After 18 months of research and public involvement, the City of Great Falls has released the first draft of its Future Great Falls Growth Policy, a long-term framework that will govern development decisions from 2025 to 2045.
City officials say the piece reflects hundreds of community ideas, concerns, and goals gathered over the last year and a half, and they're now soliciting feedback from residents.
Quentin Shores reports - watch the video here:
“We finally have that draft. We took all of the ideas, all of the thoughts, all of the goals, hopes and dreams of our community. And our hope is that if the community will tell us, did we get it right or not?” said Brock Cherry, Director of Planning and Community Development.
The draft growth policy presents ideas and potential scenarios for addressing key issues facing Great Falls, including housing, transportation, infrastructure, population growth, and future community amenities such as parks and public spaces. According to city planners, the idea is to urge residents to think beyond their present needs and envision what Great Falls will look like in decades.
“It's hard for people to think even one year in advance or five years in advance, so pushing people to the limits to think about what do I want my community to look like 15 or 20 years in advance, really helps shape decision making that's going to happen now,” said Associate Planner Alaina Mattimiro.
The draft contains a future land-use map, growth predictions, and goals that will help guide city decisions as Great Falls evolves. According to planners, public feedback is important at this stage.
"This is the opportunity for very targeted feedback from the community to look at the future land use map, to look at the goals and objectives and tell us, is this where we should be going for the next 20 years?" Cherry spoke.
City officials agree that balancing expansion goals is difficult, particularly when it comes to housing, infrastructure maintenance, and transit.
“That's kind of been the challenge, especially with, like housing is a big thing for people. And, you know, people want their potholes fixed or they want their roads to look good. And the more roads we have, the harder it is to do that,” said Mattimiro.
The draft growth policy is now accessible to the public on the Future Great Falls website, and the city intends to collect feedback before proceeding with adjustments this spring.
Officials invite residents to read the documents and provide feedback to help define Great Falls' future.
There will be two public forums at the Civic Center:
- Wednesday, January 14, from 5:30 - 7:30pm
- Thursday, January 15, from 5:30 - 7:30pm
You can also click here to send suggestions directly to city planners.
