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Planning commissions have numerous duties and responsibilities. Chief among them is the preparation of a comprehensive plan for the community.

Getting Started

As I noted in my last column [Issue 9, p. 9], the planning process begins once a locality decides to commit the necessary time, energy and money to accomplish the task. It is important to remember, however, that the planning process is governed by state law and local codes. Accordingly, "getting started" with developing (or revising) a comprehensive plan requires, as a necessary first step, a thorough understanding of these legal requirements.

Organizing the Planning Process

Whether we label our plan comprehensive, master or general, we are, in most instances, describing the same thing. For most communities, a comprehensive plan is the physical manifestation of putting down on paper the hopes, dreams and goals a community holds for itself.

Properly done, a comprehensive plan will describe how, and at what pace, the community desires to develop physically, economically, and socially. The plan functions much like a roadmap; it is a means to an end.

The roadmap analogy is a powerful one, for it captures a plan's predictive nature. However, caution is warranted. Imagine for a moment you are visiting New York City for the first time and you discover that your guide map, though marked New York, is really a map of Boston. No matter what you do, or how hard you try, the map will be of little value as you attempt to negotiate the streets of New York. In like fashion, if your comprehensive plan is "pieced together" with borrowings from other communities' plans, or is missing several key elements or parts, it too will prove to be of little value. Accordingly, a planning commission must take special care in organizing the plan development process. In my experience, the following considerations are particularly important.

Background Studies

In order to plan for the future, a planning commission needs to understand the community's past and present. The collection and analysis of this background information is an essential early step in the plan development process. Typically, a planning commission will conduct studies or gather information bearing on the community's demographics; natural environment; economic base; housing stock; transportation systems; community facilities; and land use pattern. The planning commission will then be in a position to analyze trends and draw conclusions about the community.

Potentialities: The Role of Goals, Objectives & Strategies

A second important plan development consideration involves the prediction of future conditions in the community. With the findings generated by the background studies as a basis, the plan will begin to reflect a futures orientation. In most cases, this orientation will be represented in the plan's goal statements which, when implemented, will bring the plan to life.

The challenge of articulating a community's future through words should not be trivialized. For example, there might be agreement on the goal of "improving our community," but no agreement on how this will be done. Planning commissioners must ask themselves whether such a goal carries with it any real meaning. I would venture a guess that most commissioners would say "no."

In recognition of the critical role words play in planning, it is important that planning commissioners understand the differences between goals, objectives, and strategies.

A goal is a general statement of a future condition which is considered desirable for the community; it is an end towards which actions are aimed.

An objective is a statement of a measurable activity to be accomplished in pursuit of the goal; it refers to some specific aspiration which is reasonably attainable.

A strategy is a specific proposal to do something that relates directly to accomplishing the objective; it identifies the how, where, and amount to be done.

In the next issue of the Journal, I'll continue to discuss key considerations in developing the comprehensive plan, focusing particular attention on the role of citizens in the process and on strategies for getting the plan adopted.