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County looks 20 years ahead
Work groups review eight area elements

By BRIAN LEAHY
of The Gazette
The Portage County Comprehensive Planning Steering Committee is bridging the gap between the just-completed broad-brush vision statements and the detailed planning documents that will shape how the county looks 20 years from now.

Vision statements for the county, rural and urban areas were developed after six visioning sessions this spring and from input received in a survey sent last fall to all county residents and property owners. All units of local government are mandated to develop and then follow planning documents under Wisconsin's Smart Growth law, but what sets Portage County's effort apart is all county towns, villages and the city of Stevens Point are conducting a joint effort.

"Staff has developed an approach that makes a direct connection between the adopted vision statements and the planning documents that we are about to prepare together (with the rural and urban steering committees)," said Jeff Schuler, senior planner with the county Planning and Zoning Department. "The first step toward being able to draft policy is to understand how the elements of the plan function within Portage County today. To do this we will convene Element Area Work Groups, made up of committee members and experts in the element area from around the county, to discuss how the comprehensive plan can work toward achieving the visions represented in the adopted statements. The work groups will contain members from each committee, so that both groups will have access to the same expert information. This information will then be brought back by the members to the full rural and urban committees for consideration."

The first element work group - housing - met Wednesday, Aug. 14. The meeting was led by Mark Hilliker, University of Wisconsin-Extension community resource development agent, who instructed the group to "look at the vision statements and ask, 'Do these vision statements make sense?'" Along with housing, the eight element areas are agriculture; natural resources; economic development; utilities and public facilities; historic and cultural resources; transportation; and intergovernmental cooperation.

Members of the Housing Element Work Group included builders, a variety of government officials, Realtors and rental property owners.

One goal that came out was ensuring affordable housing in both rural and urban areas.

"We need affordable lots in the city, too, otherwise we're going to be pushing people out into marginal areas," said builder Jeff Nygaard.

Comments in the vision statement about large lots and low housing density may be contradictory with affordability since large lots are more expensive, said John Gardner, Stevens Point director of planning and community development. During the last 10 years, for every two homes built in rural areas, only one has been built in Stevens Point and the village of Plover combined. If that trend continues, more and larger streets will be needed to accommodate rural residents driving to jobs and services in the urban area.

For farmers who want to retire, but whose children don't want to farm, selling their land to developers is their "401K" retirement plan, said Stephen Brazzale, county zoning administrator.

The process in Wisconsin has been to change zoning to allow for development, but in the West zoning is in the public domain and can be only changed for a compelling reason, like no other land with the required type of zoning being available, said James Hamilton, city Housing Authority director.

"You're not constrained by mountains and oceans (in Portage County)," Hamilton said. "The only thing that is stopping growth is the price of potatoes."

Another issue is people tend to need different kinds of homes as they age. People with young families need several bedrooms, while "empty nesters" may not want to pay property taxes on a house they only partly use. As people get older, they also are forced to move to homes having only one floor so they don't have to climb stairs.

"My goal would be to develop housing that would allow people to age in place," said Janet Zander, director of the county Department on Aging.
Homes could be built with first-floor laundries and suites for older parents, Zander said.

Right now the county zoning ordinance won't allow for what some people term "granny homes" - building a small, second house on a lot, which lets family members keep close supervision on older family members, Brazzale said.

Sherri Zei, Almond, said she would like to see planned communities, specifically for the elderly and people with special needs, that are close to services.

Other identified goals included having an adequate supply of decent, safe, sanitary and affordable rental properties and preserving older homes through incentives.

One issue that came up during the discussion was educating the public on zoning regulations.

"The education issue was a huge one," said Mike Hansen, senior planner with the county Planning and Zoning Department. "If we don't hear that throughout every group, I'll be surprised."

Planning and Zoning Department staff will organize the goals identified by each element work group. At each group's second meeting, the group will identify preferred strategy ideas. Staff will then draft a white paper for review by the group, before sending it back to the rural and urban committees.

Goals are developed to meet the vision. In turn, objectives support goals and policies support objectives. For example, if a goal is "to meet the housing needs of our senior citizens and those with special needs," one of the objectives to meet that goal could be "to support efforts to expand affordable housing opportunities for senior citizens." A policy supporting the objective, and ultimately the goal, could be "encourage development of assisted- and independent-living facilities."

The Natural Resources Element Work Group will meet from 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21, in conference room 5 of the Courthouse Annex, 1462 Strongs Ave., Stevens Point. The Agricultural Element Work Group will meet from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21, in conference room 5 of the Courthouse Annex. The meetings are open to the public, but direct participation in the work group discussions is limited to the work group members.



