Adopt a comprehensive plan or (for Category B & C cities) adopt a future land use plan that was adopted by the county or a regional entity.
Best Practice of this action
Rating Guideline
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Adopt a comp plan/amended comp plan that is less than ten years old or adopt a land use plan that was adopted by the county or a regional entity less than 15 years ago, or Category B & C cities may adopt a city vision that looks at least 20 years into the future; provide ample public engagement opportunities during the comprehensive planning process, including focus groups to identify needed resources and services. |
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Include in your plan a sustainability and/or climate adaptation/resilience section/chapter, an active living/placemaking/bike-ped section, or integrate sustainability goals and strategies into all chapters of your comprehensive plan, or articulate land development principles for creating a complete, compact and connected community. Provide translators and interpreters, childcare, stipends, and/or meals for residents during community engagement meetings; include an Indigenous Land Acknowledgement at the beginning of the plan or within the sustainability section. Report climate or energy goals and objectives under BPA 6.5; report equity goals and planning under BPA 24.7. |
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Adopt a development goal that new/infill projects generate enough tax revenue to pay for the related public infrastructure maintenance/replacement over multiple life cycles; reference a capital improvement plan that catalogues public system maintenance obligations by date and cost; create 'green zones' that focus environmental improvements in under-served areas of the city; adopt the Precautionary Principle; Demonstrate how the results of community engagement are reflected in the plan. |
Resources
- Regional Development Commissions in Minnesota provide assistance in preparing comprehensive plans.
- See Chap. 13 -- Comprehensive Planning, Land Use, and City-Owned Land (LMC Handbook).
- Sustaining Places: Best Practices for Comprehensive Plans (American Planning Association: 2015) offers a framework for big cities and small towns, with standards under 6 categories: Livable Built Environment; Harmony with Nature; Resilient Economy; Interwoven Equity; Healthy Community; Responsible Regionalism. See also the Metropolitan Council's Local Planning Handbook and related resources such as the brief Parking Strategies for Comprehensive Plans (Metropolitan Council: 2017) article, which presents seven parking strategies and approaches.
- Shoreview, MN's nationally recognized Comprehensive Infrastructure Plan looks well into the future in order to predict and plan for infrastructure resilience: future maintenance and replacement needs and costs.
- An indigenous land acknowledgement should include the city’s understanding of the land’s history and importance to indigenous peoples. See the Indigenous Land Acknowledgement Guide (Native Land Center, 2019).
- To increase accountability for results, Plano, TX and Phoenix, AZ have, in their comprehensive plans, incorporated metrics and best practices from the national STAR Community Rating System. STAR (generally used by larger cities) has many similarities to GreenStep and so integrating GreenStep Step 4 metrics and best practices into your comp plan may be useful to your city.
- See comprehensive plan review checklists based on design for health principles, consistent with Twin Cities Metropolitan Council required plan elements. Also see Ten Principles for Building Healthy Places (Urban Land Institute: 2013), a Healthy Community Design Checklist Toolkit from the Centers for Disease Control and the American Planning Association, and the Minnesota Food Charter Food Access Planning Guide.
- See How to Embed the Precautionary Principle in Community Decision-Making and the Comprehensive Plan (Met Council: 2017) for language on taking precautionary action to prevent human and environmental harm in the face of scientific uncertainty.
- Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities (International City/County Management Association: 2010) presents strategies to help guide growth and financial investments in rural areas while protecting natural and working lands and preserving the rural character of existing communities.
- Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED ) resources from Design for Health, and zoning standards to reinforce CPTED in a free module from the Center for Applied Transect Studies.
Order Number
1
Action Type
Finite