Every decade, local municipalities work to create and implement a 10-year comprehensive plan, a guide to community physical, social, and economic development. Comprehensive plans act as a vision for future planning and community decisions.
The City of Stoughton is currently piecing together its comprehensive plan, a vision for the next decade and onward. The city government has contracted Becker Professional Services, a locally owned consulting firm, to create the city’s comprehensive plan.
Although much of the drafting of the plan will be carried out by BPS, the creation of the plan requires a close collaboration between city officials and BPS. Stoughton’s Mayor, Tim Swadley, noted the importance of cooperation and acknowledged the city’s trust in BPS’ president, Gary Becker.
“The City of Stoughton has worked with Gary Becker for decades on numerous initiatives, including Tax Incremental Financing, economic development, business park development, strategic planning, redevelopment, and grants.” Swadley said. “City staff are working with Becker Professional Services to identify stakeholders,”
Local municipalities across Wisconsin must have comprehensive plans under state statute, specifically regarding nine subject areas: Issues and Opportunities; Housing; Transportation; Agriculture, Natural and Cultural Resources; Economic Development; Intergovernmental Cooperation; Utilities and Community Facilities; Implementation; and Land Use.
Comprehensive plans are essential for city officials to carry out day-to-day operations and long-range planning.
“The Comprehensive Plan lays out the framework to identify our community’s values and priorities as it relates to land use, development, and preservation. The plan is designed to promote cooperation with neighboring townships, ensure strategic and orderly development, as well as strategies to implement the plan,” Swadley said.
Lisa Moore, a Community Development Specialist at BPS, and Katherine Burk, a Community Planner at BPS, are two individuals working alongside city officials to draft Stoughton’s next comprehensive plan. In addition to strong working relationships with the mayor’s office, the Department of Planning & Development, and all other city officials, Moore and Burk discussed the importance of community engagement throughout the planning process.
As required by statute, public involvement is needed for each stage of the planning process; BPS has planned multiple community outreach events and hopes to launch a website dedicated to public information and feedback regarding the plan for April 2025. BPS wishes to make the planning process more engaging and transparent than the previous process ten years ago.
“What we’re really trying to do with Stoughton is basically double the engagement that happened in the past plan. We are making sure we get all the different age ranges, the underrepresented folks, maybe people who wouldn’t feel comfortable going to a public engagement event, but allowing them to have an opportunity to participate,” Burk said.
With more active and engaged public input, BPS hopes to make Stoughton’s comprehensive plan more than just a document on a shelf but a roadmap to the future that can draw new residents to the city by highlighting all Stoughton has to offer.
“We’re looking at planning 10 to 20 years out, and all of these planning decisions basically help with development, where to put a where to put a home, where to put a shopping center, … the goal for this comp plan is to use it like a marketing piece, or marketing document where someone wants to move to Stoughton and they can quickly see ‘oh, they have all these different amenities,’ or ‘look when can build a house here,'” Moore said.
In addition to being a helpful tool for city officials and attracting new residents, comprehensive plans promote property rights, preserve local control and autonomy, and create a proactive strategy to help communities identify issues early on.
BPS hopes to start its community engagement efforts in early spring 2025 before beginning to draft the final plan in the fall and adopt it by June 2026.
“There’s data collection and also public engagement, and then we write the document. So it’s usually an 18-month process, starting with initial discussions with the city,” Burk said.
Burk, Moore, and Swadley encourage Stoughton residents of all ages to engage and offer input toward the plan to help shape their community.
“Having collective effort and support is key to establishing goals, objectives, and implementation of the Comprehensive Plan. Creating awareness and tapping into our community’s expertise, vision, and values creates a better plan,” Swadley said.