2040 Comprehensive Plan (2018 Comprehensive Plan Update)

​

The Metropolitan Council reviewed and approved the City's 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update on June 24, 2020.

City staff and community members have been working since 2016 on an update to the 2008 Comprehensive Plan. The process to update the comprehensive plan, established by the Edina City Council, included more than 180 meetings, including regular work sessions by the Planning Commission’s Comprehensive Plan Task Force, large-group public meetings, smaller community meetings in specific areas of the city (such as in the areas surrounding the elementary schools), listening sessions (small meetings held in response to invitations by community organizations or neighborhood groups), intergenerational dialogue with residents and other stakeholders, as well as ample opportunity to submit comments on the plan through the City's Better Together page.

The City Council approved the comprehensive plan at its December 3, 2019 meeting. After it was approved it was submitted to the Metropolitan Council for review and approval.

The Met Council required edits/changes to the City's submitted plan-

Edina 2040 CPU Incomplete for Review

Edina 2040 CPU Incomplete for Review 2nd

Edina 2040 Met Council Complete for Review

Edina 2040 CPU-Notice of Council Action

Met Council Committee Report

Met Council Comment Matrix Document

Below is a list of redlined chapters that highlight the changes that were made in response to the Met Council.

• Land Use Chapter
• Housing Chapter
• Transportation Chapter
• Water Resources Chapter
  

Now that it has been reviewed and approved by the Metropolitan Council, the 2018 Comprehensive Plan update will go in front of the City Council to be formally adopted.

The public review and formal comment period on the comprehensive plan concluded April 8, 2019. All comments were received and either addressed or acknowledged in the plan.

The City Council approved the Comprehensive Plan at its Dec. 3, 2019 meeting.

The Plan has been sent to the Metropolitan Council to review for completeness. Once the plan has been deemed as complete, the Metropolitan Council has 120 calendar days to complete its review and take final action on the plan.

Once the plan has been approved by Metropolitan Council, the City Council will pass a resolution sometime in 2020 formally adopting the plan.

The redlined versions of each chapter are posted here.

These versions compare the version revised in May (incorporating comments from the public hearings) with the October 2019 draft. Some chapters were not changed between March and May, so the comparison is actually with the March version of the plan.

The Comprehensive Plan public hearings are scheduled at upcoming Planning Commission and City Council meetings. The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, November 13th at 7:00 pm. The public hearing at City Council will be held on Tuesday, December 3rd at 7:00 pm. Both public hearings will be held in Edina's City Council chambers.

The draft plan addresses comments received from the public and surrounding jurisdictions.

The Comprehensive Plan consultants are preparing red lined version of the October 2019 draft. The red lined version will be posted on Better Together prior to the public hearing at Planning Commission.

The current draft of the comprehensive plan has been updated and uploaded and is referred to as the October 2019 Draft. The six-month review period for surrounding jurisdictions (adjacent cities, MnDOT, school district, watershed district, etc.) to comment on the City’s Comprehensive Plan ends on November 8^th. Jurisdictions may submit their comments to the City until that date. The draft that is posted is the latest draft of the plan but is subject to change prior to the Planning Commission public hearing due to the fact that the City may receive more comments from those jurisdictions.

The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing for the comprehensive plan on November 13, 2019. The City Council will hold a public hearing on December 3, 2019.

See the October 2019 Draft Chapters here.

One hundred and forty four (144) Edina volunteers have all had a big part in creating the content of the 2018 draft comprehensive plan. To view the list of residents who were apart of this process click here.

The planning commission has acted as the comprehensive plan task force for the last 2+ years. They worked with the City's Boards and Commissions to draft the content and the majority of the chapters included in the plan. In addition to the City's Boards and Commissions, volunteers were utilized in creating the five (5) small area plan working groups for the Small Area Plans that are included in the Comprehensive Plan.

The City has had 178 public meetings total in regard to the Comprehensive Plan Update. Of those meetings 152 were public meetings, 17 were community meetings and 9 were public hearings.

There was a 30-day public comment period from March 7th to April 8th where the Planning Commission asked for comments on the draft chapters through Better Together. During the 30-day comment period there was 1,049 AWARE Visitors, 253 INFORMED Visitors and 31 ENGAGED Visitors on the Better Together Comprehensive Plan site.

The Planning Commission received 95 comments on the draft chapters. 53 of the 95 comments resulted in changes/improvements to the draft plan. To view the full comment report click here.

The Planning Commission has approved a draft version of the comprehensive plan. This plan will be forwarded to City Council on May 7, 2019.

Electronic Version:

A download a full version of the draft comprehensive plan click here or to view the plan by chapters click here.

Paper Version:

If you would like to view a paper copy of the draft plan there are copies available at the two public libraries, at the Senior Center, and in the Planning and Building Department at Edina City Hall. If you would like your own copy, you may request a copy through the Planning Department who will print one for you for $35.00.

The Comprehensive Plan does not establish a population goal. The Metropolitan Council does population forecasts for the seven-county metro area as part of their regional planning mandate in state statute.

https://metrocouncil.org/Data-and-Maps/Data/Census,-Forecasts,-Estimates-NEW/Council-Forecasts.aspx.

Regional forecast looks at the seven-county region’s position within the larger, national economy. The region's business conditions and competitive advantages determine economic and employment levels which, in turn, drive population growth by attracting people to the Twin Cities. Additional land use modeling locates future population, households and employment to specific communities within the region. The model looks at how demographics, regional policies, and available land affect real estate supply and demand.

Forecasts are meant to be realistic assumptions that can be used to guide investments in infrastructure and public services. They are not goals, aspirations, or targets.

From the Metropolitan Council’s perspective, a central function of comprehensive planning is to be able to anticipate growth and plan responsibly for it. Their direct purview relates to regional systems for parks, transportation, and water resources, as well as additional regional requirements around affordable housing. In support of this, they provide specific guidance to communities about information needed to inform development and system planning and implementation. https://metrocouncil.org/Handbook/Planning-Overview.aspx

Metropolitan Council periodically adjusts forecasts based on new data, to ensure they are as accurate as possible. This has occurred recently with Edina and several other cities.

Forecasting growth and land use change are complex endeavors, particularly at a sub-regional level, due to the number of variables that contribute to change. As a result, it is necessary for the Metropolitan Council to at times adjust the forecasts based on new data they receive.

In addition to other data tracking, the region’s annual population and household estimate program provides insights as whether near-term forecasts are accurate. For instance, in mid-2018 the Metropolitan Council completed its 2017 estimates. These showed that some communities were growing faster than anticipated with new units, so that the 2020 forecast numbers may be too low given current trends. https://metrocouncil.org/Data-and-Maps/Data/CouncilResearchProducts/Population-Estimates.aspx

The Metropolitan Council informed staff that their projection for Edina was too low as the City already hit the 2020 projection. The Metropolitan Council gave the City a 2040 population projection of 63,600 to include in our Comprehensive Plan Update. This was based on recent development in Edina and the recent Comprehensive Plan Amendments for those developments. The increase would be about 19% from our current population. Again, this projection is not a mandate, goal, aspiration or target.