There are three main phases to the process of creating The Eau Claire Comprehensive Plan:

1.       Analysis of conditions and identification of issues

2.       Alternatives and Concept plan

3.       Detailed plans for each subject (such as land use or transportation)

The concept plan will be a general indication of how the City expects to write the detailed plans for each subject.  The concept plan will be sufficiently general to allow refinement and change but specific enough to give a good sense of the direction the plan will take on the major issues. 

In order to create and adopt a concept plan, three general plan scenarios or alternatives were drafted.  These alternatives, described below, were conceived as “pure” or abstract forms of a potential course of action.  The intention is to promote a debate about the major issues and begin to resolve them.  Consequently, none of the alternative concepts will be selected outright as the Concept Plan for subsequent drafting of the comprehensive plan elements.  Instead, it is anticipated that one alternative will be generally preferred and some aspects of the other alternatives will also be incorporated to create a composite concept alternative.

The Alternatives described in the attached matrix were written after studying the fundamental, strategic issues or concerns in Eau Claire identified in the first phase of the planning process.  Ideally, the matrix of Conceptual Alternatives will also serve as a framework for debating some of the secondary issues also.  The alternatives were crafted to be distinct, understandable and viable.  The issues included in the matrix were selected to illustrate major differences among the three alternatives and were not intended to represent the full list of planning issues that will be addressed in the eventual Comprehensive Plan.

The alternatives focus on what seems to be a central theme:  how active should the City of Eau Claire be in regulating perimeter land use and promoting central redevelopment?

The three conceptual plan Alternatives are summarized as:

Alternative A:
Eau Claire will take a lead role in shaping and promoting a land use pattern for itself and the metropolitan region that is cost-effective and environmentally sound.

Alternative B:
Eau Claire will meet its legal requirements in adopting and implementing a comprehensive plan for the existing corporate boundaries and Urban Sewer Service Area.. 

Alternative C:
The City will take a “hands-off” approach to growth management and will rely on the workings of the private market to determine land use patterns in the metropolitan area.

Achieving consensus on a desired future development pattern for Eau Claire is an important step in creating a comprehensive plan.  Input received during the Community Planning Forum on April 3rd will help clarify community values and priorities, which would be used to evaluate the Alternatives.  These priorities, as well as comments and ideas from the public, the Citizens Advisory Committee, the City Plan Commission and the City Council will be used to help create a Concept Plan to guide preparation of the draft Comprehensive Plan.