Comprehensive Plan

Stevens Point’s Comprehensive Plan

The Stevens Point Common Council adopted the City's Comprehensive Plan on January 16, 2006. According to s. 66.1001 of Wis. Stats., beginning on January 1, 2010, if a town, village, city, county, or regional planning commission engages in official mapping, subdivision regulation, or zoning, those actions must be consistent with the community's comprehensive plan. The Wisconsin Comprehensive Planning Law (s. 66.1001 of Wis. Stats.) does not mandate how a local community should grow, rather it requires public participation at the local level in deciding how a community wants to look and be in the future.

• View the City of Stevens Point’s Comprehensive Plan as a single 286-page pdf.
• View Portage County’s Comprehensive Plan on the County website.

The purpose of a comprehensive plan is to provide communities with information and policies that will guide future planning and community decisions. Comprehensive plans incorporate a twenty-year vision and provide a rational basis for local land use decisions.

In Wisconsin, the law defines the contents of a local comprehensive plan specified in nine elements. While a local government may choose to include additional elements, a comprehensive plan must include AT LEAST the following nine elements:

• Issues and Opportunities
• Agricultural, Natural and Cultural Resources
• Economic Development
• Housing
• Land Use
• Transportation
• Utilities and Community Facilities
• Intergovernmental Cooperation
• Implementation

Update Process

In 2022, the City of Stevens Point’s City Council adopted People Are the Point as its strategic plan to enhance the city for as many different people and experiences as possible. Using objectives defined in the strategic plan, Community Development staff and residents will generate neighborhood-level action and new social networks that will guide progress. 

Neighborhood Breakdown

To start building plans around the districts or "hubs" identified in People Are the Point, City staff will be distributing surveys and hosting block parties in 8 specific regions of Stevens Point. These regions are not permanent. At this point, they are merely imaginary boundaries for data collection.

Block Parties & Planning Workshops

Social events designed to bring out residents’ imagination will conclude the first stage of public input. All official workshops will be led by city staff and designed by alders and designated residents. Throughout the planning process, planning staff will be available at a minimum of two neighborhood businesses or events to provide residents an alternative to planning workshops. Residents who cannot attend either the event or office hours may email Chris Klesmith, Neighborhood Planner, at cklesmith@stevenspoint.com to submit comments.

Since Downtown Stevens Point is in the process of establishing a Business Improvement District, this district will go through a different, but similar, process.

Plan Construction

Staff will lead the construction of neighborhood plans with residents, community stakeholders, and department directors. Staff will form "Hub Associations," groups of residents, business owners, and leaders, where possible to help facilitate this process and grow resident leadership throughout the city. 

Review

Hub Associations, other resident groups, and department directors will be the primary groups refining neighborhood plans with staff. Residents will be invited one final time to recommend changes or identify missed opportunities for staff to remedy before presenting to the Common Council. 

Progress Updates

This page will be updated as milestones are scheduled or completed. To receive notices via email and/or text message whenever news stories regarding this project are posted here, go to our Notify Me Module Opens in New Window and sign up for the "Comprehensive Plan" News Flashes. News and announcements are also posted on our Facebook Page Opens in New Window and Twitter FeedOpens in New Wind.