We Need Comprehensive Planning

The following Guest Editorial was printed in the Vernon County Broadcaster on May 25th 2005:

Comprehensive planning is in the public eye again. Many hours of committee work were recently called into question in Kickapoo Township, resulting in the rescinding of village powers. The State Joint Finance Committee has just recommended repeal of the Smart Growth Act, so the annual grants given to communities to help develop these plans can be eliminated. Although both these situations may resolve themselves with comprehensive planning moving forward, it seems that a fundamental misunderstanding of comprehensive planning still exists.

In mandating comprehensive planning, the State of Wisconsin simply asked each of its communities to create its own decision-making tool to guide future growth and development. The intent is to protect the long-range interest of all citizens through the anticipation of possible changes in the basic elements of community life, such as housing, agriculture, economic development and public services. Comprehensive plans also address compatibility issues between various uses of land and preservation of natural resources. A comprehensive plan requires community input; citizen working groups and public hearings are an important part of the process.

Comprehensive plans do not contain any regulation at all; they are simply plans. Regulation may--or may not--follow in the form of land use restrictions or zoning ordinances, as the community sees fit. These regulations, too, are subject to public review.

So why should we care about planning? No one needs a lecture on the unique characteristics of the Driftless region. But we are not immune to bad decisions on land use, nor are we immune from change. More people are moving here. There are fewer farms and more houses. Tourism is increasing. And we, as individuals and communities, have little to say about what happens “next door.” The very value of our property is at risk.

There are citizens that abhor anything that restricts their decisions about the use of their own property. There are those who do not want restrictions on land they wish to sell or develop. But wouldn’t most of us feel a little bit better if our biggest lifetime investment—our land—has some measure of protection from undesirable uses showing up next door? Wouldn’t we like to shape, with our neighbors and friends, the future of our community? This is comprehensive planning at its most basic. It is citizens giving guidance to the leaders of the community to help them in making policy regarding the use of land within its boundaries. It is the countless hours that residents have already given, and the hours of those that hopefully will join them to make planning more inclusive. It is what we need—and now.