 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
WISCONSIN SMART GROWTH ELEMENTS
Wisconsin’s Smart Growth law requires communities to address nine key elements:
1. Issues and opportunities
2. Utilities and community facilities
3. Economic development
4. Housing
5. Transportation
6. Agriculture, cultural and natural resources
7. Intergovernmental cooperation
8. Land use
9. Implementation
1. Issues and opportunities element
Background information on the local governmental unit and a statement
of overall objectives, policies, goals and programs of the local governmental
unit to guide the future development and redevelopment of the local governmental
unit over a 20-year planning period. Background information shall include
population, household and employment forecasts that the local governmental
unit uses in developing its comprehensive plan, and demographic trends,
age distribution, educational levels, income levels and employment characteristics
that exist within the local governmental unit.
2. Housing element
A compilation of objectives, policies, goals, maps and programs of
the local governmental unit to provide an adequate housing supply that
meets
existing and forecasted housing demand in the local governmental unit.
The element shall assess the age, structural, value and occupancy characteristics
of the local governmental unit's housing stock. The element shall also
identify specific policies and programs that promote the development
of housing for residents of the local governmental unit and provide
a range
of housing choices that meet the needs of persons of all income levels
and of all age groups and persons with special needs, policies and
programs that promote the availability of land for the development
or redevelopment
of low-income and moderate-income housing, and policies and programs
to maintain or rehabilitate the local governmental unit's existing
housing stock.
3. Transportation element
A compilation of objectives, policies, goals, maps and programs to
guide the future development of the various modes of transportation,
including
highways, transit, transportation systems for persons with disabilities,
bicycles, walking, railroads, air transportation, trucking and
water transportation. The element shall compare the local governmental
unit's
objectives, policies,
goals and programs to state and regional transportation plans.
The element shall also identify highways within the local governmental
unit by function
and incorporate state, regional and other applicable transportation
plans, including transportation corridor plans, county highway
functional
and
jurisdictional studies, urban area and rural area transportation
plans, airport master plans and rail plans that apply in the local
governmental
unit.
4. Utilities and community facilities element
A compilation of objectives, policies, goals, maps and programs
to guide the future development of utilities and community facilities
in the local
governmental unit such as sanitary sewer service, storm water
management, water supply, solid waste disposal, on-site wastewater
treatment
technologies,
recycling facilities, parks, telecommunications facilities, power-generating
plants and transmission lines, cemeteries, health care facilities,
child care facilities and other public facilities, such as police,
fire and
rescue facilities, libraries, schools and other governmental
facilities. The element
shall describe the location, use and capacity of existing public
utilities and community facilities that serve the local governmental
unit, shall
include an approximate timetable that forecasts the need in the
local governmental unit to expand or rehabilitate existing utilities
and
facilities or to
create new utilities and facilities and shall assess future needs
for government services in the local governmental unit that are
related
to such utilities
and facilities.
5. Agricultural, natural and cultural resources element
A compilation of objectives, policies, goals, maps and programs
for the conservation, and promotion of the effective management,
of natural
resources
such as groundwater, forests, productive agricultural areas,
environmentally sensitive areas, threatened and endangered
species, stream corridors,
surface water, floodplains, wetlands, wildlife habitat, metallic
and nonmetallic
mineral resources, parks, open spaces, historical and cultural
resources, community design, recreational resources and other
natural resources.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the State Historical
Society and UW-Madison’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
are working together on a guide for this element of Smart Growth. It
will be available
in 2001 and you will be able to access it from this site.
6. Economic development element
A compilation of objectives, policies, goals, maps and programs
to promote the stabilization, retention or expansion, of
the economic base and quality
employment opportunities in the local governmental unit,
including an analysis of the labor force and economic base of the local
governmental unit. The
element shall assess categories or particular types of new
businesses and industries that are desired by the local governmental
unit.
The
element
shall assess the local governmental unit's strengths and
weaknesses
with respect to attracting and retaining businesses and industries,
and shall
designate an adequate number of sites for such businesses
and industries. The element shall also evaluate and promote the
use of environmentally
contaminated sites for commercial or industrial uses. The
element shall also identify county, regional and state economic development
programs
that apply to the local governmental unit.
7. Intergovernmental cooperation element
A compilation of objectives, policies, goals, maps and programs
for joint planning and decision making with other jurisdictions,
including
school
districts and adjacent local governmental units, for siting
and building public facilities and sharing public services.
The element
shall analyze
the relationship of the local governmental unit to school
districts and adjacent local governmental units, and to
the region, the
state and other
governmental units. The element shall incorporate any plans
or agreements to which the local governmental unit is a
party under
s. 66.023, 66.30
or 66.945. The element shall identify existing or potential
conflicts between the local governmental unit and other
governmental units
that are specified
in this paragraph and describe processes to resolve such
conflicts.
8. Land-use element
A compilation of objectives, policies, goals, maps and
programs to guide the future development and redevelopment
of public
and private
property.
The element shall contain a listing of the amount, type,
intensity and net density of existing uses of land in
the local governmental
unit,
such as agricultural, residential, commercial, industrial
and other public and
private uses. The element shall analyze trends in the
supply, demand and price of land, opportunities for redevelopment
and existing
and potential land-use conflicts. The element shall contain
projections, based on the
background information specified in par. (a), for 20
years with detailed
maps, in 5-year increments, of future residential, agricultural,
commercial and industrial land uses including the assumptions
of net densities
or other spatial assumptions upon which the projections
are based. The element
shall also include a series of maps that shows current
land uses and future
land uses that indicate productive agricultural soils,
natural limitations for building site development, floodplains,
wetlands
and other environmentally
sensitive lands, the boundaries of areas to which services
of public utilities and community facilities, as those
terms are
used in
par. (d), will be
provided in the future, consistent with the timetable
described in par. (d), and the general location of future land uses
by net density
or other
classifications.
9. Implementation element
A compilation of programs and specific actions to be completed in a stated
sequence, including proposed changes to any applicable zoning ordinances,
official maps, sign regulations, erosion and storm water control ordinances,
historic preservation ordinances, site plan regulations, design review
ordinances, building codes, mechanical codes, housing codes, sanitary
codes or subdivision ordinances, to implement the objectives, policies,
plans and programs contained in pars. (a) to (h). The element shall describe
how each of the elements of the comprehensive plan will be integrated
and made consistent with the other elements of the comprehensive plan,
and shall include a mechanism to measure the local governmental unit's
progress toward achieving all aspects of the comprehensive plan. The
element shall include a process for updating the comprehensive plan.
A comprehensive plan under this subsection shall be updated no less than
once every 10 years.