Every voice matters as Greenfield updates its comprehensive plan, zoning map

The professionals who are helping Greenfield update its decades-old comprehensive plan and zoning map say that everyone’s input matters in this process.

A come-and-go workshop at Hotel Greenfield Monday, Dec. 16 focused on growth and development.

“Monday’s growth and development workshop marked the midpoint of the comprehensive planning process," said Jenna Gilliam, Assistant Planner with MSA Professional Services in Ankeny. “Community members reviewed the existing land use map and worked on creating a new future land use map. Essentially, the existing land use map shows how the land is currently being used while the future land use map shows the ideal, most feasible land use patterns that will guide the city’s development over the next 10-20 years."

A goals and strategies matrix was also available for visitors to work on. This combines community feedback that has been gathered so far and insights from the existing conditions analysis with relevant goals and ideas carried forward from the existing 1998 Comprehensive Plan.

“It also outlines a timeline — short-term, long-term or ongoing — and potential partners, such as city departments, local organizations, county or regional entities, and other key stakeholders, to help accomplish each strategy," Gilliam said.

All these things are still being refined as more input is gathered from the community, but updated versions of these will be available on the project website soon.

“We’re really grateful for the thoughtful participation we’ve had so far. We’ve identified several key themes from conversations with community members at the two workshops and online engagement tools, but we want to ensure we’re hearing from as many people as possible,” Gilliam said. “If they haven’t done so already, we want everyone to complete the community survey before it closes Tuesday, Jan. 7. Everyone’s input matters.”

MSA will be conducting stakeholder interviews later in January and through mid-February with a draft comprehensive plan open house coming at the end of February or early March.

“As always, people are encouraged to please visit [the project website] to stay informed and get involved in the comprehensive planning process,” Gilliam said.

Project Website: Learn about the comprehensive plan’s progress and updates: https://arcg.is/0vXP8v

Community Survey: Share your ideas and priorities for Greenfield’s future before it closes Tuesday, January 7th: https://arcg.is/5vH5b

Crowdsource Map: Pin your perspectives on the interactive map and help us visualize what’s important to you: https://msa-ps.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=7e12fed435c842a28481d33f7871e6d2