The Board of County Commissioners recently approved the revised Comprehensive Plan for Finney County. The last revision dates back to 1995 so the current County Commissioners felt it was an important undertaking for today’s Finney County.
The purpose of a Comprehensive Plan is to serve as the overall guide for economic growth and development in Finney County over the next 20 years. It gives developers, policy-makers, and citizens unified strategies to apply when allocating resources, zoning land, making capital improvements, budgeting, and for a variety of other initiatives that could take place within the County.
One of the Plan’s main objectives is to guide these strategies with principles that would help preserve our natural resources and the character of Finney County. Recommendations throughout the Plan relate to land use, transportation, natural resources, community facilities, business and housing development, and our community’s character and identity.
Comprehensive isn’t just a great adjective – this Plan includes everything from the history of Finney County to a future look at where Finney County could be. It holds information about the current state of the population, our rural geography, and economic trends. It even details past trends and decisions that influenced our current practices, comparative plans that were consulted during the revision process, and how this Plan came to be adopted.
The Neighborhood & Development Services Department (aka, the Planning Department) often provides this Plan to interested developers. This department oversees planning and zoning for both Garden City and Finney County. Their staff refer to the Plan for every new project that gets submitted, to report on how this project fits into our comprehensive goals and objectives. The County Commission and County departments use this Plan as a guidance document for decision-making on applicable projects as well.
In order to keep this new Plan current, the County Commission and Planning Commission will review and amend the Plan periodically as conditions change. This will help all parties involved respond to needs as they change, and take advantage of new opportunities as they become available.
You can read the entire Comprehensive Plan here or find it on our website's Document Center at www.finneycounty.org.