The City's current Comprehensive Plan was adopted by the City Council on September 22, 2015, and is a guide to the City's decisions about long-term growth and physical development of the Eau Claire community.  The document encompasses all the geographical areas of the community as well as the major public functions and services which bear on physical development.  The document also identifies a coherent and fiscally responsible development pattern for the Eau Claire community and is intended to encourage consistent public and private decisions about future development.

5-Year Review of 2015 Comprehensive Plan

Combined Comprehensive Plan Amendments, January 2022

Since 2020 the Plan Commission has had ongoing discussions about the 5-Year review process for the 2015 Comprehensive Plan. As noted in the Comprehensive Plan, this provides the Plan Commission an opportunity to review the various chapters of the Plan and then update Chapter 15 – the Plan Implementation Chapter. After several discussions with the Plan Commission, the general framework and public input process for undertaking this review and update was decided by staff and the Commission. The process generally consisted of the following guidelines including the opportunity for public input.

• The review and update of the Plan was conducted under the overview of the Plan Commission.
• The review is based on the direction provided by Objective 3 – Regular Reviews, Policy 1 – Formal Reviews as listed in the Plan Implementation Program. The Plan states that “once very five years, the City will instruct its Planning Commission and staff members to conduct a formal review of the Plan.” The Plan Commission upon discussion of this policy, decided to include opportunities for public input as part of the process.
• This 5-Year review is not intended to be a complete update or rewrite of the Plan, which is required every 10 years by State law. The focus of this process is a review of the “Plan Actions” of each chapter that are listed at the end of each chapter and also summarized in the Chapter 15 – the Plan Implementation Program.

The role of the Plan Commission is to make the final decisions as to what tasks should be worked on over the next five years. The Plan Commission held work sessions, either as part of a scheduled Plan Commission meeting or a special meeting.

The Plan Implementation Chapter was discussed by the Plan Commission, final changes were made (links below), and public hearings for adoption by the Plan Commission and City Council were held.

Open House - Comprehensive Plan Proposed Amendment

January 26, 2022 Virtual Open House (Video Recording)

Plan Implementation Program

For questions, please contact the City Planning Division at 715-839-4914 or planning@eauclairewi.gov.