	County looks 20 years ahead Work groups review eight area elements By BRIAN LEAHY of The Gazette The Portage County Comprehensive Planning Steering Committee is bridging the gap between the just-completed broad-brush vision statements and the detailed planning documents that will shape how the county looks 20 years from now. Vision statements for the county, rural and urban areas were developed after six visioning sessions this spring and from input received in a survey sent last fall to all county residents and property owners. All units of local government are mandated to develop and then follow planning documents under Wisconsin's Smart Growth law, but what sets Portage County's effort apart is all county towns, villages and the city of Stevens Point are conducting a joint effort. "Staff has developed an approach that makes a direct connection between the adopted vision statements and the planning documents that we are about to prepare together (with the rural and urban steering committees)," said Jeff Schuler, senior planner with the county Planning and Zoning Department. "The first step toward being able to draft policy is to understand how the elements of the plan function within Portage County today. To do this we will convene Element Area Work Groups, made up of committee members and experts in the element area from around the county, to discuss how the comprehensive plan can work toward achieving the visions represented in the adopted statements. The work groups will contain members from each committee, so that both groups will have access to the same expert information. This information will then be brought back by the members to the full rural and urban committees for consideration." The first element work group - housing - met Wednesday, Aug. 14. The meeting was led by Mark Hilliker, University of Wisconsin-Extension community resource development agent, who instructed the group to "look at the vision statements and ask, 'Do these vision statements make sense?'" Along with housing, the eight element areas are agriculture; natural resources; economic development; utilities and public facilities; historic and cultural resources; transportation; and intergovernmental cooperation. Members of the Housing Element Work Group included builders, a variety of government officials, Realtors and rental property owners. One goal that came out was ensuring affordable housing in both rural and urban areas. "We need affordable lots in the city, too, otherwise we're going to be pushing people out into marginal areas," said builder Jeff Nygaard. Comments in the vision statement about large lots and low housing density may be contradictory with affordability since large lots are more expensive, said John Gardner, Stevens Point director of planning and community development. During the last 10 years, for every two homes built in rural areas, only one has been built in Stevens Point and the village of Plover combined. If that trend continues, more and larger streets will be needed to accommodate rural residents driving to jobs and services in the urban area. For farmers who want to retire, but whose children don't want to farm, selling their land to developers is their "401K" retirement plan, said Stephen Brazzale, county zoning administrator. The process in Wisconsin has been to change zoning to allow for development, but in the West zoning is in the public domain and can be only changed for a compelling reason, like no other land with the required type of zoning being available, said James Hamilton, city Housing Authority director. "You're not constrained by mountains and oceans (in Portage County)," Hamilton said. "The only thing that is stopping growth is the price of potatoes." Another issue is people tend to need different kinds of homes as they age. People with young families need several bedrooms, while "empty nesters" may not want to pay property taxes on a house they only partly use. As people get older, they also are forced to move to homes having only one floor so they don't have to climb stairs. "My goal would be to develop housing that would allow people to age in place," said Janet Zander, director of the county Department on Aging. Homes could be built with first-floor laundries and suites for older parents, Zander said. Right now the county zoning ordinance won't allow for what some people term "granny homes" - building a small, second house on a lot, which lets family members keep close supervision on older family members, Brazzale said. Sherri Zei, Almond, said she would like to see planned communities, specifically for the elderly and people with special needs, that are close to services. Other identified goals included having an adequate supply of decent, safe, sanitary and affordable rental properties and preserving older homes through incentives. One issue that came up during the discussion was educating the public on zoning regulations. "The education issue was a huge one," said Mike Hansen, senior planner with the county Planning and Zoning Department. "If we don't hear that throughout every group, I'll be surprised." Planning and Zoning Department staff will organize the goals identified by each element work group. At each group's second meeting, the group will identify preferred strategy ideas. Staff will then draft a white paper for review by the group, before sending it back to the rural and urban committees. Goals are developed to meet the vision. In turn, objectives support goals and policies support objectives. For example, if a goal is "to meet the housing needs of our senior citizens and those with special needs," one of the objectives to meet that goal could be "to support efforts to expand affordable housing opportunities for senior citizens." A policy supporting the objective, and ultimately the goal, could be "encourage development of assisted- and independent-living facilities." The Natural Resources Element Work Group will meet from 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21, in conference room 5 of the Courthouse Annex, 1462 Strongs Ave., Stevens Point. The Agricultural Element Work Group will meet from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21, in conference room 5 of the Courthouse Annex. The meetings are open to the public, but direct participation in the work group discussions is limited to the work group members.