Comprehensive Plan Update

The City's Community Development staff has been working on a preliminary draft copy of the Comprehensive Plan Update. The City’s current Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 1993, and included information gathered between 1989 and mid-1993. That information now is 10 years old. West Des Moines’ pace of development, the need to address questions and interest in areas outside the last plan’s study area, and good planning practice call for our current Plan Update effort. The Plan includes information on the history of the City, population and housing statistics, city-wide goals and objectives, action plans, land use designations that guide development, transportation plans, and sub area plans.

Iowa State Code requires that a City’s zoning be based on a comprehensive plan. By definition, it is a general document that is a statement of the City’s policies and intent toward development. The plan provides guidance for the location, form, and function of development and the maintenance of the community. Other plans, efforts, and regulations, such as the City’s Zoning Ordinance, Parks and Recreation Master Plan, CIP, Hazard Mitigation Plan, and Balanced Scorecard are more specific documents that help to implement the broader elements espoused in the Comprehensive Plan.

The preliminary draft of the update to the City of West Des Moines' Comprehensive Plan will be presented to the Plan & Zoning Commission beginning February 22, 2006.

If you are interested in reviewing a copy of the Comprehensive Plan Update, please check the wdmHighlight on our City's front page, where a link to the preliminary draft is available. Soon, an online bulletin board will be available for you to make comments about the plan after reviewing it. I will notify you on this blog and through a notice on the website front page when that bulletin board has been completed and is accessible to you.