A Comprehensive Plan for

1
A Comprehensive Plan for

• Fort Calhoun, Nebraska
• March 22, 2005

2
Introductions

• Mayor
• Paul Oestmann
• City Council
• David Genoways
• LeRoy Nelson
• Jim Shields
• Mike Smith

• Planning and Zoning Commission
• Ralph Carter, Chair
• Kevin Burns
• Clint Lewis
• John McNamara
• Bob Welsh
• The Schemmer Associates Inc.
• Chad Lingenfelter, AICP

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A Comprehensive Plan

• Purposes
• A comprehensive plan presents a unified and
  compelling vision for a community, derived from
  the aspirations of its citizens and establishes
  the specific actions necessary to fulfill that
  vision.
• A comprehensive plan provides an essential legal
  basis for land use regulation such as zoning and
  subdivision control.

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A Comprehensive Plan

• Purposes
• Vision
• a picture of Fort Calhouns future - based on the
  participation of residents in the planning of
  their community.
• a unified action program that will implement the
  citys goals.
• a working document - a document that both defines
  the future and provides a working program for
  realizing the citys great potential.

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A Comprehensive Plan

• Purposes
• Legal Basis
• Under Nebraska Law, a city may adopt land use
  ordinances by first adopting a comprehensive
  development plan.
• This requirement derives from the premise that
  land use decisions should not be arbitrary, but
  should follow an accepted and reasonable concept
  of how the city should grow.
• Under state statutes, a comprehensive development
  plan must address, at a minimum, the following
  issues
• Land use, or the planned distribution of
  activities and uses of land in the community.
• Transportation facilities.
• Community facilities, including recreation
  facilities, schools, public buildings, and
  infrastructure.
• Annexation, identifying those areas that may be
  appropriate for annexation in the future.

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A Comprehensive Plan

• Purposes
• Legal Basis continued
• Nebraska State Statutes enable cities to adopt
  zoning and subdivision ordinances to promote the
  health, safety, morals, or general welfare of
  the community.
• Land use regulations such as zoning ordinances
  recognize that people in a community live
  cooperatively and have certain responsibilities
  to one another.
• These regulations establish rules that govern how
  land is developed within a municipality and its
  extra-territorial jurisdiction.

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A Comprehensive Plan

• It is
• A comprehensive plan is a long-range plan that
  focuses primarily upon the factors and functions
  that affect the physical growth and development
  of a community or region.
• A comprehensive plan is a tool that helps guide
  decisions related to land use.
• A comprehensive plan is required by Nebraska Law
  to enforce zoning.
• Is Not
• A comprehensive plan is not rigid, inflexible
  document that cannot be amended.
• A comprehensive plan is not an ordinance.

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Current Comprehensive Plan

• July 1976
• Goals
• To provide for orderly development in the County,
  while preserving existing and developing
  agricultural resources
• To provide for the housing needs of the County
  population
• To provide for sound economic growth by
  allocation of land for agricultural, commercial,
  and industrial uses
• To provide for an adequate transportation system
  for safe and efficient movement of people and
  goods

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Current Comprehensive Plan

• Goals - continued
• To allocate sufficient land for parks,
  recreation, and open space to serve the needs of
  present and future population and
• To preserve public and private open space
  including wooded areas, streams, and floodplains
  recognizing these areas as resources to be
  conserved rather than developed.

