During our discussions with the Town Board in January, February, and March on how to proceed with the planning process for a five year future land use plan, the Town Board made it clear that the process should involve as many of the residents of the Town of Farmington as possible.

Here’s how that objective was met.

Visioning Workshop – Over 100 residents and property owners attended and provided their input.

Land Use Mapping Workshop – Over 100 residents and property owners attended and created individual and group future land use maps.

Future Land Use Plan Committee – There were two objectives in forming this committee. The first was to have the Committee review the results of the Visioning Workshop and to use them to create a Vision Statement on future land use in the Town of Farmington. The second was to review the group maps from the Land Use Mapping Workshop and create a Five-Year Future Land Use Plan Map for further review by the Town of Farmington Plan Commission and Town Board. The work of the Future Land Use Plan Committee was to be advisory to the Plan Commission and the Town Board.

The committee was created by asking the residents and property owners at the two workshops to indicate their interest in serving on the committee by circling statements on a questionnaire that best described their situation. Our objective was to form a committee with people from each of the following categories:

We briefly reviewed the names of the people who completed the questionnaire with the Town Clerk, but we did not ask about, nor did she mention, the people’s feelings or opinions on land use issues in the Town of Farmington. After meeting with the committee, it is clear the members represent the different views held on land use issues in the Town of Farmington.

The Future Land Use Plan Committee has met twice. The members have worked well together, with good discussion and debate, and they were able to reach a consensus on the Vision Statements. Those Vision Statements are now ready to be considered by the Plan Commission and Town Board.

The objective of the third and final meeting was to develop a Five-Year Future Land Use Plan Map based on the group maps from the Land Use Mapping Workshop. The map would then be submitted to the Plan Commission for their review and changes. The Plan Commission would submit it to the Town Board for their review and approval. Again, the work of the Future Land Use Plan Committee is strictly advisory to the Plan Commission and to the Town Board.