DC PR&D reviews proposal for update of comprehensive land use plan
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — The Dunn County Planning, Resources and Development Committee has reviewed a proposal to update the county’s comprehensive land use plan.
Anne Wodarczyk, Dunn County zoning administrator, reported on the proposal from the West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission at the PR&D committee’s July 3 meeting.
According to information in the PR&D committee’s packet, the total cost for updating the county’s comprehensive land use plan would be $79,500.
Wodarczyk said she had approached the WCWRPC and asked what the organization could do to help Dunn County update the plan.
State law requires comprehensive land use plans to be updated every 10 years, although the plans cover a 20-year period.
Dunn County’s current comprehensive land use plan was adopted in 2009 and covers the years from 2010 to 2030.
According to state law, towns, cities or villages that do not have a comprehensive land use plan and a plan commission cannot make certain decisions about land use.
Dunn County could benefit from some parts of the proposal from WCWRPC and some of the work could be done in-house by zoning staff, Wodarczyk said.
The cost of the public opinion and municipal surveys, which would involve sending out surveys to all the residents of Dunn County, would be $12,495 and that would be a good benefit for Dunn County, she said.
Farmland preservation planning, which would cost $4,834, could be completed by zoning staff and land and water conservation staff, Wodarczyk said.
Reasonable cost
Diane Morehouse, county board supervisor from Menomonie and a member of the PR&D committee, said she thought the cost proposed by WCWRPC to update the comprehensive land use plan seemed reasonable.
Updating the plan is a multi-month detailed process, she said.
Dunn County’s comprehensive land use plan is 151 pages long and includes all of the seven elements required by state law, such as transportation, housing, and agricultural, natural and cultural resources, as well as a variety of maps and appendices.
Michael Kneer, county board supervisor from the Town of Menomonie and a member of the PR&D committee, asked if the township and community engagement meetings would be conducted by WCWRPC or Dunn County staff and said he believed county staff should develop the relationships.
WCWRPC would provide assistance, but the work of the engagement meetings would be completed by county staff, Wodarczyk said.
Going to all of the town board and village board meetings “would be tough” but WCWRPC has suggested holding the meetings by groups of four at a time so it would be easier to hold the meetings, she said.
Dunn County does have planning staff, and those staff members should be involved in the process, Wodarczyk said.
The sewer district plans will be an important part of the process because Dunn County would want to target those areas for future housing, which is not in the current plan, she said.
Zoning and comp plan
Gary Bjork, county board supervisor from Colfax, asked about the relationship between zoning and the comprehensive land use plan.
The comprehensive land use is the guiding document for zoning, Wodarczyk said.
Dunn County’s zoning ordinance was rewritten and adopted in 2013, and each town decided the zoning parcel by parcel and considered their comprehensive land use plans and what would fit best, she said.
Of the 22 townships in Dunn County, only two towns do not have a comprehensive land use plan and a plan commission: the Town of Otter Creek and the Town of Tiffany.
When rezone requests are submitted to the county, the county must look at the comprehensive land use plans for future development designations on the plan, Wodarczyk said.
Dunn County cannot legally approve a rezone that goes against a comprehensive land use plan, “and that is legally established,” she said.
Focus groups
Part of WCWRPC’s planning process would involve focus groups.
The focus group meetings would involve six topic areas. How would the participants be identified? asked Tom Quinn, county board supervisor from Downing and chair of the PR&D committee.
The economic development focus group, for example, would include the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation and local business owners, Wodarczyk said.
The PR&D committee would discuss the focus groups, she said.
Would WCWRPC do all of the work for the focus groups? Kneer asked.
Dunn County would have to be involved and would establish the goals and the framework. WCWRPC would conduct the focus groups, Morehouse said.
Dunn County reached out to WCWRPC for assistance, but all of the decisions about updating the comprehensive land use would be made by the PR&D committee, Wodarczyk said.
WCWRPC would be paid to organize the procedure and the comprehensive land use plan based on feedback from the PR&D committee, she said.
Towns
Gene Ruenger, chair of the Town of Lucas, attended the PR&D committee meeting on another matter.
Quinn asked for Ruenger’s assessment of the procedure proposed by WCWRPC.
Ruenger said he had attended most if not all of the meetings when the PR&D committee was updating the zoning ordinance and then shared information with the Town of Lucas Plan Commission, which applied the information in ways that were applicable to the Town of Lucas.
Township involvement is critical for land use and rezones and provides a plan for development rather than haphazard development that is problematic, he said.
When the comprehensive plan gets to the town level, the participation of the town plan commissions is important, and Dunn County could facilitate that, Quinn said.
The towns could help identify stakeholders and focus groups because the town officials would have more “on the ground information,” and their participation is needed for the collaborative effort, Morehouse said.
The Town of Lucas has a great plan commission, and plan commission members would appreciate being included, Ruenger said.
Unzoned
Bjork noted that the proposal includes meetings with the zoned towns but not the unzoned towns.
In month nine or ten of the procedure for updating the comprehensive plan, there will be work on the preferred land use maps, which are key for zoning, Wodarczyk said.
The unzoned towns should also be included in the process somehow, she said, adding that she would bring that up with WCWRPC staff at a meeting being held that afternoon.
The more towns that are zoned, the stronger that Dunn County’s zoning is, Bjork said.
Wodarczyk said that in conversations with WCWRPC staff, she would go into detail and would determine a more solid plan for the comprehensive land use plan update.
When more information is available, the PR&D committee can review and approve the proposal before moving forward, she said.
Involving the West Central Regional Planning Commission will be a good process, Quinn said.
Project cost
The following project costs would be associated with WCWRPC’s work to help Dunn County update the comprehensive land use plan:
• General plan development — $22,333.
• Farmland preservation planning — $4,384.
• Committee and town engagement meetings — $25,404.
• Focus group meetings — $14,884.
• Public opinion and municipal surveys — $12,495.
• Total WCWRPC project costs — $79,500.
Optional activities would include:
• Regional public meetings — $8,900.
• Open house on the draft plan — $3,200.
• Optional hard copy community survey — $625.
• Executive summary or poster plan — $2,520.
The process to update Dunn County’s comprehensive land use plan would be expected to start in October or November, and the entire process would take about a year and a half.