10
Update Process

• Public participation and visioning
• 2 Public Input Meetings
• Kick-Off
• Survey Results
• Review Plan Concepts and Policies
• Review Zoning Recommendations
• Presentation of Concepts and Policies
• Key Person Interviews

11
Update Process

• Existing Conditions Inventory and Analysis
• Population and Growth Projections
• Environmental Inventory
• Development Concept and Plan Preparation
• Zoning Recommendations

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Population
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Population
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Population
15
Population
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Housing
17
Housing
18
Housing
19
Housing
20
Housing
21
Housing
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Industry
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Industry
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Industry
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Industry
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Industry
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SurveyResults

• or gt than 3.5 indicates a strength
• lt3.5 and gt3.0 indicates a neutral condition
• or lt than 3.0 indicates a need for improvement

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Survey Results

• Strengths
• Fort Calhoun's people
• Overall quality of life
• Museums and cultural resources
• Elementary education system
• Regional parks and recreation areas
• Improvements
• Wage levels/job quality
• Retailing
• Economic development programs to attract new
  industries/employers
• Tax levels
• Job creation and growth

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Survey Results

• What do you believe are the most important issues
  that Fort Calhoun will face during the next five
  years?
• Educational facilities need upgrading to attract
  young families (25)
• Growth of housing in a controlled way (14)
• Water problems - supply doesn't meet demand -
  poor water pressure (11)
• Improving streets (10)
• Address city sewer/waste treatment issues (9)
• New construction and homes costs rising (9)
• Reducing taxes (9)
• Support businesses help new ones (8)
• Lower the 10 acre requirement on acreages to
  attract more development (6)

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Survey Results

• What do you believe are the most important issues
  that Fort Calhoun will face during the next five
  years?
• Traffic on 14th Street - Hwy 75 -especially semi
  trucks (6)
• Community growth and education (5)
• Encourage recreation - i.e.. extension of park
  land -with enlarged possibly of varied activities
  (5)
• Revitalize downtown district - will help attract
  tourists (5)
• Improving flooding and drainage issues (5)
• Community swimming pool (4)
• Actually implementing recommendations from the
  comprehensive plan (4)
• Crime and drugs (4)
• Lack of new big business (4)

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Survey Results

• What do you believe are the most important issues
  that Fort Calhoun will face during the next five
  years?
• Actually implementing recommendations from the
  comprehensive plan (4)
• Medical care (4)
• Main Street traffic - need business route (3)
• Improving/lack of sidewalks (3)
• Lack of local, good wage earning employment (3)
• Keep city clean and upgraded (3)
• No good east/west route (2)
• Lowering debt on schools (2)
• New construction available for businesses/retail/r
  estaurants - provide tax incentives (3)

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Survey Results

• What do you believe are the most important issues
  that Fort Calhoun will face during the next five
  years?
• Lowering debt on schools (2)
• Growth from Omaha moving north (2)
• Poor city leadership (2)
• Update library (2)
• Stopping school expansion
• Support of existing houses of worship
• Increasing tourists for the Fort and no place to
  put them
• Constant noise and odor - day and night - from
  rock quarry
• People moving away
• Improve city maintenance facility
• Addressing stray animals

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Survey Results

• What do you believe are the most important issues
  that Fort Calhoun will face during the next five
  years?
• Zoning issues
• Utilities too high
• Traffic on Hwy 75 - needs widening and signals or
  no parking

34
Survey Results

• What is your favorite place in the City?
• Fort Atkinson (16)
• My home (9)
• City Parks (8)
• Long Horn Bar (4)
• Church (4)
• Boyer Chute (3)
• Washington County Museum (2)
• My neighborhood
• Football field
• Bike trails
• Restaurants
• Rustic
• Cemetery

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Survey Results

• What is your favorite place in the City?
• Main Street/downtown
• Lewis and Clark Historic Park
• Dairy Delight
• Cherry Hills

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Survey Results

• What is your least favorite place in the City?
• Main Street traffic (8)
• Houses that should be condemned - areas that are
  not maintained (6)
• Rock quarry (4)
• Trailer parks (4)
• City Hall (4)
• Bars (2)
• Park on east side of town needs better access and
  equipment (2)
• Wilkinson and Cargill - odor (2)
• West end of Monroe Street not paved
• Clay Street - needs storm sewer and sidewalks
• Old Community Building

