The City of Pocatello is looking for your help in shaping the future of the Gate City.
Recently, the City kicked off “Our Valley | Our Vision.” The nearly two-year-long effort is seeking citizen and community input to help City staff update Pocatello’s Comprehensive Plan 2040. A Comprehensive Plan provides a common language to connect various City plans, policies, and programs to the community's identified values for the City and residents.
“Comprehensive Plans are essential in establishing values and goals for the city,” said Brent McLane, Planning and Development Services Director. “They create a broad outline for how the city will effectively realize its vision and it’s critical that the community provide their insight and direction so the city can move in the right direction.”
Currently, Citizens are invited to complete an online “Community Values” survey and pin their favorite place to go in Pocatello at bit.ly/OurValleyOurVision.
“The initial survey and other input activities will help establish the foundation on which the Comprehensive Plan will operate,” explained Jim Anglesey, Long-Range Senior Planner. “Once we identify what the community values most, we can recommend goals and strategies that emphasize and support those values. The information provided by citizens is the compass that’ll provide direction on what the City should prioritize for the next 20 years.”
Looking ahead, City staff will be at events around Pocatello asking for input from residents over the coming months. In the fall, staff will move to holding neighborhood meetings. Focus groups and data refinement will take place in the winter of 2021-22. Starting in the spring of 2022, staff will hold another round of neighborhood meetings that will offer opportunities for residents to collaborate with City staff in crafting the plan’s goals and strategies for the implementation of the community’s values. In the summer of 2022, staff will hold open houses to share their findings with the community as well as get a final round of feedback from citizens. In late 2022, formal public hearings will be held before the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council, and the City Council will vote on the plan’s adoption.
“The Planning and Development Services Department is very excited to get out in the community and hear from the people of Pocatello,” McLane said. “We want to be sure that as many voices as possible are heard. Pocatello is a wonderful and exciting city that will continue in the right direction and the finished plan will help to make it even stronger and more resilient.
The last Comprehensive Plan for Pocatello was written in 2003 and updated in 2015.
“The Comprehensive Plan will cover topics such as natural resources, land use, recreation, public safety, transportation, and other key elements,” said McLane. “Most importantly, it will help to create an understanding of how so many of these elements are intertwined.”
For more information on the effort, visit bit.ly/OurValleyOurVision.