City Planning
There is an old adage that says, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” In the world of city growth and management, this statement could not be more accurate. Planning is involved in many aspects of community growth beyond just reviewing development plans. By planning, we seek to protect our natural and cultural resources, eliminate blight by means of controlled growth, discover creative re-uses for long worn-out property, develop appropriate incentives to attract new capital investment, and much more.
In general, there are five major benefits to planning:
1. Planning helps City officials by providing guidelines and goals for future decisions.
2. Planning helps the City Council establish goals proactively and consider contingencies.
3. Planning can help quantify goals and establish a means of measuring success.
4. Planning can help ensure that a coherent set of actions are implemented that are consistent with the
values and priorities of the citizens.
5. Planning helps allocate limited resources like staff, materials and time in an orderly and systematic
manner.
One of the primary measures by which a municipality sets out its plans for the future is by creating a Comprehensive Development Plan. The City of Granite City started revising and updating its comprehensive plan in the fourth quarter of 2007. As such, we encourage citizen groups to meet with City planners to discuss specific issues and to talk generally about the future of our town. The following details the specific purpose and character of the Comprehensive Plan. Below which, we have made the existing Comprehensive Plan available for download.
Comprehensive Development Plan
The Comprehensive Plan is a tool used to guide growth and development within the City. The Comprehensive Plan is a community effort facilitated by the Plan Commission that lays out guidelines on how the community would like to grow and how to achieve it. The Plan takes a look at the community's strengths and weaknesses in an effort to address the development and redevelopment issues affecting the City. This in-depth analysis helps anticipate future issues or trends, and it lays out the land use plan that helps mold future growth and development. The Comprehensive Plan provides an assessment of the physical and economic base of the City by providing a land use plan, census data, population projections, economic information, capital improvement plans, and much more.Other issues addressed in the Plan include balancing the demand for development with our current resources so not to overburden the schools and city services; continuing to work to advance the Tri-City Port District; attracting other employers to diversify our work force; redevelopment of areas in possible decline; and protecting our environment and continually improving the quality of life within the community.
Comprehensive Development Plan
Comprehensive Development Plan Technical Memorandum
Zoning Map
Downtown Building Form Master Plan
In February, 2008 the City Council approved a building form master plan that is to be used as a guide to the future redevelopment of the downtown area. This plan has been made available to developers interested in the downtown area as a means of providing them with an idea of the development possibilities downtown and the goals of the City.Downtown Existing Land Use
Building Form Master Plan
Partial Block Study