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CGO Goals and Guidelines

Community Growth Options developed the following goals and guidelines to direct its process over the course of the project. Our 17-member Board of Advisors is instrumental in guiding our vision, implementing our process and helping us meet our goals.

Goals

The six-year goals of CGO are:

  • To assist local elected officials, staff and citizens to guide the development patterns in their communities
  • To support Minnesota communities in accommodating growth
  • To create models of successful planning and implementation
  • To encourage planning firms to provide to growing communities a comprehensive array of integrated services
  • To create and sustain in communities a demand for long-term planning, sustainable local policies and a balanced-growth approach to community development

Resources

The participating communities will have access to a comprehensive array of policy, communications, educational, technology and University resources at no additional cost to support and enhance their planning and implementation efforts. These resources include:

  • A variety of communications options. We will publish newsletters about each community, distributed to all community citizens, as well as CGO program-wide newsletters that highlight progress in all selected communities. Each community will also have dedicated space on a website for easy information sharing regarding the project.
  • Regular training opportunities. We will offer workshops for local elected officials, staff and citizens on various planning and natural resource topics relevant to the community.
  • University of Minnesota resources, including 10-week graduate student internships and faculty research support, which includes GIS support, market research, community surveys and data-gathering.
  • Technical assistance to support, inform the community planning process. We will provide 3D visualization, interactive mapping and GIS analysis.

Expectations

Participating communities will be expected to:

  • Contract with a planning firm from an approved pool of consultants.
  • Work with that firm to establish a cyclical planning framework for their community that includes the following components: community visioning, comprehensive planning, ordinance development/updating, plan implementation/developing action items, policies and procedures audit, ongoing internal education and training.
  • With assistance from the selected planning firm, implement this planning framework.
  • Commit to funding ongoing planning as a core function of government.
  • Commit to seeking diverse and broad citizen representation in the planning process.
  • Commit to openness and a high level of information-sharing in the planning process.
  • Participate in CGO workshops and trainings as appropriate.