Project Background
Project Background
The update to the 2005 City of Anderson Comprehensive Plan is a long-term vision to be used by elected and appointed officials, City staff, the City of Anderson Plan Commission to help make informed decisions about future land uses and development. The plan is meant to be used as a resource and tool that will help staff respond to change and should be reviewed and updated as needed. A vision, goals, and recommendations are included in this plan, but this plan cannot address every issue within the community. This plan also works to identify topics that need more attention and action, and further studies may be required in the future.
The vision is created with the help of feedback from residents, business owners, local leaders, stakeholders, and the members of the Task Force that helps to identify what kind of community the City of Anderson would like to be. The goals and recommendations found throughout the document will help reinforce this vision by helping to guide future development and community changes in a meaningful and purposeful way.
What is a comprehensive plan?
Comprehensive plans support zoning and subdivision ordinances and are the reason why communities are able to create, adopt, and update the codes over time. The update to the City of Anderson Comprehensive Plan will provide a basis for changes to the code, but this document is not a policy guide. This document’s purpose is to serve as a guide that represents the wants and needs of the people and businesses within the community and is meant to be used as a resource.
Planning Process
Click on the black dots to learn more about what happens in each phase of the planning process.
What phase is the project currently in?
Advance Anderson is currently entering into the Visioning phase after findings from the Discovery phase, such as socioeconomic trends, were presented at Community Planning Week (August 5 - 12, 2024). Presentation slides and other meeting materials from that week can be found on the Documents page. Find out more about what will be accomplished during the Visioning phase by clicking on the black dot above the word "Visioning" in the image above.
Want to learn more about planning?
Planning (also called urban planning, regional planning, spatial planning, rural planning, etc.) is generally defined as the management and/or design of the built and natural environments (see here for an in-depth definition). The natural environment includes areas where there is little to no human impact, as well as 'ecosystem services' which provide extensive benefits to human development, such as flood control, recreation, and more. The built environment includes human-made structures and systems such as buildings, roads, parks, safety services, and other infrastructures. You can learn more about planning by starting with the introductory resources and videos below.
- American Planning Association (planning.org)
- Strong Towns (strongtowns.org)
- Congress for the New Urbanism (cnu.org)
- National Trust for Historic Preservation (savingplaces.org)
- Urban Land Institute (uli.org)
- Lincoln Institute of Land Policy (lincolninst.edu)
- U.S. Green Building Council (usgbc.org)
- Learn where comprehensive planning originated and has evolved over the past 100 years: Where Did the Comprehensive Plan Come From? - YouTube
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What is a Comprehensive Plan?
"15 things you didn't know about city planning"
Get Involved!
On this tab, you will find:
- Information for upcoming meetings and events,
More opportunities to get involved are coming soon!
Upcoming Meetings and Events
No upcoming meetings. Join the project mailing list for updates!
Mapping Exercise
Updates
FAQ
"Advance Anderson" is the name of this project. The purpose of this project is to update the previous comprehensive plan adopted in 2005. It is recommended by planners that a minor updates to the plan are made at least five years, while a major re-write is undertaken every 20 years.
A comprehensive plan is a citizen-driven, long-range plan (around 20 years) to help city planning staff, policymakers, and other local government officials identify goals and objectives for the future development of the community as well as provide a framework for how to implement the plan. The plan works to prioritize the needs and values of the community by looking at infrastructure and how different activities occurs throughout the city, including but not limited to:
- Land use
- Transportation,
- Utility infrastructure,
- Quality of life,
- Environmental features, and
- Existing policies that affect businesses and residences.
The last comprehensive plan adopted by the city was in 2005, almost 20 years ago. Since then, there have been major changes to Anderson, and indeed the entire world. The city is pursuing a comprehensive plan for three main reasons:
- To provide an updated guide for future development in the city based on what the community desires,
- A comprehensive plan provides a prioritized list of and rationale for other policies, projects, and programs that the city and government officials implement,
- It allows the city to pursue other local, state, and national grants/funding for economic development, environmental restoration, and more since a plan is often one of the requirements in an application.
Although these are the main reasons for a comprehensive plan, it is of course not an all-inclusive list. Another major reason not mentioned above is accountability of government officials to implement what the community desires.
While a comprehensive plan can bring positive change to a community, it cannot solve all issues. It is important to note that a comprehensive plan is mainly to provide guidance to the City regarding land use and development. Here are some other aspects of a comprehensive plan that are important to know:
- The comprehensive plan is not about politics.
- The comprehensive plan has limited impact on social issues that are not directly related to development or land use.
- The comprehensive plan is not law (in Indiana) - it is a policy document to guide decisions.
- The comprehensive plan makes recommendations. It cannot mandate actions.
- The plan's recommended policies, projects, and programs are implemented by city officials, private investment, and citizens.
Join the mailing list or check back frequently to this website for updates.
The details of the next public meeting will be posted on the "Get Involved!" tab. This information will also be distributed via the mailing list, which you can sign up for here. Additionally, you can provide feedback today by sending an email to planning@reasite.com
Rundell Ernstberger Associates are the lead consultants. Based in Indianapolis, REA has over 40 years of experience with a diverse portfolio of projects ranging from land use plans, regional economic plans to zoning to public space, park, and streetscape designs.
Learn more about REA at their official website here: https://www.reasite.com/
