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West Fargo adopts growth‑area plan, directs staff to work with airport and fairgrounds
Summary
The West Fargo City Commission adopted a long‑range growth‑area plan and voted to direct staff to coordinate with the West Fargo Airport Authority and the fair board to address airport and fairground concerns in future planning and potential addenda.
The West Fargo City Commission voted unanimously to adopt the city’s growth‑area plan and to direct staff to coordinate future planning work with the airport authority and the fair board.
The plan, prepared over 18 months by city staff and consultant HKGI, lays out land‑use guidance, transportation corridors, park and trail networks, sanitary sewer and utility considerations, and a phasing and fiscal analysis intended to guide growth after the FM diversion changes local floodplain boundaries. Aaron Nelson, the city’s director of planning and zoning, told the commission the plan supplements the city’s comprehensive plan by focusing on areas outside the current corporate limits and describing near‑term implementation steps.
Why it matters: The plan identifies where residential, commercial, employment and industrial nodes may develop, and—crucially—highlights sanitary sewer capacity limitations south of I‑94 that favor incremental growth from utility‑ready areas. It also provides a framework for transportation investments, park and trail corridors, and a staged capital program intended to reduce the city’s fiscal risk as new infrastructure is constructed.
Consultant Brian, who reviewed the document for HKGI, summarized two build‑out scenarios and the financial analysis that favored an incremental approach that leverages existing sewer connections in northward areas and stages big investments to reduce early fiscal exposure.
Public stakeholders pressed the commission on the airport and fairgrounds. Josh Dillon, chair of the West Fargo Airport Authority, presented a recent North Dakota Aeronautics Commission economic assessment, saying the airport contributes jobs and visitor spending and asked the commission to recognize the West Fargo Municipal Airport as a community asset. He said the airport’s 2.8 million dollar annual economic output and supporting activities like Skydive Fargo make it a valuable asset for the city.
"West Fargo Airport is an active asset," Dillon said, asking the commission to “direct staff to coordinate with the authority on land use near the field.” Skydive Fargo representatives and others described tourism and community programming tied to the airport.
City staff and the consultant said the adopted growth plan intentionally does not resolve detailed airport zoning or fairground redevelopment questions because those topics require additional study and partner coordination. Commissioners responded by approving the plan while adding an explicit direction: city staff should engage the airport authority and the fair board in near‑term follow‑up, and the commission asked staff to return with options—potentially an addendum or targeted study—so partners can see how airport and fairground needs fit into implementation steps.
The motion passed on a roll‑call vote with all commissioners in favor. Next steps include staff outreach to partner agencies, work on near‑term action items in the plan (transportation corridor preservation, monitoring systems, and changes to official controls), and scheduled follow‑up to report progress to the commission.
