On The Horizon Hastings Comprehensive Plan

Thank you to those who were able to attend the community open house for the On the Horizon Hastings Comprehensive Development Plan Update.

The open house was on September 24^th at the Hastings Public Library. Roughly 20 community members were able to attend to learn about the plan’s update, share their thoughts, and provide feedback on the plan’s draft. This feedback will help improve the Future Land Use Map, which is a vital part of the document to help guide future growth and redevelopment. These comments and suggested edits will be incorporated into the final draft which will be completed at the end of October.

We recognize that there were a number of community activities and events that occurred on the evening of the scheduled open house. Because of that, the Development Services staff will be creating a summary video of the topics covered at the open house to allow you to learn about the plan in the comfort of your home. Please check back soon to see that video.

If you have any thoughts, comments, or edits, we encourage you to leave a comment in the "Questions" Tool or email the Development Services office at engage_developmentservices@cityofhastings.org(External link).

The Hastings Planning Commission held a work session with City to review the latest draft of the Comprehensive Development Plan and provide feedback to the staff. This review formally kicks off the plan review process. This process will continue with the Community Open House on Tuesday, September 24^th at 5:30 pm. Next, the City Council is scheduled to hold a work session for their initial review on October 21^st at 5:30 pm at the Hastings Municipal Airport, 3300 West 12th Street. This review is open to the public and can also be viewed online through the City’s website.

Generally speaking, the Planning Commission provided a favorable review of the current draft plan. Commissioners did voice concerns about how the public engagement pieces, especially how survey results were portrayed in the draft plan. Staff will review these concerns with the consultant team, Marvin Planning Consultants. Staff is planning to provide an update in the final draft of City efforts for issues raised in the survey and by the community.

Check back soon for a recap of the September 24^th Community Open House and the October City Council work session.

The City of Hastings will hold a community open house 5:30-7 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 24, at the Hastings Public Library 314 N. Denver Ave., to share the draft plan of the Comprehensive Plan with the community and gather feedback.

“The Comprehensive Development Plan provides guidance for the growth and redevelopment of Hastings,” said Chad Bunger, Development Services Director for the City of Hastings. “We want to inform the community of the plan, its importance, and to make sure we are getting it right.”

The feedback from the community will be used to finalize the plan and get it ready for adoption, which Bunger said will hopefully occur by the end of the year.

“We need to inform the community of the document, get feedback and create the final draft for adoption,” Bunger said.

The City’s consultant team, led by Marvin Planning Consultants, kicked off the “On The Horizon Hastings” comprehensive plan update project in July 2022 to provide the Hastings community with a guiding policy document for future growth and development in our City.

Throughout the project, the Marvin Planning Consultants project team engaged with the community and stakeholders to understand the community’s needs for several topics, including developments, employment, transportation, health care, housing and education.

This is the City’s first comprehensive plan since Imagine Hastings, which was written in 2009.

A good comprehensive plan is created with a mixture of community input and technical expertise from the consultant team, City staff and regional partners.

Nebraska state statutes require that cities adopt a comprehensive plan to establish zoning and subdivision regulations. In addition to being a technical requirement related to some City regulations, a city’s comprehensive plan also gives City leaders, staff, community members, developers and builders directions on where new developments and redevelopments should occur.

Additionally, the comprehensive plan provides policy guidance for items, such as annexation prioritization, zoning and subdivision regulation improvements, community planning and engineering initiatives. These initiatives could be a focus on economic development efforts, providing more affordable housing, new roadway alignments, infrastructure improvements or improving walkability in the community.

Work sessions with the City Council and the Hastings Planning Commission will take place in coming months to discuss the Comprehensive Plan.

Bunger said the adopted policy document will provide the City of Hastings will good direction for the next five to 10 years to help the community plan and grow for the future.

Over the past two years, Marvin Planning Consultants has assisted the City of Hastings in creating the Comprehensive Development Plan Update. The Plan update is titled “On The Horizon Hastings.”

