Priorities

During a recent City Commission meeting in a rural community, I listened to members of the public debate the merits of their community producing a Comprehensive Plan. As one might expect, there were many comments concerning the advantages and disadvantages about taking on such a project, but one that caught my attention was that “…the city has too many unpaid projects to be taking on another obligation (paying for a comprehensive planning process); other projects should be paid off first.” My first reaction, being a person who is both an advocate and practitioner of the community planning, was that unpaid projects are the kind of things a comprehensive plan is meant to either avoid, to successfully navigate and manage, or immediately engage. In my opinion, there is no reason to put off planning for the future. A plan meant to change as conditions change. It is meant to be a prioritized list that a person, group, or community uses to end one task and begin the next; always with a larger goal as the end product. There are two rules for planning: have one, and don’t be afraid to change it. Communities that don’t plan are less resilient, making them vulnerable. Planning is evolutionary; create a process for the future, rather than a document. You’ll be glad you did!