Onward Moorhead Comprehensive Plan Frequently Asked Questions

March 28, 2022

Onward Moorhead! is a Comprehensive Plan that will help set the stage for prioritizing growth and development for the next 10 years.

A Comprehensive Plan is a guiding framework that helps city leaders, developers, business owners, and citizens make decisions about how a city will grow over the next 10 years.

A Comprehensive Plan allows us to identify future issues, trends, goals and visions and prepare for change. By setting policies on how to meet the future needs of the community, we can utilize our resources more efficiently to adapt and respond to the challenges of a growing city.

City departments use the goals and visions of the plan to identify strategies and resources to make the needs and visons of the community come to fruition. The City also uses the Comprehensive Plan to make decisions on property changes and development, zoning changes and how to prioritize spending in the capital budget. Property owners, community organizations and developers can also use the plan to help bring different elements of the plan to life with a level of confidence for the guided direction of the City.

No. Comprehensive Plans identify general land use patterns and sets broad policies for direction on a variety of topics related to the physical environment (mixed-use, commercial, residential, industrial, etc.). A zoning ordinance implements the Comprehensive Plan policies through regulations (or rules) determining specific uses, scales, and intensities of development (types of businesses, building coverage, height, setbacks, parking requirements, etc.).

Once the final version of the plan is completed, the Moorhead City Council will vote to adopt the plan.