Comprehensive plan update begins tonight

POULSBO — Little Norway isn’t as little as it was in 1994, and it won’t be the same size it is in 2007 as it will be in 2017. With that in mind, the Poulsbo City Council and Planning Commission will meet from 6-8 p.m. tonight in the council chambers view the path they will take in updating the city’s comprehensive plan.

POULSBO — Little Norway isn’t as little as it was in 1994, and it won’t be the same size it is in 2007 as it will be in 2017.

With that in mind, the Poulsbo City Council and Planning Commission will meet from 6-8 p.m. tonight in the council chambers view the path they will take in updating the city’s comprehensive plan.

The comprehensive plan — a state-mandated document under the Growth Management Act — provides an overall strategy for the city’s next 10 years.

“We haven’t done one since 1994, so we have to examine each element by itself to see if it reflects our community,” Mayor Kathryn Quade said.

The meeting will bring the council and Planning Commission together, so each can understand their perspective roles in the comprehensive plan update, Quade said.

“I call upon our council to be the leaders they have been, and I hope they will,” she said.

Council members and Planning Commission members, along with other citizens, will form the various subgroups associated with the plan’s update, she said.

“There is going to be lots of public involvement. It would be great to have any of the city’s new residents join,” Quade said.

Planning Director Barry Berezowsky said the public will have numerous opportunities to express their views and ideas for the city’s future.

“We’re not going to be able to do everything for all people, but we’ll do our best to achieve a balance,” Berezowsky said.

The main purpose of the meeting is to introduce the council and commission to the basic process which the city expects to follow during the update as well as lay out a tentative timeline for its adoption, he said.

“We hope to get it done in a year, but it could take a year and half,” Berezowsky said.

The council, commission and public will hear about the plan in general terms, but as the update process continues the details will become more clear, he said.

As for the ultimate goal of the comprehensive plan update, Quade said she hopes it will provide a true vision of what residents want their city to be.

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