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POLICY PLAN: INTRODUCTION

The intent of the Policy Plan portion of a comprehensive planning process is to outline in written form what the community desires to be produced or accomplished relative to the physical environment. Secondly, the Policy Plan is intended to set forth guidelines as to how these desires are to be achieved. Proceeding in a logical fashion, this chapter identifies general goals and supporting policies. These elements comprise a review and decision-making process and the basis upon which plans, programs and actions can be formulated and initiated as well as evaluated.

It is emphasized that these goals and policies are the basic and fundamental plan for the development of North Liberty. In this regard, their purpose is to provide a decision-making framework to guide all public and private actions and development within the City. In addition to the active function of guiding direct responses and actions, the goals and policies also serve the more passive function of establishing evaluation criteria for the development and change which subsequently occurs.

The Policy Plan should not, however, be interpreted as an implementation programming of actions and responses. No time framework or priority of action is intended or stated. The Policy Plan is a guide which directs action on the part of the public and private sectors of the community when responding to needs, problems and opportunities. The function of work and issue programming is addressed later by the Management and Implementation Framework, plus on an annual basis through legislative and administrative policies and programs.

In utilizing this element of the plan, it must be cautioned that the policies are to be considered and utilized collectively. While in some instances a single policy may define and outline a course of action or decision, it is more commonly the case that several policies apply to a given situation. Reactions to individual policies should therefore be tempered pending consideration of all applicable statements.

Additional note should be made that Policy Plans are intended to be adaptable and flexible, and to be used as the basis for graphic planning and decision-making. Lacking a “hard line” delineation, policies can be applied and used for the basis of decision-making in unanticipated situations which emerge. Such is not the case with a map plan in that it is static and fixed. There will, however, be instances where the policies do not reflect what may be a change in policy direction or respond sufficiently to questions which arise. In such cases, the Policy Plan should be updated and amended by modifying the policy statements to reflect what is in fact the new direction which is wanted or by adding new statements which deal with new, unanticipated issues. Operating in such a fashion, the Comprehensive Plan will retain a current and effective status and will not become outdated.

The Policy Plan portion of the Comprehensive Plan is based upon technical analysis resulting from the Comprehensive Plan Inventory (December 1996), the Planning Tactics (July 1996), and the community survey, as summarized in the preceding chapter. Moreover, the Policy Plan is to be subjected to detailed and thorough review on the part of the City Council, Planning Commission and City staff. It is therefore reflective of the local community and the ends which are to be achieved and the means whereby this is to be accomplished.

To ensure a proper understanding and clarification, the terms utilized are defined as follows:

Goals: Goals are the generalized end products which will ultimately result in achieving the kinds of living, working and play areas that are desired. Goals are often described using the terms “maintain”, “encourage”, “ensure”, “develop”, and “establish”.

Policies: Policies are the definite courses of action which lead toward goal achievement. Additionally, policies are guides for helping to make present and future decisions consistent with goals. Policies are differentiated from goals by using the phrase “shall be”. This gives policy statements a definitive meaning rather than one that is implied.

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