using and amending your comprehensive plan brian w. ohm, j.d. land use law specialist, department of...

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Using and Amending Your Comprehensive Plan

Brian W. Ohm, J.D.Land Use Law Specialist, Department of Urban & Regional Planning,

University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension

Kevin StruckUWEX Growth Management Educator, Sheboygan County

January 11, 2012 UWEX Local Land Use Planning and Zoning Wisline

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Overview

• Using your comprehensive plan– You’ve got a comprehensive plan, now what?• How to use a comprehensive plan in everyday decision

making

• Amending your comprehensive plan– It is difficult to predict the future• Amending the plan when the community wants to

approve a project that is not supported by the plan

– Periodic updates• The practice of periodically reviewing the plan and

making changes January 11, 2012 UWEX Local Land Use Planning and Zoning Wisline

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Using your comprehensive plan: What the law says

• Remember the 2010 changes to the comprehensive planning law– 2009 Wis. Act 372 (signed into law, May 18, 2010)– See Ohm, “2010 Updates to Wisconsin’s

Comprehensive Planning Law,” Perspectives on Planning (May 2010)


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• “. . . Beginning on January 1, 2010, if a local governmental unit enacts or amends any of the following ordinances, the ordinances shall be consistent with that local governmental unit’s comprehensive plan:– Official mapping ordinances enacted o amended under s. 62.23(6)– Local subdivision ordinances enacted or amended under s. 236.45 or

236.46.– County zoning ordinances enacted or amended under s. 59.69.– City or village zoning ordinances enacted or amended under s.

62.23(7).– Town zoning ordinances enacted or amended under s. 60.61 or 60.62.– Shorelands or wetlands in shorelands zoning ordinances enacted or

amended under s. 59.692, 61.351 or 62.231”January 11, 2012 UWEX Local Land Use Planning and Zoning Wisline

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• “’Consistent with’ means furthers or does not contradict the objectives, goals, and policies contained in the comprehensive plan.” – Wis. Stat. § 66.1001(1)(am)


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• Other statutory provisions:– Cities, villages, and towns need to make a finding that the plan for a

proposed tax increment financing district is in “conformity” with the master plan of the city, village, or town.

– The creation of an architectural conservancy district or a business improvement district requires a description of the “relationship” of the district to the local master plan.

– Urban redevelopment plans need to be “in accord” with the local master plan.

– Redevelopment authorities in first class cities must make the finding that the purpose for issuing bonds for public school facilities “is consistent” with the city’s master plan.

– Counties and regional planning commissions are allowed to comment on the effect that cooperative boundary agreements between cities or villages and towns may have on the county development plan or the regional master plan.


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• Other statutory provisions:– A cooperative boundary agreement plans “shall describe how it is

consistent with each participating municipality’s comprehensive plan.”– Water supply plans (required under the Great Lakes Compact

legislation) must include “[a]n analysis of how the plan supports and is consistent with any applicable comprehensive plans, as defined in s. 66.1001(1)(a).” The DNR will not approve any water supply plan that is not consistent with any applicable comprehensive plan. Urban redevelopment plans need to be “in accord” with the local master plan.

– The Working Lands Initiative requires that farmland preservation plans be “consistent with the comprehensive plan” and that the farmland preservation zoning ordinance be “substantially consistent with the farmland preservation plan.”


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• A comprehensive plan can also:– Help establish the basis to include non-housing

facilities for certain programs funded by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.

– Establish street widths in cities and villages.– Help determine the appropriate location for medical

waste incinerators.– Authorize the rezoning of registered lands for

nonmetallic mineral extraction operations. January 11, 2012 UWEX Local Land Use Planning and Zoning Wisline

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Using your comprehensive plan: Application of the law

• What is the purpose of comprehensive planning?– Informed decision making


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• The essential question for decision makers:– Does the enactment (or amendment) of the

zoning/subdivision/official map ordinance further or not contradict the objectives, goals, and policies contained in the comprehensive plan?• Remember a “rezoning” is an amendment to the zoning

ordinance.


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• American Planning Association, “Writing Better Staff Reports” – Some common problems with reports:• “Lack of rigorous analysis against comprehensive plan text

and plan maps”

– See Meck and Morris, “Formatting and Writing the Staff Report,” Zoning Practice (November, 2004)


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• Examples from Wisconsin Communities– See attachments

• St. Croix County• City of Madison


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• What can we learn from other states?– See attachment: “Let the Courts Guide You: Planning and

Zoning Consistency”


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• Best practices– Identify relevant objectives, goals, and policies from

the plan– Discuss how the proposed ordinance furthers those

objectives, goals, and policies


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Amending your comprehensive plan: What the law says

• Procedures of s. 66.1001 for adopting comprehensive plans apply to: – initial preparation of plan– amendments to the plan


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Amending your comprehensive plan: What the law says

• Implementation element.– “The element shall include a process for updating

the comprehensive plan. A comprehensive plan under this subsection shall be updated no less than once every 10 years.”


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Amending your comprehensive plan: Overseeing the process

• Plan Commission• Ad hoc “work group”• In-house staff


Although the City Council/Village or Town Board ultimately decides whether to adopt the proposed amendment, they

may choose to delegate oversight of the process.

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Amending your comprehensive plan: Who does the work?

• Private consultant• In-house staff• Regional Planning Commission• County Planning Department• UW-Extension agent


Often, the best choice will be a partnership of two or more resources.

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Amending your comprehensive plan: Frequency of amendments


• Whenever they arise– Effective in a small, quiet community where

amendments are likely to be infrequent• Annually, or other set time period– Might be more efficient to “group” amendments

in a fast-growing community rather than having to deal with an amendment every month or two

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Amending your comprehensive plan: Public participation

• Public Participation Plan• Notifications to non-metallic mining interests• Notifications to any others who requested it


Required by statute, although activities do not have to be as robust as they may have been for

the original planning process.

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Amending your comprehensive plan: Standardize the process

• Amendment application form• Consistency analysis form• Review procedures• Filing system


This makes it easier in the future to remember how various amendments were handled, and it

documents a community’s due diligence.

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Amending your comprehensive plan: Working on the amendment

• Use tools like Word’s “Track Changes” and the comment insertion option

• Include disclaimer if work is being done by someone other than the original author

• Don’t forget to update Table of Contents, if necessary


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Amending your comprehensive plan: Adoption of the amendment


• Same statutory requirements as for the original plan’s adoption*– Public notice, public hearing, resolution by plan

commission, ordinance by council/board

*One exception: A draft does not need to go to the distribution list prior to adoption – only the Final amended plan, after adoption

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Amending your comprehensive plan: Distribution of amended plan


Amended plan can be distributed via a digital copy on a CD; or can be a paper copy (or both). Helpful to recipients if a cover letter highlights the changes and identifies pages.

• 66.1001(4)(b)– Governmental bodies located partly or wholly within

your governmental unit; governmental bodies adjacent to yours; WisDOA; regional planning commission; local public library

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Amending your comprehensive plan: 10-year plan update


A formal, required amending of the entire plan, wherever updates are deemed necessary. (Some plans may have

specified a more frequent updating than every 10 years.)

• A good time to acknowledge accomplishments since the plan was originally adopted

• Updates will likely include census/demographic data, changes to community facilities, transportation maps, land use maps; and need to check whether vision, goals, objectives, policies, programs are still relevant

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Pending legislation

• AB 303– Consistency requirement would only apply to local

governments that have a comprehensive plan.– Provides for the repeal of comprehensive plans.– State agencies cannot consider comprehensive

plans in determining eligibility for economic development programs.


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