Module 4: The Planning Process
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Now that you know what it is you are creating, you are better equipped to understand the planning process. This module walks through five phases of the planning process and how each phase plays a role. Register online now!
Unit 4.1: Overview of the Planning Process
In order to develop or update a comprehensive plan, you need a process. The planning process is not unlike how we plan our everyday activities. For example, before you start planning a trip across the country, you need an overall view of how you are going to get there. Once you have that, you can plan the details for each part of the trip. This unit provides an overview of the phases involved in developing or updating the comprehensive plan and the details that will assist with actually performing each phase. Learn More
Unit 4.2: Working with the Public
Working with the public is a critical element of the planning process. Knowing what the public wants or needs has a direct bearing on the content of the comprehensive plan. This unit describes various techniques by which a planning commission works with the public and identifies what is required for making that interaction successful. Learn More
Unit 4.3: Collecting and Analyzing Data
A successful planning effort begins with useful and relevant information. This unit describes the various pieces of information that may be available and may be able to contribute to the plan. While not all elements of data collection and analysis are needed for every community, it is important to understand the general process used to ensure that the information is meaningful and contributes to the rest of the plan. Learn More
Unit 4.4: Issues, Vision, Goals and Objectives
The needs and wants of the public, coupled with the collected and analyzed data, are the foundation for establishing the vision, goals and objectives, and policies that are stated in the comprehensive plan. This unit provides a process that citizen planners can use as a way to establish these important statements. Learn More
Unit 4.5: Drafting the Plan
Knowing what you want in the comprehensive plan and actually writing it are two different things. This unit looks at what a planning official needs to consider when drafting and reviewing the comprehensive plan. Learn More
Unit 4.6: Adopting the Plan
Michigan’s planning enabling acts specify a process, including timing of parts of the process, for formal adoption of a comprehensive plan. Parts of this process have been mentioned in previous units. This unit provides a step-by-step description of actions that a planning commission must take as it moves the comprehensive plan toward adoption. Learn More
Unit 4.7: Going from Issue to Future Land Use
One challenge that planning commissions face is the task of taking land use issues, turning them into policy, and then ultimately deciding just where in the community the policies should be implemented. The future land use map of the comprehensive plan visually conveys how and where the community wishes to implement its land use policies. This unit provides example processes that community planners can utilize when faced with similar implementation decisions. Learn More
