Area Plan Office

PURPOSE OF COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

The Comprehensive Plan is a legal document that serves as a decision-making guide for both officials and citizens, and is intended to serve as a tool for making decisions about the promotion of public health, safety, morals, convenience, order, or the general welfare and for the sake of efficiency and economy in the process of development. Comprehensive Plans are defined by state statute IC 36-7-4-500 series, which outlines the intent and details of the necessary content for all plans.

FUTURE GUIDE FOR GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Boone County’s Comprehensive Plan is intended to serve as a guide for future growth and development in unincorporated areas of Boone County, Whitestown, and Advance over the next 20 years. Incorporated areas not under the jurisdiction of the Area Plan Commission (Zionsville, Lebanon, Thorntown, and Jamestown) are in charge of planning for their communities, but are strongly encouraged to use this County Comprehensive Plan as a guiding tool to help assure contiguous planning occurs throughout the County. This plan has been initiated to address the issues of growth, land use, economy, culture, and technology. Citizens want Boone County to continue to be a unique place with rural character and a diverse economic base. Through this plan, county residents have sought to identify and enhance the various characteristics that make Boone County a special place.

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FORMATION FOUNDED ON PUBLIC INPUT

Planning is a continuous process that was initiated prior to this plan and will continue after its publication. The last comprehensive plan for Boone County was created in 1998. Since then, the county has experienced several changes, demanding a new vision for the County to readdress existing factors and to plan for future issues that will influence growth and development throughout the county. Through a joint planning process between the Area Plan Commission and the Boone County Economic Development Corporation, this new Comprehensive Plan is the result of a detailed process that brought county residents together to identify existing conditions throughout Boone County, analyze relationships, recognize trends, and ultimately create recommendations. This plan is clearly a reflection of the needs and desires of today’s resident population. The Comprehensive Plan is based on information obtained primarily through public participation and input.  Public workshops, along with Focus Group meetings, were held throughout the county during the development of the plan. The input generated by these meetings, along with a county-wide Steering Committee, helped form a basis for the recommendations in this plan. The full public participation process is explained in depth in Chapter 5: Public Participation.