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. Memo to Planning Commission/Comp Plan Amendment December 18,2001 Page 2 • From the initial meeting of the Steering Committee to City Council adoption of the Plan was 22 months. Plan Implementation Once the Comprehensive Plan was adopted, a series of land use plan amendments, zone changes and planning studies were needed.During the first four months of 1996 the Council approved 12 zone changes and 2 land use plan amendments in order to make the land use map and zoning map consistent with the new Comprehensive Plan.In 1997 two additional zone changes and land use plan amendments were needed in order to make certain areas of the City consistent with the Plan. Two planning studies were also completed in support of the newly adopted Plan. One was the Economic Strategic Plan and the other was the East Elk River Study. The Economic Strategic Plan identified certain areas of the City that would be suitable for Business Park zoning.Those areas included the west business park,the Mulvaney property and property west of Twin Lakes Road and east of the railroad tracks. The necessary land use plan amendments and zone changes needed to implement the Plan were completed in 1998. The second study,the East Elk River Study,was started in 1996 and accepted in 1997.The study investigated the feasibility of extending urban services into east Elk River. The construction of Twin Lakes Road from County Road 13 to 171`Avenue and the extension III of sewer and water through the area and along east Highway 10 were the results of the study. Furthermore,the Trott Brook Farm development and Elk River Crossing could not have been approved without the improvements authorized by the East Elk River Study. Summary As you can see,to do a full Comprehensive Plan amendment is almost a 2 year process from drafting the Plan to adopting the Plan.The impacts of amending the Comprehensive Plan extend out for years beyond the date when the amendments to the Plan are actually adopted. For instance,the improvements identified in the East Elk River Study were completed in the fall of 2001, almost 6 years from when Comprehensive Plan amendment was adopted. A less extensive alternative would be to identify specific issues such as development of the gravel mining area,residential density,transportation and then amend those sections of the Comprehensive Plan that relate to those issues. Bob Minton,Chairman of the 1995 Steering Committee,drafted the attached memo to the City Council.In it he identifies some of the pitfalls the Committee encountered along the way and offered some advice on how to improve the process in the future. • S:\PLANNING\SCOTT\Pc comp plan 21-18.doc