Ideally, a community’s comprehensive development plan is routinely reviewed, updated, and amended as needed, with a recommended complete and official update every ten years. The current comprehensive development plan, Imagine Hastings, was adopted in 2009.

A lot has changed in Hastings since 2009. Over 500 new homes and nearly 400 homes in multi-family development (mostly duplexes) have been built. The Imperial Mall has been demolished and a redevelopment of the site is occurring. Downtown Hastings is going through a resurgence with buildings being renovated, new retail and restaurant businesses opening, and several dwellings being reestablished on the upper floors. A considerable amount of commercial and residential development has occurred to the north of the City, along Hwy 281, including the Cimmaron Plaza and several new residential neighborhoods.

The changes experienced in the last 15 years show that change is inevitable for a city and that it is important to plan by developing policies that direct change and growth in logical areas that help the community flourish and limit impacts. This is the purpose of the “On The Horizon Hastings” Comprehensive Development Plan Update.

Marvin Planning Consultants worked with City staff to review the development history of the community, protect the future potential growth, and seek input from the community’s residents, business owners, and nonprofit organizations (e.g. the hospital and schools). The result is the final draft of the On The Horizon Hastings Comprehensive Development Plan.

Over the next couple of months, City staff will provide more information about the plan and seek input on the document’s policies and the Future Land Use Map. Several community open houses and work sessions with the Hastings Planning Commission and City Council will be had to review the plan and gather input. The plan is anticipated to be completed and adopted by the end of the year.

Please subscribe to the Engage Hastings project page to learn more about the elements of the plan and stay up to date on the review and adoption process.

If you have any questions about the On The Horizon Hastings Comprehensive Plan or development-related issues, please contact Development Services.

Sometimes referred to as a master plan or general plan; the comprehensive development plan is a foundational document of long-term planning and zoning. The comprehensive development plan is both a community engagement process and a broad, long-term vision for future development and redevelopment in the community and surrounding areas and the built environment (roads, sidewalks, infrastructure, schools, etc.). Nebraska State Statutes (N.R.S 19-901) requires that for a city or county to conduct community planning through a Planning Commission and zoning regulations, it first must adopt a comprehensive development plan.

A comprehensive development plan is typically used to plan at a 20-year horizon. This time frame avoids the uncertainty of long-term economic and population growth patterns while avoiding short-term thinking that doesn’t provide a broad enough vision of the community.

One of the major elements of a comprehensive development plan is its Future Land Use Map. This map visually represents where new development should occur for vacant, undeveloped land, and where redevelopment should be encouraged within the entire planning of the City. Other maps typically are found in the comprehensive development plan, such as future road maps, future park plans, and maps related to infrastructure to serve the development.

The Future Land Use map shows land within the City’s planning jurisdiction as a variety of residential, commercial, industrial, or public land use categories. Each land use category shows an aspirational type of development (e.g. low density residential, high-density residential, highway, commercial, etc.) throughout the community. These colored blobs on a map correspond with written policies for each category. These categories list the ideal uses, uses that should be prohibited, development and site characteristics, and any special policies or future regulations that should be considered.

The comprehensive plan’s future land use map and use categories should not be confused with the City’s zoning district map. The comprehensive development plan lays the foundation for the zoning code and its various zoning districts. The zoning code is a separate document that provides a legal tool to implement the vision and policy statements within the comprehensive plan.

Finally, the comprehensive development plan should not be seen as a static document. As the community changes through the years of the plan’s 20-year horizon, so should the comprehensive development plan. Once adopted, the Development Services staff will work with the Community, Planning Commission, and the City Council to annually review development trends, and growth patterns in housing and business to make sure that the plan remains appropriate and relevant. Additionally, the comprehensive development plan can be amended to accommodate unforeseen changes to the development patterns or economy.

Follow the "On The Horizon News" to stay up to date during the Plan's final community review and subsequent adoption process.

Over the upcoming months, the City's Development Services staff will provide highlights of important parts of the Plan draft, public meetings, and official reviews by the Hastings Planning Commission and Council.