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Why should a community plan?
There are many reasons why a community will want to prepare a community plan. A plan can:
- Help the community better prepare for building infrastructure and providing services (as an example, a planned clinic project can be aligned with planned water and sewer extensions to ensure the clinic’s water supply and community health and safety issues);
- Provide a team approach for identifying goals the entire community can support;
- Help the community to choose courses of action that benefit the community’s economic and general well-being; and
- Reduce environmental damage and protect resources by identifying areas where development should be avoided.
Also, for some agencies, like the Denali Commission, having a community plan is a requirement for receiving grant funds. (Pages 6-7 of the Planning Commission Handbook [PCH] provide a very detailed explanation of reasons for planning.)
Why are there different types of Plans?
Many types of planning are done at the community level, including:
Federal, state, and regional agencies also conduct planning in communities. Plans that they might prepare include:
Another type of plan that isn’t as common as those listed above is the “Tool Box” plan, which was prepared for the Denali Commission and provides communities with a step by step planning process (set of tools).
What is a community plan?
A community plan can be anything from a visioning plan, which uses a simple process of listing or in very basic terms describing the community’s vision for the future, to a comprehensive plan, which provides guidance for a range of community concerns and includes a future land use map.
The Tool Box plan, a step by step guide developed by the Denali Commission, is one format accepted by the agency, but the Denali Commission accepts other formats. The Tool Box was developed so that a community could write its own community plan, without assistance from others.
What is a comprehensive plan?
A comprehensive plan is generally recognized as the plan that AS 29.40.040 requires a municipality to adopt before adopting land use regulations. According to AS 29.40.030, the comprehensive plan is a compilation of policy statements, goals, standards, and maps for guiding the physical, social, and economic development, both private and public of a community. Further, the comprehensive plan may include, but is not limited to, statements of policies, goals, and standards; a land use plan; a community facilities plan; a transportation plan; and recommendations for implementation of the comprehensive plan. AS 29.40.030 requires that the municipality adopts the comprehensive plan by ordinance.
Are there situations that require a community to have a specific plan in place?
Yes. If an incorporated municipality (AS 29.35.260) wants to regulate land use, the community must prepare a comprehensive plan as provided for in Alaska Statutes Title 29 (AS 29). Most funding agencies, require that a community have a plan in place identifying as a priority the project for which they are requesting funding. The type of plan required depends on the type of activity to be funded, as an example the funding agency may require a utility or sanitation plan and a business plan for a proposed water and sewer project. The federal Economic Development Administration requires and only accepts the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy format. Whenever a new project specific plan is developed, it should be incorporated into the community’s overall plan and reviewed and updated on the same schedule that the community plan is on.
How often should a community’s plan be updated?
Generally, the community’s overall plan should be reviewed by the governing body or planning committee each year and if appropriate, updated to reflect changes that have occurred in the community. Every five years, the community plan should be undergo a thorough review by the community through the planning process and should be amended as needed to reflect changes in community goals.
Who is responsible for doing planning?
Certain classes of municipalities are assigned responsibility in state statute to do planning and certain grants or programs might require that an organization applying for funding prepare a plan in order to receive these funds. Within a community, various organizations, such as the municipality, tribe, and village corporation, might do community planning. The challenge for any community is to bring all the planning efforts together in one interconnected community plan document. In Alaska there are unilateral levels of government providing services (municipal and tribal), each created separately under different authorities with their own separate powers and rules of procedure; however, for the most part, each serves the same group of people. One method for ensuring both entities are working together for the benefit of the community is to attempt to coordinate planning efforts as much as possible. One way to assist coordination is through regular joint meetings or through formal establishment of a committee that includes representatives from each of the various groups active in the community. Community members as stakeholders have a responsibility to provide input during the planning process and to be familiar with the information contained in the plan.
Do the city and tribe have to have one plan?
If both the city and tribal government represent the community at large, it makes sense to develop one plan, rather than two different plans. Some granting agencies, like the Denali Commission, either require or encourage municipal and tribal governments in a community to work together and develop one plan that is adopted by both governments. Some agencies also require project specific plan documents, such as a new water and sewer project or solid waste project, that may not have been anticipated when the original plan was prepared. In this situation the original community plan should be given consideration when preparing the project specific plan and the project specific plan should be incorporated into the overall community plan as an amendment.
