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JUNE 2005
IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

It is important to note the plan does not establish any new ordinance or legislative mandate. The goals and policies contained herein are to be used as a guide for local officials in decision making and implementing specific developmental tools, such as the zoning and subdivision ordinances. While adoption of this plan does not commit the City to any specific recommendations, it should commit the City to actions that are consistent with the policy guidelines and the plan itself.

This section of the plan presents an implementation schedule for the recommendations, summarizing the actions proposed by the plan. Each action is listed generally in the order presented in the plan. The action is then given a specific time frame for implementation. Each dot is representative of a completion date. However, the schedule does not list ongoing policies or day-to-day actions the City should continuously undertake (i.e. maintenance of the City’s water or sewer system).

In this way, the schedule can be used to monitor the progress of the plan. This is a very important role of the update process that will be necessary to keep this document dynamic and up-to-date.

PLAN UPDATE SCHEDULE

Once the plan has been adopted, the City should make every attempt to put the plan to work. However, no plan could possibly foresee every issue that will arise during the planning period. Therefore, the plan should be used as a guide for growth and development. Some developments will inevitably differ from the vision of the plan. In such cases, the plan may need to be updated.

When reviewing all development proposals, the criteria for evaluation, is as follows:

• Overall Community Goals
• General Community Goals and policies
• District Recommendations
• Plan Maps

Every attempt shall be made to satisfy the above criteria. However, if a development proposal cannot satisfy all of the criteria, yet is still deemed worthy to benefit the community, the Plan will need to be amended before the development proposal is approved. Because a request to amend the plan will likely occur during the development proposal review process, both actions may occur simultaneously. The City should establish a fee schedule for reviewing Plan Update Requests. The following is the Plan update process:

Opportunities to table the request for further review may occur during the process. Should this happen, the update process should take no longer than 3 months. The City should make every attempt to expedite this process.

In addition, the plan should be reviewed annually to ensure that the goals, policies, recommendations and maps are reflective of the latest trends in the community. The Planning Commission should meet with the City Council on an annual basis to review the year’s development proposals to ensure they are meeting the intent of the Plan and that the Plan is working properly with the City’s other development tools, such as the zoning and subdivision ordinance. This is especially important during periods of rapid growth.

The results of the annual review may very well mean changes in the zoning or subdivision ordinances or other developmental tools.

The planning process should be an ongoing endeavor. The success of this plan will require the support of citizens as well as the City Council. Cooperation from the public and private sectors will provide long-term benefits to the City of North Liberty.

Successful communities do not just happen. They must be continually shaped and guided. New issues and opportunities will inevitably arise. While no plan could possibly foresee every issue, the goals and strategies developed in the North Liberty Comprehensive Plan will provide flexibility for city officials and area residents in successfully planning for the future.


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