Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Comprehensive Plan topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Attorney: comprehensive plans guide but do not by themselves compel outcomes
Summary
Nick told the planning board that comprehensive plans are aspirational policy documents that guide implementing ordinances; actual enforceable rules come from ordinances and code, and competing goals in plans require assembly policy choices to resolve.
A board member asked how much legal weight comprehensive plans carry once the assembly adopts them. Nick walked through the relevant statutes and said comprehensive plans are a set of aspirational goals and policy documents that guide land‑use regulation, but they generally need implementing ordinances to create enforceable requirements.
He noted the borough's patchwork of plans (countywide, economic development, roads, parks) and said conflicting goals are common. "Comprehensive plans can add some weight. How much is really up to you, but it ain't that much," he told members, adding that the assembly implements the plan through ordinance language and land‑use regulation.
