What’s next for the Putnam County comprehensive plan?

What is a comprehensive plan?

Putnam County officials have been talking for some time about an upgrade to the county comprehensive plan, and have taken action on such an upgrade in the last year, but some in the community may still be unclear on what this means.

A comprehensive plan is an official policy guided by the collective insight of elected officials, community leaders and residents. The goal of the comprehensive plan is to create a long-term vision for the community and inform land use, infrastructure and other development decisions.

The comprehensive plan covers topics such as economic development, land use, housing, infrastructure, natural resources and quality of place. The comprehensive plan is governed by Indiana Code 36-7-4. The plan must contain a statement of objectives on future development, a statement of policy for land use development, a statement of policy for the development of public ways, public places, public lands, public structure and public utilities.

There have been several opportunities throughout the planning process for the community to provide input on the existing conditions within the county, defining the county’s vision for the future, and developing realistic goals and action items for reaching this vision.

Now that the planning stage is over, the public is invited to the Ivy Tech Campus (915 Zinc Mill Rd., Greencastle) at 5:30 p.m. on March 6 for the public presentation of the 2023 Putnam County Comprehensive Plan.

A draft of this plan will be available on the Putnam County Planning Department’s website at https://co.putnam.in.us/building-and-planning beginning Feb. 20 as well as at the Planning & Building Department located on the fourth floor of the courthouse (room 46) during regular business hours. The plan can be emailed by request. To have the draft plan emailed, contact planning@co.putnam.in.us.