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An Intro To Comprehensive Plans & Zoning
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The following information (courtesy of Winston Associates, Inc.) should help guide you through the basic terminology and usage of comprehensive plans and zoning.
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What is a Comprehensive Plan?
Zoning Map versus Comprehensive Land Use Plan
Consistency
The Comprehensive Plan is Both a Short AND Long-Range Document
How Was the Comprehensive Plan Developed?
Future Updates to the Comprehensive Plan
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What is a Comprehensive Plan?
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A Comprehensive Plan is sometimes referred to as a "Master Plan" or "General Plan." It is a community's general guide for making land use decisions. It usually describes how the community wants to grow, where the community wishes various land uses to take place and what the community wants to look like. In many ways a Comprehensive Plan is a reflection of the community's values. As such, this Comprehensive Plan is a continuation of previous plans and other efforts to bring about a more efficient, functional and beautiful community.
The Comprehensive Plan provides guidance for decisions that affect land use. It covers the area within the City limits as well as land anticipated to be annexed to the City in the future.
Although the Comprehensive Plan is not a regulatory document, many communities require that all zoning decisions as well as decisions about new streets, parks, public buildings and utilities (public or private) be in conformance with the Comprehensive Plan.
Ideally, the Comprehensive Plan is part of a three level process of regulating land uses:
- The Comprehensive Plan guides broad decisions regarding Land Use (such as rezoning).
- The Zoning Plan follows the basic land use pattern established in the Comprehensive Plan and assigns specific densities and uses to individual parcels of land.
- The Subdivision Regulations and Building Permit process implement the requirements of the Zoning Plan.
That is (taken in reverse order) a building permit is granted by the city only for building uses that are in conformance with the zoning designation for the building site. One cannot normally get a permit, for example, to build a gas station on a lot that is zoned residential. The zoning designation given to a parcel is usually based on the land use designation given to that area in the Comprehensive Plan. For example, an area that is designated "low density residential" in the Comprehensive Plan would subsequently be zoned for single family lots (rather than apartments or a gas station) and only one permit for a single, residential home would be granted for each lot.
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![Figure 1: The typical hierarchy of Land Use Regulations [Click here to view full size picture]](media/government/tn_compplan_1.jpg)
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Zoning Map versus Comprehensive Land Use Plan
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The "Zoning Map" and the "Land Use Plan" work hand-in-hand with each other. The Land Use plan indicates general density ranges and indicates how development is to be located on the land, with special regard to preserving natural features. The Zones in the Zoning Map are legal designations that assign a specific overall density to a specific tract of land. In most cases, the zoning is uniformly applied to a whole parcel of land. By contrast, the Land Use Plan follows landforms; floodplains and road patterns (rather than ownership boundaries) it indicates more generally how land uses should be arranged on the land.
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![Figure 2: How Zoning and the Land Use Plan work together. [Click here to view full size picture]](media/government/tn_zoningmap.jpg)
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Consistency
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Once the Comprehensive Plan is adopted, it is important that the city’s Zoning Plan be kept consistent. This may be brought about in two ways: by rezoning any parcels that are not in conformance with the Comprehensive Plan, or by amending the Comprehensive Plan.
The key point is that the Comprehensive Plan has little value to the community if the Comprehensive Plan and the Zoning Plan are not brought into conformity.
The Comprehensive Plan is intended for use by City Council members, Planning Commissioners and other City boards, City staff, developers and residents concerned about the future of the community. The purpose of the Plan is to provide a comprehensive guide to the physical development of the City. It is a basic tool to guide zoning, budgeting, capital improvement decisions and policy making.
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The Comprehensive Plan is Both a Short AND Long-Range Document
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It is tempting to view some of the elements of the Comprehensive Plan as unrealistic. However, consider the fact that a comprehensive plan is intended to be a long-range look into the future. This Plan is considered to be a look at least 20 years into the future. So when comparing current conditions with the Vision, consider how much change has taken place in the last 20 years—how many businesses and buildings have been replaced, and how many buildings, homes, parks, trails and other improvements have been constructed. Much of our surrounding today would have seemed barely imaginable 20 years ago.
By seeing where we are now and where we eventually want to be, we can begin to take the actions that will get us there. Just as importantly, a comprehensive plan also helps us avoid making decisions that will prevent us from getting there. Thus, some of the concepts incorporated in this document will take many years to bring about.
In the meantime, the Comprehensive Plan is a valuable guide to the many small decisions that need to be made to upgrade our community, and to lay the groundwork for the long-range vision. And, over time, conditions will change and there may be needs to adjust the Plan to conform to new realities.
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How Was the Comprehensive Plan Developed?
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Hayden’s most recent Comprehensive Plan was prepared in 2000.
The update is developed through a lengthy process of work sessions with the Council and Planning Commission, community input meetings, and review by the City departments. Once the draft has been circulated for public comment, the comments will be reviewed by the Planning Commission and Council, and after appropriate revisions and public hearings it will be formally adopted by the Planning Commission and City Council.
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Future Updates to the Comprehensive Plan
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Since the purpose of the Comprehensive Plan is to guide development according to the goals and needs of the community, the Plan should be changed as the needs of the community change. If it is to be an effective guide for decision-making, the Plan should be kept reasonably current. This means that the Planning Commission and City Council should amend the Comprehensive Plan as often as necessary to reflect changes in City policy directions and needs. At a minimum the Plan should be thoroughly reviewed and updated within nor more than 5 years (2009).
Both rezoning and amending the comprehensive plan must follow the City's required procedures, including public notices and public hearings.
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![Figure 1: The typical hierarchy of Land Use Regulations [Click here to view full size picture]](javascript:showPic(new picObj('media/government/compplan_1.jpg', 'Figure 1: The typical hierarchy of Land Use Regulations',300,277));)
![Figure 2: How Zoning and the Land Use Plan work together. [Click here to view full size picture]](javascript:showPic(new picObj('media/government/zoningmap.jpg', 'Figure 2: How Zoning and the Land Use Plan work together.',587,600));)