West Fargo planners recommend adopting growth-area master plan to guide development beyond I-94

The West Fargo Planning and Zoning Commission on July 14 voted to recommend adoption of a growth area master plan that city staff and consultants said will guide future development beyond the city’s existing limits.

Aaron (Planning staff) introduced the plan as "step 1 of a 2 step process" to adopt the document as an addendum to the comprehensive plan under North Dakota Century Code. Kevin Clark, co-project manager for consultant HKGI, told commissioners the 138-page plan covers vision and land use, parks and recreation, transportation and infrastructure, and implementation steps designed to inform decisions as the city grows.

Kevin Clark (HKGI, co-project manager) said the plan presents two phasing scenarios and recommends an incremental, north-first approach because it carries "significantly less initial financial outlay" and is a "less risky proposition" if the pace of development slows. He said planners expect development activity to concentrate along corridors with existing infrastructure, including County Road 17, and that the city will need to preserve right of way for future lanes and trails.

Aaron said the plan anticipates a shift in where most growth occurs and emphasized implementation work ahead: code and subdivision ordinance updates, fiscal tools and impact-fee approaches, and coordination with partner agencies including the park district, school district and neighboring utilities. He said the city is preparing for a range of projects over the next 12 to 24 months, including defining a strategy for the Lagoon properties and preparing shovel-ready material for developers.

Commissioners questioned how the plan treats the West Fargo Airport and southern growth corridors. In response, Aaron and Kevin said the airport largely fell outside the project scope and that the plan intentionally focuses on a broad, general strategy rather than detailed airport-specific corridors. Kevin said constraints in the south — particularly sewer capacity and the time needed for a future interchange south of the fairgrounds — informed the recommendation to emphasize north-side, incremental growth.

Two members of the public asked questions about corridor definitions and the Raymond interchange; a landowner, who identified herself as Julia Wansick, asked how annexation and development near Exit 342 (the Raymond interchange) would be handled. Kevin and Aaron said Raymond is currently outside city limits but within the city’s annexation agreement area and that annexation or development proposals would be evaluated under that framework.

The commission moved, seconded and voted to recommend adoption of the growth area master plan to the City Commission; the roll-call vote recorded unanimous support.

Next steps: the Planning and Zoning Commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the City Commission for final action and the staff expects ongoing work on implementation items such as code updates, financing tools, and property-specific strategies for the Lagoon site.