COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

TIMELINE

Major Comprehensive Plan Activities and Events
Major activities and events that occurred during the development of the Comprehensive Plan included:

Fall 2002 Public Meetings - Background Information and Issues Identification
The public phase of the Comprehensive Planning process began with a kickoff meeting held October 28, 2002 at the Madison Civic Center. The kickoff meeting was followed by a series of local open house meetings with similar formats held at eight locations throughout the community. A list of meeting dates and locations for the local open houses is provided in Appendix 1-3, Volumes I and II of the Introduction chapters in the Public Hearing Draft Comprehensive Plan.

Fall 2003 Public Meetings – Issues Validation, Priorities and Alternatives Exploration
In Fall 2003, the City held a series of three public meetings to validate the issues that had been identified during the Fall 2002 meetings, and begin to determine which were the most important to address in the Comprehensive Plan. Participants were also asked to rank the relative importance of these goals, objectives and policies. The intent of the exercise was to identify issues, which Madison citizens felt were important, but not being effectively addressed, as focus areas for developing the Comprehensive Plan recommendations. 

Comprehensive Plan Mail Survey
In the Fall and Winter of 2003, Real World Research, Inc., worked with City staff to develop a mail survey that explored the opinions and preferences of Madison residents regarding a variety of Comprehensive Plan issues and topics. The random sample survey was important to ensure that input was received from residents who might not participate at public meetings, and who might have different perceptions regarding planning issues, objectives and priorities. The survey was mailed to a random sample of 1,248 residents and had an excellent return rate of 42 percent. The mail survey included over-sampling for minority population groups to ensure meaningful representation.

Discussion Kits
During the Spring of 2004, the City worked with Real World Research to develop a series of discussion kits for use by community groups and organizations that wanted to host a discussion on important questions that the Comprehensive Plan should address. Each kit focused on a different planning issue, using alternative scenarios or viewpoints to encourage discussion of the critical “trade-off” choices facing Madison in its planning for future growth and development. The kits were designed for use by groups of between 8 and 12 persons and foster discussions lasting about 60 to 90 minutes. Summaries of the discussions and any conclusions reached were reported back to Real World Research, and were one of the inputs used to develop the Comprehensive Plan recommendations. Summary reports from the discussion kit meetings are on file with the Department of Planning and Development.

Spring 2004 - Special Downtown Planning Process
During March through May 2004, a consultant team of Schreiber/Anderson Associates, Inc. and Howick Associates, working with City staff, conducted a special planning process to begin to develop downtown area recommendations for the Comprehensive Plan. This process was not intended to develop a detailed “downtown plan” at that time, but rather to prepare an advisory document which identified key downtown planning issues, and provided a basis for the preliminary, relatively-broad recommendations that would be included in the Comprehensive Plan; but which also would provide a starting point for subsequent preparation of the more detailed downtown plan that is a specific recommendation of the Comprehensive Plan.

The July 2004, Downtown Advisory Report to the City of Madison Department of Planning and Development was an important tool used to develop the downtown recommendations for the Comprehensive Plan. The Downtown Advisory Report is on file with the Department of Planning and Development, and the Report is on this website under “Reports”.

Spring 2004 – Fall 2005 Drafting and Refining Plan Chapters
Staff began drafting Comprehensive Plan chapters and working on the layout and design of the document in Spring 2004. Staff wrote Volume I using background information collected and analyzed since the beginning of the planning process in Fall 2002. Staff drafted the goals, objectives, policies and implementation recommendations in Volume II through review and analysis of the background information and careful consideration of input from public meetings, Committee and Commission workshops, the Downtown Advisory Report planning process, and results from the Comprehensive Plan Mail Survey and the Discussion kit exercise. Staff met with the Plan Commission at a series of workshops from Fall 2004 through Summer 2005 to refine the Plan Draft. Throughout this process, technical staff were developing and refining the plan’s background and recommendation maps.

Summer 2005 - Discussion Draft Comprehensive Plan Public Review and Comment
The Discussion Draft of the Comprehensive Plan was released for community review at a May 2005 roll-out presentation at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center. The complete Draft Plan was posted on the Comprehensive Plan web page and copies were placed in all Madison Public Library branches. The Draft Plan was available to members of the public in both print and Compact Disk format, upon request. Although not required for a discussion draft, copies of Draft Plan were sent all to adjacent and overlapping units of government, and to others designated in Wisconsin Statutes to receive the final adopted Comprehensive Plan. Neighborhood, community and business organizations, and citizens who had signed up to be on the notification list were advised of the availability of the Draft Plan via mail, email, the Comprehensive Plan list serve, and through posters and flyers, and media advertising and notices.

Following the roll-out presentation, seven additional public meetings were held throughout the City to provide an opportunity to learn about, ask questions, and offer comments on the Draft Plan. Meeting dates and locations are listed in Appendix 1-3, of the Introduction chapters in both Volumes I and II.  Additional opportunities for the public to submit comments on the Draft Plan were provided by mail, email, and through an interactive comment form on the Comprehensive Plan web page. Information on ways to comment on the Draft Plan was provided on the web page, through the media, at public meetings, and packaged with each copy of the Plan. The Draft Comprehensive Plan was also scheduled for informal discussion at key City boards, commissions and committees, who were encouraged to provide comments on the draft. All of the comments received were compiled, together with a staff response, for review by the Madison Plan Commission as it considered potential revisions to the discussion draft at a series of special work session meetings held during August through mid-October 2005.

Fall 2005 – Winter 2006 Final Draft Comprehensive Plan Public Review and Plan Adoption
The revised Public Hearing Draft of the City of Madison Comprehensive Plan was released for public review and discussion at the end of October 2005. An ordinance adopting the Comprehensive Plan was introduced to the Common Council for referral to the appropriate City boards, commissions and committees, and a public hearing at the Common Council was scheduled for December 13, 2005. Distribution of the Public Hearing Draft Plan and notification of the Draft Plan’s availability followed essentially the same process used for the May 2005 Discussion Draft. Similar opportunities for public comment on the Draft Plan are provided, and a response to all comments received will be prepared for consideration by the Plan Commission and Common Council.