Great Falls City Planners Want Feedback on Growth Policy Plan

The City of Great Falls has launched a new website dedicated to growth policy updates and gathering community feedback.

As part of their public engagement efforts, the Department of Planning and Development has launched a website dedicated to providing up-to-date information on the city’s growth policy plan for the next 20 years.

Great Falls city planners want feedback on Growth Policy Plan

Growth policies guide city leaders, business owners and developers on future growth based on community needs.

Community members can sign up to receive current updates on project progress and provide direct feedback to urban planners. The city is interested in what a citizen’s ideal community looks like and any current or foreseeable challenges the community may face.

Great Falls Associate Planner Alaina Mattimiro says, “We want everyone and anyone connected to Great Falls to be able to participate. So it’s you, your friends, your family, your grandparents, your kids, your colleagues. If you live on base, we want you, if you live in Cascade County but work in Great Falls or shop in Great Falls, all those people we want feedback from. This will be the best public engagement effort in the city’s history, and it’s happening right now. So we’re very excited about that.”

The planning and development department has already visited the community to present and gather feedback at various workshops. Says Mattimiro, “We ask people, ‘What do you want to see Great Falls in 20 years and how can we get there and what are your top priorities?'”

The city’s new Growth Policy Plan is currently in the first phase of a four-step process that includes community analysis and public engagement efforts to plan development.

A consultant is currently working with the city to analyze housing and income data to create affordable housing strategies. You can also view the previous growth policy from 2013 and track its progress on the website.

Mattimiro says: “If people want to take a look at what’s been done in the past, they can, and some of the things we decided in 2013 that we wanted to see. And you can see if we’re making any progress on some of these projects.”

To learn more about Great Falls’ growth policies and provide feedback, click here to visit the website.