Clock is ticking down for comprehensive plan updates
Once a decade, communities throughout the seven-county metropolitan area have a very important job – updating their local comprehensive plan. And the Dec. 31 deadline for submittal of these plans to the Metropolitan Council is rapidly approaching.
As of Oct. 20, just 16 of the 182 communities in the metro area had submitted their updates for review. Nonetheless, Guy Peterson, the Council’s community development director, says the process appears to be going “much more smoothly” than it did 10 years ago.
The Council has eight sector representatives that serve as liaisons to local governments, review the communities’ comprehensive plan updates and provide technical assistance. Pictured here are (from left) Lisa Barajas, Patrick Boylan and Denise Engen.
In a recent survey, 108 communities indicated they expect to submit their plans by the end of this year and 61 indicated they will they will request an extension, according to Peterson. No information could be obtained from 13 communities.
More significantly, Peterson said, 98 communities already have requested informal review of their updates by the Council’s staff – in advance of their formal submittal. This allows the Council staff to flag any required elements that may be missing or any nonconformance with regional plans.
“When they submit their updates for formal review, the process should go much more smoothly,” he said. “Any major issues should have been resolved.”
State law requires comprehensive planning in the metro area
Under the Metropolitan Land Planning Act, all cities and townships in the metro area are required to prepare local comprehensive plans that are consistent with the Council’s 2030 Regional Development Framework and conform to its plans for expanding four regional systems – transportation, aviation, water resources, and regional parks.
In 2005, the Council sent customized statements to each community, explaining how it will be affected by the Metropolitan Council’s long-range plans for the four regional systems. The Council also held a series of workshops for local officials and made available two new planning tools – an interactive Local Planning Handbook, and a two-CD Natural Resources Digital Atlas to assist in identifying regionally significant natural resources.
“At this point, we’re light years ahead of where we were 10 years ago,” Peterson said. In 1998, just 45 communities submitted their plans by the deadline; 13 came in three or more years after they were due.
Under a Council policy adopted in June, communities may request an administrative extension of the deadline until May 29, 2009. An extension beyond that date will require Council approval. Such requests must be submitted by Nov. 1, 2008, and must explain the obstacles that prevented the community from meeting the Dec. 31 deadline.
Minneapolis is one of many communities to have already submitted its comprehensive plan update to the Council for review. Most comprehensive plans are now submitted in electronic form.
To encourage the timely submittal of plans, the Council policy says that after Dec. 31, it will not consider any further amendments to a community’s existing comp plan or execute any grant agreements under the Council’s Livable Communities program (other than the fall 2009 round of pollution cleanup grants that will be awarded in January 2009).
Communities urged to ‘prod their neighbors’
One reason some communities run into problems meeting the deadline is that state law requires them first to submit their plans for a review period to neighboring governmental jurisdictions, including adjoining cities, and overlapping school districts and special purpose districts. Under the law, these governmental bodies then have up to six months to review and comment upon the community’s plan.
Peterson said communities that have not built this six months into their planning timetable need to “prod their neighbors for timely action – and not simply allow the six-month clock to run out.”
Once a community’s plan has been submitted to the Council and it has been deemed complete for review, the Council has 120 days to act. In the vast majority of cases, any inconsistencies with the Council’s regional plans are worked out amicably in the review process.
Between 2000 and 2030, the seven-county metro area is expected to grow by nearly 1 million people. “The comprehensive planning process provides us with the tools we need to accommodate that growth, provide needed infrastructure in a cost-effective manner, protect vital natural areas and preserve our prized quality of life,” said Council Chair Peter Bell.