MONROE - The city's Plan Commission took its first steps Wednesday, April 9 toward reviewing and updating its comprehensive land use plan.
It has been about 10 years since the last review.
The intent of the update is to investigate the community's goals and desires for city development and to lay out broad geographical areas for residential, recreational, commercial and industrial uses.
City Administrator Phil Rath will begin the process with a call to the Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, which offers expert planning and economic development services for communities.
The Plan Commission also wants a steering committee to oversee the process.
"We have to be proactive," said Mayor Bill Ross, chairman of the Plan Commission, "and think about development for future economic growth."
Ross said steering committee members will include leaders from local entities, such as the Chamber of Commerce and Green County Development Corporation, which are already involved in economic development activities. A resulting "common vision" of those involved will go into an updated plan that will come back to the Plan Commission and then to the Common Council for approvals, he added.
"And we're going to get started right away with the Southwest Regional Planning Commission," he said.
Mike Johnson, executive director for Green County Development Corporation, has a community and regional planning degree and said knowing where Monroe is planning to locate different aspects of its city is a help to him at GCDC.
Knowing "what's going to go where" makes the city "more attractive to businesses looking for a new place" to build, he said.
Identifying where the city is expecting to build helps in creating easy accessibility to those areas, such as parks in residential areas, Rath said.
Johnson noted transportation improvement also comes with planning and believes the city will benefit from using the county's geographic information system.
"I think there's some opportunity for the city and county to share some data, too," he added.
It has been about 10 years since the last review.
The intent of the update is to investigate the community's goals and desires for city development and to lay out broad geographical areas for residential, recreational, commercial and industrial uses.
City Administrator Phil Rath will begin the process with a call to the Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, which offers expert planning and economic development services for communities.
The Plan Commission also wants a steering committee to oversee the process.
"We have to be proactive," said Mayor Bill Ross, chairman of the Plan Commission, "and think about development for future economic growth."
Ross said steering committee members will include leaders from local entities, such as the Chamber of Commerce and Green County Development Corporation, which are already involved in economic development activities. A resulting "common vision" of those involved will go into an updated plan that will come back to the Plan Commission and then to the Common Council for approvals, he added.
"And we're going to get started right away with the Southwest Regional Planning Commission," he said.
Mike Johnson, executive director for Green County Development Corporation, has a community and regional planning degree and said knowing where Monroe is planning to locate different aspects of its city is a help to him at GCDC.
Knowing "what's going to go where" makes the city "more attractive to businesses looking for a new place" to build, he said.
Identifying where the city is expecting to build helps in creating easy accessibility to those areas, such as parks in residential areas, Rath said.
Johnson noted transportation improvement also comes with planning and believes the city will benefit from using the county's geographic information system.
"I think there's some opportunity for the city and county to share some data, too," he added.