Public Participation

The new law provides specific minimum standards that all local planning efforts must follow, whether the planning effort receives state funding or not. Here are the major procedures that local governments must follow:

• They must adopt written procedures designed to foster public participation throughout the planning process. These procedures must provide for wide distribution of alternative elements of a comprehensive plan and provide the opportunity for public hearings and written comments from the public.
• If plans and plan amendments are recommended by a vote of the local planning commission, copies of the recommended plan must be sent to overlapping jurisdictions, all adjacent communities and the Land Council.
• Final plans must be adopted by ordinance by the local governing body. It is not sufficient for plans to be adopted by a plan commission alone.
• Local governments must hold at least one public hearing before a plan is adopted. Once adopted, the plan must be filed with the local library and the adjacent local governments.

The new law requires the University of Wisconsin Extension to develop model ordinances for traditional neighborhood developments and for conservation subdivisions. Traditional neighborhood developments are compact, mixed-use neighborhoods where residential, commercial and civic buildings are within close proximity to each other.

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