City Council Meeting Date: January 7, 2025
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Jake Reilly, Community Development Director
Mikayla Schmidt, City Planner
Title
Update and Discussion of Comprehensive Plan.
Body
Action Requested:
Review and discuss the status of the 2045-horizon Comprehensive Plan, including adoption timeline.
Summary Report:
The Planning Commission, in coordination with the Community Development Department and consultant team, is pleased to present a draft of the 2045-horizon City of Northfield Comprehensive Plan. The draft incorporates several major policy directions from 2008 Comprehensive Plan. It also intentionally includes and incorporates the policy directions and stated outcomes - and some strategies - that are relevant from plans adopted after 2008 like the Climate Action and the Riverfront Enhancement Action Plan.
This Comprehensive Plan document is different from previous iterations in that it is outcomes focused. This is intentional and designed to leave flexibility in implementation activities to most effectively meet the changing needs of the community, respond as quickly as possible to changing market conditions, technology, funding opportunities, and strategic direction as set by the Council and other advisory boards and commissions, including the Planning Commission.
The 2045-horizon Comprehensive Plan was initiated in October 2023 after a request for qualifications was issued. The plan is now on-track to be adopted before the close of the first quarter of 2025.
Monthly reports have been shared through Planning Commission meetings, Steering Committee meetings, and the Comprehensive Plan website. City staff and consultant teams have also heldmeetings with multiple boards and commissions. The appointed 18-member steering committee and the Stantec/NEOO consultant team worked together to draft an engaging, easy to read and implement document that honors past comprehensive planning efforts and incorporates relevant elements of the robust Climate Action Plan (2019), bicycle, trail, and pedestrian planning documents, and the Riverfront Enhancement Action Plan (2020).
Staff has also presented to relevant boards and commissions to ask for insights and incorporate those thoughts and goals into the document while the NEOO Partners engagement team focused on conversations with residents - whether in their neighborhoods, at their jobs, or through focus groups with discrete populations with specific shared interests including K-12 students, the faith community, the disability community, the Latine population and many others. Staff has also worked to connect other critical planning documents such as the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and the shorter-term, Administration Department’s five-year strategic plan efforts in those conversations and have presented those links to members of boards and commissions.
The rationale for the above being that the CIP implements the goals of a jurisdiction's comprehensive plan, by ensuring timely construction or renovation of infrastructure to provide the level of services identified in the comprehensive plan and help coordinate priorities with those reflected in other supporting plans or documents like the Strategic Plan and Climate Action Plan. This helps a locality review and prioritize projects eligible for Federal and State transportation funds when the projects are needed.
Further, how and where infrastructure is installed and/or updated impacts housing and economic development, as does access to well-maintained infrastructure like roads, sidewalks, and pedestrian and bicycling facilities. Conversations with boards and commissions were designed to arrive at a shared understanding of the relationship between the comprehensive plan, the capital improvement plan, housing and economic development policies, and tools to address related concerns.
To that end, the land use and transportation elements of the comprehensive plan - separated from each other in the adopted 2008 comprehensive plan - have been linked so that the natural relationship between how the land is used and how people get to and from those uses, for example, from home to school or school to work, is leveraged to ensure people can move safely to and from places using whatever means works best for them, whether that’s a bicycle, a wheelchair, a scooter, or a motor vehicle, or any other mode of transport.
Similarly, having a stable, secure home and economic prosperity have a known positive relationship. Therefore, housing, and economic development are similarly combined into one chapter addressing economic security, stability, and mobility and the relationship with having a safe, stable, sustainable, and affordable place to live. Planning for economic development and housing together - as we have reunited land use and transportation - helps Northfield grow in ways which are more inclusive, equitable and sustainable.
The plan clearly links what we heard from the hundreds of people we spoke with - whether for two minutes or two hours - to desired outcomes. These community-derived outcomes will be measurable, and data driven and are designed to be incorporated into shorter-term strategic planning efforts that began in October and will continue into the new year.
The presentation will cover:
• The process
• What we heard and from whom
• How that input is reflected in the plan document
• How other existing and adopted plans fit into the 2045-horizon planning document
• How to read and use the plan
• Highlights of the plan
Alternative Options:
N/A
Financial Impacts:
TBD
Tentative Timeline:
Comprehensive Plan Update Timeline
• October 28, 2023: Public Kick-off meeting for the Comprehensive Plan, Greenvale Park School R
• November 7, 2023: Steering Committee appointed by City Council
• November 11, 2023: Staff requests adjustments to scope and schedule based on an understanding that Planning Commission members are interested in more communication from the consultant team, or staff, about the Plan.
• December 18, 2023: Steering Committee meeting No. 1 R
• December 20, 2023 - Northfield Youth on Boards/Mayor’s Youth Council and members of Age Friendly Northfield steering committee R
• January - March 2024 - Vision phase: Staff/consultant team meets with other boards/commissions for structured/facilitated conversations about desired outcomes of 2045-horizon comprehensive plan.
§ January 17, 2024 - Environmental Quality Commission R
§ January 29, 2024 - Housing and Redevelopment Authority R
§ February 5, 2024 - Parks and Recreation Advisory Board R
§ February 7, 2024 - Heritage Preservation commission R
§ February 14, 2024 - Library Board R
§ February 26, 2024 - Economic Development Authority R
§ February 28, 2024 - Human Rights Commission R
§ March 14, 2024 - Laura Baker Services Association R
• February 28, 2024 - Steering Committee meeting No. 2 R
• February/March, 2024 - Pop-up engagement events: Northfield Hospital, Kwik Trip/Post, Dawn’s Corner Bar, Viking Terrace, NCRC/50th North/Library Oasis R
• January through April 2024 - Analysis Phase
• April 11, 2024 - Rotary Club of Northfield R
• April 18, 2024 - Planning Commission discussion R
• May 16, 2024 - Planning Commission discussion, DRAFT Climate Analysis R
• May 22, 2024 - Steering Committee No. 3 R
• May 29, 2024 - Joint work session Planning Commission and Economic Development Authority R
• April through July 2024 - Plan Phase
• July 24, 2024 - Steering Committee No. 4 R
• July 25, 2024 - Open House at Northfield Public Library, Crazy Days R
• August 29, 2024 - Steering Committee No. 5 R
• September 19, 2024 - HRA Update on comprehensive planning R
• October 8, 2024 - City Council work session R
• October 9, 2024 - Implementation work session with City staff R
• October 9, 2024 - Steering Committee No. 6 R
• October 29. 2024 - Draft open house event, City Hall
• October 30, 2024 - Planning Commission work session R
• December 2, 2024 - Public Hearing draft available R
• December 19, 2024 - Public Hearing, Planning Commission
• January 9, 2025 - City Council update and discussion
• January 16, 2025 - Public Hearing (part 2), Planning Commission meeting and recommendation to Council (Path 1)
• January 21, OR February 4, 2025 - (Path 1) Adoption of final document by Council
• February 20, 2025 - (Path 2) Planning Commission meeting and recommendation to Council
• March 4, 2025 - (Path 2) Adoption of final document by Council