POULSBO— Maintain Poulsbo’s “historic, small-town quaint character” with a “strong sense of community and shared [Norwegian] heritage.”

Attract more businesses that offer “family wage” jobs (a salary that pays enough for one member to support a family), rather than just a “living wage.”

Connect more of the city with pathways for bicycling, walking and other non-motorized forms of transportation.

Those are some of the priorities identified by the Poulsbo City Council at its Nov. 29 workshop to review details of the city’s Comprehensive Plan update.

The Comprehensive Plan provides a roadmap for the city’s future. It guides city decisions on where homes and businesses are built, how to improve the road system, and where to make capital investments such as sidewalks and utilities.

A public hearing on the Comprehensive Plan update is scheduled for Dec. 14.

Here are some of the key points:

— Rather than just encouraging and supporting community, entertainment and evening activities in the downtown area, the new goal is to promote all of the commerical areas.

— Maintain and increase the tree canopy in the city.

— Not consider expanding the city limits until all “reasonable measure to accomodate projected growth” have been evaluted and acted upon. However, city officials do plan to meet with the county to see if some of the wetlands and environmentally sensitive areas inside the city limits can be swapped for “buildable land.”

— Reduce the housing density in new developments.

— Continue the policy of “proactively maintaining and replacing critical infrastructure” such as water lines, storm water and sanitary sewers, streets, sidewalks, bike paths, and parks. As reported in the Herald, city engineers — with the Public Works Department under Supervisor Mike Lund — have been making a concerted effort to map the condition of the underground infrastructure and streets while planning for future population growth.