The City of Auburn will hold a public hearing at 5 p.m. Thursday in the City Council Chambers at 141 North Ross St. to receive approval from the planning commission for CompPlan 2030.
CompPlan 2030 is the comprehensive land-use plan mapping out the city's plans for future development for the next 20 years.
"This is really the city's first land-use-based comprehensive plan," said Forrest Cotton, planning director. "So in that plan we've set forth a number of new land-use classifications throughout the city.
"Most importantly we've provided greater specificity and certainty for future development plans in the city."
CompPlan 2030 was created over a two-year timespan by the city staff with input from other departments, including public works, water resource management, parks and recreation, office of the city manager, economic development and public safety.
Citizens have also had a chance to voice their opinions on the CompPlan 2030 the past two years during public hearings and on the City of Auburn website.
Public hearings held by the planning commission and City Council will provide additional opportunities for public input and comments.
If the plan is approved by the planning commission Thursday, it will then be proposed for adoption during the Oct. 4 council meeting.
"If it's adopted, then we will begin to work on proposed regulatory changes to our zoning ordinance," Cotton said. "That's how the comprehensive plan will be implemented, and we will go through a very deliberative work session with the planning commission to accomplish that."
The future land-use plan map shown on the city's website will be used as a guide for the desired uses of the land for officials, residents, city staff and the development community, and it will be used to evaluate the development proposals presented.
"We have a continuous planning process, and we try to make sure it's timely and responsive to the community," said City Manager Charlie Duggan.
The comprehensive plan is to be implemented over multiple stages during the 20-year time period.
"The clearest benefit is that it's a plan that will provide guidance both for city staff and appointed officials, as well as the community about where we would like to see particular types of development and when, and that will guide investment as well as decision-making over the next 20 years," said Justin Steinmann, the plan's principal planner.
"It's also a visioning document, where we're really trying to take a vision of what the city should look like in 20 years and putting together the individual steps to move us along the path to get us to that goal."
Although the changes won't happen overnight, the city is expected to see some of the changes begin to materialize over the next few years.
"It's not set in stone," said Mayor Bill Ham. "It will be a work in progress for years to come, but the state law dictates that every city will have a comp plan, or road map, for the future."
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