Raceway, a Littles property near the Highway 16 interchange, and a multi-designation riverfront proposal); staff aims for sub-area hearings in April and a comp‑plan hearing in May.
Sean (staff) briefed the council at the March 20 workshop on planned updates to Star’s comprehensive plan, saying the document needs new demographics, updated maps and clearer design guidance after rapid growth since the plan’s last revision.
Why it matters: The update will reframe future development priorities, map commercial frontage and access roads near ITD’s Highway 16 interchange, and incorporate downtown revitalization sub-area guidance — all of which affect zoning, infrastructure planning and how development proposals are evaluated.
Key proposals and requests: Sean outlined several specific requests staff expects the council to consider at upcoming hearings:
- A property near Firebird Raceway requested a change from rural residential to commercial in anticipation of Highway 16 interchange impacts. - The Littles family requested commercial designation for land near the planned Chaparral/Willowbrook interchange to allow frontage-driven development. - The Orms family proposed a multi-designation approach for a riverfront parcel (open space along the floodplain with low-, medium- and high-density zones farther from the river). - Staff recommended reassessing compact-residential pockets along Frost Street (currently mapped at 5–10 dwelling units per acre) and possibly downgrading them to urban residential because many lots are small and the designation may be unrealistic.
"We’re updating the comprehensive plan... cleaning it up, adding updated demographics and charts based on how the population has changed," Sean said, introducing the proposed map changes and schedule.
Downtown and transportation ties: Councilmembers discussed whether to alter the mapped Central Business District (CBD) footprint or to keep the map intact and use sub-area text and separate maps to show the downtown revitalization plan. Several councilors urged the staff to retain opportunities for higher density near downtown to promote walkability, while others emphasized keeping open-space standards in the South‑of‑the‑River sub-area.
On transportation, councilors asked staff to ensure ECAP (transportation/access) maps show frontage and back-edge roads around major highways and noted ITD corridor planning for Highway 16 will influence future access and local road alignments. Staff said they will incorporate ITD alignment work and the ECAP map into the draft comp-plan materials.
Schedule and next steps: Staff said the downtown revitalization sub-area is slated for April 21 and the comprehensive-plan public hearing and potential adoption are currently targeted for May; staff asked council members for any additional topics or text to include before those hearings.
Ending: The workshop adjourned at 08:52; council members and staff will continue the dialogue at scheduled hearings in April and May.