How much does it cost to do a plan?
The cost of a community plan varies depending on several factors, including, but not limited to:
- The type of plan being developed,
- The size of the community,
- Whether a consultant is used,
- Whether travel costs are involved,
- The number of meetings required to complete the plan.
Community plans can be prepared using volunteer labor, or local agency staff (for example, municipal or tribal government, regional Native nonprofit, or borough), or other agency planning staff. The Mini-Grant Program has funded plans that cost $7,500 to $30,000 and consultant contracts costing $30,000 to more than $80,000 are common.
What sources of funding are available for doing a plan?
Communities often seek funding from outside sources for planning. A grant is just one choice available to communities for community planning funding. The Community Funding Database identifies several funding sources available to communities. It is important to explore all resources available to the community before deciding if additional funding is necessary and what source best suits the community’s need.
Should a community hire a consultant?
There are several factors to consider when deciding whether to hire a consultant. The most important is what type of plan is being developed. A sanitation plan requires a degree of technical expertise that isn’t readily available in most communities. On the other hand, a community visioning plan is a relatively simple process and there are many resources available to guide a community through the process.
The planning process isn’t necessarily difficult, but it does require a commitment of time and effort to successfully complete a plan. Guidance on how to do a plan is available from entities such as the Denali Commission, which provides the Tool Box template, and Division of Community and Regional Affairs (DCRA), which provides numerous publications on planning. (See the additional Resources section at the bottom of this document for additional listings.) DCA also maintains the Community Database, which contains important background information for providing historical and demographic information, such as population, housing, public facilities, services, etc.) in a community’s plan documents.
If a community has people who can compile the background information, facilitate the community meetings needed to gather input for the plan, and write the plan, it can probably do the plan without hiring a consultant.
With that said, however, getting all but the simplest plan done with volunteer labor is very difficult. The individuals working on the plan should, in most instances, be working on the plan in their employed capacity. Other considerations on whether to hire a consultant include:
Are there issues in the community that can be dealt with more effectively by a consultant—someone who isn’t from the community?
A consultant will bring a different “flavor” to the planning process. Is the community comfortable with the idea of having an “outsider” taking the community through the planning process?
How should a community select a consultant?
If a community decides to hire a consultant, selection of the consultant will be the most important decision the community can make. The person or business hired will greatly influence the outcome of the planning process. The community needs to know what it wants from a consultant, write a Request for Proposal that describes what the community expects from the consultant, and do a complete assessment of those who apply. (The additional Resources section of the chapter provides links to additional information on hiring consultants.) References should be checked, and other communities that have used the consultant to prepare a community plan should be contacted to find out what they liked and didn’t like about the consultant.
How does the Capital Improvements Program (CIP) fit in with community planning?
The term “capital project” describes many types of activities, but in general, a capital project is a community asset of significant value that has a service life of several years. Examples include community-owned buildings, roadways, utility systems, landfills, and heavy equipment. In small communities, a capital project might also include a fire truck or computer system, because the relative value of each of these assets is significant. A CIP is a multi-year (usually for about five years) guide identifying capital projects needed by the community or municipality. In smaller communities, the CIP is usually developed by and adopted by the local governing body. In larger municipalities, the planning commission usually recommends a CIP to the governing body (page 62, PCH). The CIP should be incorporated into the community plan and this section of the plan should be updated as the community works its way through its CIP priorities or identifies new projects and priorities.
The many benefits of a CIP plan include:
- Timing projects to make better use of equipment and labor can save the community money.
- Coordinating the construction of projects may prevent the waste of funds. (For example, a newly paved street may not have to be torn up to replace utility lines.)
- Planning ahead can help ensure that high priority projects are built first.
- Citizens tend to be more receptive toward a project if they know it has been assessed in relationship to other needed projects.
- Agencies and others doing business in the community know what capital improvements are needed and supported by the community.
- The community is in a better position to seek funding for needed capital projects.
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