Plan [2022]

Per state statute, beginning January 1, 2010, every municipality in the state of Wisconsin was required to have a comprehensive plan. A Comprehensive Plan includes the following nine elements:

1. Issues and Opportunities
2. Housing
3. Transportation
4. Utilities and Community Facilities
5. Agricultural, Natural, and Cultural Resources
6. Economic Development
7. Intergovernmental Cooperation
8. Land Use
9. Implementation

These plans are required to be updated no less than every ten years. To assist with this update process, we have contracted with Chris Holtkamp and his team from the University of River Falls. Chris has helped several other communities with their comprehensive plans; we are excited to have him guiding us.

We are currently in the pre-planning process, which started with a small group of representatives from the Village Board and Planning Commission. Chris walked them through a process to form our steering committee tasked with keeping the project moving forward. Thank you to the following individuals willing to serve: President Becky Beissel, Trustee Andrew Borner, Trustee Mindy Anderson, Steve Georgakas, Jeremiah Paulson, Ashley Boe, CJ Campuzano, Jared Murphy, and Angel Anderson.

An important element of the process is the need for extensive public feedback. Your input will be needed! Watch for a community survey, town halls, and meetings for residents, local groups, and organizations. These will begin at the end of January.

The team at UWRF will then take the community feedback and create a useable plan specific to Ellsworth, incorporating community and stakeholder feedback. The final plan will include goals for each of the nine essential elements, along with steps on how to achieve them. A need for secondary plans may come out of the process (i.e., Complete Outdoor Recreation/Parks Plan, Downtown Design Guidelines, etc.)

Another benefit of having foundational plans is that they make us more competitive for grant opportunities. With budgets being as tight as they are, this opens up additional funding opportunities for our community.

Timeline

Phase 1: Community Survey (approximate timeframe January-February 2022)
Phase 2: Town Hall Meetings (approximate timeframe March 2022)
Phase 3: Focus Group Meetings (approximate timeframe April 2022)
Completion of Comprehensive Plan Update: September 2022

Data Results

Ellsworth Demographic Report
Ellsworth Community Survey Results

Draft Plan

The Village of Ellsworth Board of Trustees will hold a meeting and public hearing on Monday, October 3, 2022 at 7:00pm to take public comment on the following Updated Comprehensive Draft Plan.
Updated Comprehensive Draft Plan

Final Plan

The Village of Ellsworth Board of Trustees approved the update to the Comprehensive Plan on Monday, October 3, 2022.
Approved Updated Comprehensive Plan