#AllInAllamakee: Revision of Allamakee County Comprehensive Plan underway Public can still provide input through survey
by Lissa Blake
It’s a group effort to overhaul the County’s comprehensive plan and a number of area stakeholders have been working toward that end. Allamakee County is currently partnering with Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission (UERPC) to develop a new comprehensive plan for the County.
According to Allamakee County Zoning Administrator Tom Blake, the County’s current plan has been in place since 2002. He said although counties are supposed to review and update their plans about every 10 years, it usually takes 15-20 years for that to happen.
“The Planning and Zoning Commission refers to this plan any time there is a request for a change in zoning,” said Blake.
A GOOD PLAN
Aaron Detter, regional planner for UERPC, is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. He said it is recommended that counties review and update their plans every five years, but not all counties are able to accomplish that.
“Allamakee County has a really good plan. The County has used it a lot over the years, but a lot has changed since 2002,” said Detter.
Detter said Allamakee County has been talking about overhauling the plan for a number of years, and was finally able to budget for it this year. According to Blake, the rewrite will cost the County about $15,000.
COMMUNITY INPUT
Detter said there have been a number of area meetings with a variety of stakeholders from throughout the county attending. “We want to get as much feedback as possible,” said Detter.
Those interested can access the All In Allamakee survey by going to https://goo.gl/peUvey. Survey results will be kept anonymous.
Detter said to garner input for the new plan, he takes an appreciative inquiry approach. “We first look at all of the county’s positives - its assets,” said Detter.
He said the plan will consider a host of issues and topics that affect quality of life in Allamakee County, ranging from public infrastructure and housing to parks and transportation. The survey asks participants a number of open-ended questions about a number of areas, including recreation, public utilities, transportation, agriculture, natural resources and more.
“We want to know what makes this a wonderful place to live,” he said.
Detter said the revision process takes on three phases: discovery, dreaming and design: “Discovery: What makes Allamakee County great? Dreaming: What’s our wish list for the future? Design: What should a new plan look like?” he explained.
MEETINGS
Detter said his organization already has held meetings in Lansing, Postville and Waukon. “Early on in the process, we developed a steering committee. It includes staff from the County, the Boards of Adjustment, Planning and Zoning, economic development and more,” he said.
“By having these meetings we want people to really feel some ownership as they help design it. This will be a community-derived, long-range vision that will guide future decisions and investments for our county and our communities,” said Detter.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Detter said the county still has a long way to go in regard to gathering input and he encourages anyone who is interested to fill out the survey or contact him or Blake about participating in future focus groups. “We’re interested in any feedback anyone may have,” he said.
Anyone with questions or comments, or who has interest in being part of the planning process can contact Aaron Detter at 563-382-6171, ext. 203 or adetter@uerpc.org, or Tom Blake at 563-568-3014 or tblake@co.allamakee.ia.us.
To obtain a paper copy of the survey, contact Detter. To view a copy of the County’s current comprehensive plan, contact Allamakee County Planning and Development at 563-568-3014. “Our next step will be to synthesize the information and come up with concepts for what vision people want to see going forward,” said Detter.
He said the results of the survey will be taken back to the steering committee. The finished version of the new comprehensive plan will need to be approved by both Allamakee County Planning and Zoning and the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors. He anticipated this happening by fall of next year.
Detter said to create more interest in the effort, he encourages people to use the hashtag #AllInAllamakee on social media.
