VISION BOARDING, TO THE NEXT LEVEL. The City of Eau Claire is overhauling its guiding Comprehensive Plan document for the first time since 2015. That process will begin this month, with community engagement opportunities likely to begin in September. (The Confluence Project, pictured in development, was one of the many goal projects listed in the most recent Comprehensive Plan.)

The City of Eau Claire formally begins the big-lift effort of overhauling its Comprehensive Plan – essentially the blueprint for the City’s next two decades of "policies, priorities and development" – this month.

The major update project, dubbed “Legacy EC,” is the City’s first since 2015. This will be the seventh overhaul of the plan since the original iteration, adopted in 1953.

This month, the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee (CPAC) will have its first meeting to talk project timeline, community engagement efforts and more. 

Major elements of the Comprehensive Plan include:

• Land use and development
• Housing and neighborhoods
• Transportation and mobility
• Parks and trials
• Infrastructure and public facilities
• Economic development

Alongside City Council members Aaron Brewster and Jessica Schoen, and Plan Commission members Susan Wolfgram and Josh Zeug, a total 11 residents with relevant expertise – the City sought those with experience in land use and development, housing, social and community needs, design, etc. – are part of CPAC (as are three "alternate" members). 

Familiar faces include Scott Rogers, formerly of the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce; Christina Thrun, executive director of the Chippewa Valley Homebuilders Association; True Vue, founder of Community Nexus; Terry Weld, current realtor and former president of the Eau Claire City Council, among others. 

While the CPAC’s first meeting is not intended for public engagement, Planning Manager Ned Noel said, there will be opportunities beginning in mid-September for community input. Those details have not yet been finalized but will be announced when they are.

For now, the community is invited to leave comments or share ideas through the interactive map found on the Legacy EC project's website, engagerdg.com/PlanEauClaire. That site will also post monthly polls to gain feedback, an email sign-up for those who want project updates, a “document library” with relevant materials and more.

As with the previously approved Comprehensive Plan document, amendments can and will be made even after the new plan is completed. (The 2015 plan was updated in 2022 and 2025.)

Public input sessions on the City of Eau Claire's Comprehensive Plan overhaul will be scheduled and announced in the near future, with the first events likely to occur in mid-September. Until then, the community is invited to leave ideas or comments on the interactive city map online.

Have questions about the City of Eau Claire's Comprehensive Plan? Reach out at  LegacyECPlan@rdgusa.com. Keep up with the overhaul project online at engagerdg.com/PlanEauClaire.