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Survey Results

• What do you believe are Fort Calhoun's greatest
  assets or strengths?
• Small town living (21)
• Proximity to Omaha/Blair (19)
• People with good values (15)
• Good school system (15)
• Small town friendliness (13)
• Strong Christian beliefs (9)
• Fort Atkinson (9)
• Community atmosphere environment in all
  activities - church, school, and recreational (6)
• Lack of crime - sense of safety (6)
• Parks (5)
• Boyer Chute (4)
• Museum (4)

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Survey Results

• What do you believe are Fort Calhoun's greatest
  assets or strengths?
• Conscientious working people (4)
• Clean and attractive (3)
• Tourist attraction (3)
• Beauty of hills - scenic beauty (2)
• Great fire and rescue (2)
• Knowledge of local government/lack of
• Senior housing
• Good parenting
• Orderly attractive growth
• River
• The county
• Interstate access

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Survey Results

• What do you believe are Fort Calhoun's greatest
  assets or strengths?
• De Soto
• Ball fields
• Jay Cees

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Survey Results

• What do you believe are Fort Calhoun's greatest
  liabilities or weaknesses?
• High taxes (9)
• Lack of retail - i.e. no hardware store (8)
• Restrictions on residential development (6)
• Poor city government (6)
• Not enough capital to improve poor water system
  delivery (5)
• School facilities not large enough and need
  improvements (5)
• Lack of street maintenance (5)
• Not enough housing high cost housing (4)
• No or outdated recreational facilities (4)
• Unwillingness to support local businesses (4)
• Busy highway through town (4)
• No real fire department (4)

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Survey Results

• What do you believe are Fort Calhoun's greatest
  liabilities or weaknesses?
• Close proximity to Omaha with its rapid growth
  north (2)
• Lack of master plan (2)
• Noise from the rock quarry (2)
• Too much emphasis on being like a big city (2)
• Jobs - lack of (2)
• Resistance to change
• Lack of timely resolution on issues brought to
  attention of City Hall
• Education
• Nuclear Plant
• Too many apartment buildings - a lot not
  maintained

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Survey Results

• What do you believe should be the City's most
  important goals for the next ten years?
• Upgrade the schools (10)
• Be more development friendly - residential and
  business (7)
• Community center - swimming pool (6)
• Extending city limits - to extend tax base (6)
• Maintaining a small town atmosphere (this isn't
  Omaha) (4)
• Street maintenance (3)
• Improve water supply (3)
• Need better leadership/need restructure of
  government (3)
• Reroute semi trucks (2)
• Education - and I would actually would like to
  see the growth slow down a bit -we need to growth
  financially first for education (2)

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Survey Results

• What do you believe should be the City's most
  important goals for the next ten years?
• Keep growth quality - not support anything t hat
  does not upgrade existing things in all areas -
  home, schools, businesses, recreation, religion
  (2)
• Senior housing (2)
• Address - fill in or create lake - rock quarry
  holes (2)
• Four lane highway north/south
• Two lane highway east/west

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Survey Results

• What three specific actions or projects would you
  like to see Fort Calhoun accomplish during the
  next ten years?
• Upgrade the schools (8)
• Need a better/city police force (7)
• Attract more businesses/retail (6)
• Allow for infrastructure growth requirements (5)
• Need industrial park (5)
• Need of a master plan (4)
• Improving tourism (4)
• Need of recreation activities (4)
• Improving city government (3)
• Possible need for traffic light on Main Street
  (2)
• Improve water supply (2)

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Survey Results

• What three specific actions or projects would you
  like to see Fort Calhoun accomplish during the
  next ten years?
• Don't let people start building houses within
  inches of each other
• Golf course

46
Survey Results

• Should the City place limitations on development
  and commercial activities thatcause significant
  physical deterioration to the environs?

47
Survey Results

• Should the City limit development and commercial
  activities that negatively affect the appeal of
  the environs as a tourism and recreation
  attraction?