What is a Comprehensive Plan?

A Comprehensive Plan is a community's guide for making land use decisions. It is based on the community’s values and vision for the future. The Comprehensive Plan guides decision-makers towards the community vision through goals and policies. Expressed with a land use map and through policies then codified in land development codes it coordinates, and sets the stage for, other City plans i.e. capital improvement plans, parks plans, streets plans, utility plans, etc. In short, it is a central manuscript, which coordinates city efforts and priorities.

The City has done extensive planning efforts in the past including but not limited to: Infill and Redevelopment Program, The Growth Plan, The Strategic Plan, Pear Park Neighborhood Plan, 24 Road Corridor Plan, 24 Road Sub-area Transportation Plan, Riverside Parkway Plan, 2030 Transportation Plan. However, these plans were primarily done for a particular purpose and with a limited scope. For example, the Growth Plan addresses future land use but does not include infrastructure; the Infill and Redevelopment Program focuses on one particular part of the City but does not necessarily address related traffic circulation; the 2030 Transportation Plan focuses on major road systems and not necessarily on the cost of services needed to maintain them over time. Often these plans are used in isolation of one another and isolation from decisions of other departments. Without coordination, individual decisions may contradict each other and create unintentional inefficiencies. Until recently, informal coordination was adequate for our community. However, as population grows, management decisions become more complex and interrelated. The City must respond to new development proposals at a faster pace while limiting growth impacts from diminishing the quality of life Grand Valley residents enjoy.

The Comprehensive Plan will help focus City funds to reach the common goals and engage all decision makers so the municipal body can function as a whole. The comprehensive Plan will be a living document, one that is referenced in daily decision-making. It ties individual plans and programs together, and relates them back to the common goals of the City. Thus, it serves as a reference guide for all city departments. With a Comprehensive Plan that combines city needs together with the public vision, all City departments can more efficiently coordinate efforts to reach that desired vision. With one plan instead of several individual plans, the City can reduce duplication and potential conflicts and work toward that uniform goal. The Comprehensive Plan will become the umbrella that aligns other plans and programs the City has in place today, weaves them into one consistent fabric and unifies the direction to reach an overarching vision for Grand Junction.

Comprehensive Plan main page

Last Update: February 22, 2010