2017 Spencer Comprehensive Land Use Plan

Spencer, Iowa  2017  Comprehensive Plan

C HAPTER

3 .

P LANNING

B ACKGROUND &

P UBLIC

I NPUT

BACKGROUND OF COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING IN SPENCER The Northwest Iowa Planning and Development Commission (NWIPDC), formed in 1973, is responsible for coordinating activities in the region and assisting member governments with technical assistance and planning projects. The formation of NWIPDC marked the first real effort of a genuine “regional” planning commission in northwest Iowa. The City of Spencer, like many other cities and counties across northwest Iowa initiated its first planning efforts in the early 1970s by participating in a 701 Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Urban Planning Assistance Program. The original planning effort in Spencer consisted of working with the Northwest Iowa Area 3 Regional Council of Governments (previous name of the NWIPDC) to complete the city’s first comprehensive plan. Spencer’s first comprehensive plan was completed in 1970. For almost 30 years, the planning and zoning commission, board of adjustment and city council utilized the city’s original comprehensive plan in making land use decisions to guide zoning issues and support growth within the community. However, by the late 1990s the city’s demographics, population, housing and economic conditions of the community had changed significantly. It became evident the city needed to update its primary land use policy document. During 1998-2000, the city once again worked with NWIPDC to complete a new Spencer Comprehensive Plan. The city’s new comprehensive plan was officially adopted in early 2001. With continued changing economic conditions and growth in the community, the City of Spencer completed a review and updated the city’s demographics and land use policy statements in 2008. In 2015, city officials once again indicated a need to update the city’s planning documents, especially with interest in community growth, annexations and land use policies affecting future growth trends. Spencer city staff sought the planning assistance of the regional Council of Governments (NWIPDC). Northwest Iowa Planning and Development Commission staff planners initiated the third revision and update to the Spencer comprehensive plan in the fall of 2015. Once the city’s comprehensive plan update is completed, the Planning and Zoning Commission and city staff may decide to review the city’s zoning ordinance and subdivision regulations, to maintain consistency with the new goals and policies outlined in this new land use planning document. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND INPUT In October 2015, the city launched two surveys to assist city leaders, government officials, and other private interests in obtaining residents’ opinions about the community. The first survey was a Community Visioning Survey that was distributed through the newspaper and available to complete on the city’s website. This survey was open to the public from October 8 th through November 20 th , published in the Spencer Daily Reporter on October 13 th and 20 th , and announced to the community at the October 19 th and November 16 th City Council meetings. The second survey was a Targeted Planning Survey intended for city staff, elected officials, boards, committees, and local community and business leaders. This survey was also sent out via email by the city and respondents were asked to complete it online. The completed surveys were collected at Spencer City Hall or via the website Kwiksurveys.com. The community wide survey received a total of 26 respondents. Of these 26 surveys, 21 were submitted online and 5 were delivered to city hall. The second survey intended for the targeted segment had 90 responses of which 86 were online and 4 delivered to city hall.

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NW Iowa Planning & Development