Subject:
Title
Return of the Draft 2026 Comprehensive Plan to the Planning Commission for Reconsideration
Body
DATE(S) OF PRIOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION OF THIS ISSUE:
• April 20, 2026 - Joint Town Council and Planning Commission work session
• May 4, 2026 - Town Council public hearing
• May 18, 2026 - Town Council work session
• June 1, 2026 - Town Council work session (item deferred because of the late hour)
• July 6, 2026 - Town Council work session
• Sept. 14, 2026 - Town Council work session
• Sept. 21, 2026 - Town Council work session
EXPLANATION AND SUMMARY:
The Comprehensive Plan is the Town's long-range policy document. It guides land use, transportation, economic development, parks and recreation, public facilities and infrastructure, and environmental sustainability. The Draft 2026 Comprehensive Plan is a comprehensive update of the plan adopted in 2016 and amended in 2020. The Planning Commission completed its recommended draft on Feb. 25, 2026.
The Town Council and Planning Commission held a joint work session on April 20, 2026, and the Council held a public hearing on May 4, 2026. Since then, the Council has held a series of work sessions to review the draft. The Council worked from a table of issues drawn from public comments, staff recommendations, and Council Members' comments, and gave staff guidance on each item. At its Sept. 14 and 21 work sessions, the Council discussed how the plan’s strategies should be handled.
Staff recommends that the Council remand the draft 2026 Comprehensive Plan and return it to the Planning Commission for further review and consideration under § 15.2-2227.
To guide the Planning Commission's review, the following items are submitted for the Council's consideration:
• Issues Table with Town Council Guidance (Attachment 01)
• Revised Wireless Communications text (Attachment 02)
• Guidance on the strategies (described below; the current draft Plan’s goals, policies, and strategies are provided as Attachment 03)
Issues Table with Town Council Guidance (Attachment 01)
Attachment 01 is the table of issues the Town Council worked through during the May 18, July 6, and Sept. 14, 2026, work sessions. For each issue, it lists the topic, the draft Plan's approach, the questions posed to the Council, and the Town Council's final guidance. Staff will prepare the text edits that implement this guidance, along with technical corrections from staff and VDOT, for the Planning Commission's review.
Revised Wireless Communications text (Attachment 02)
At a prior work session, the Council asked staff to replace the Planning Commission's wireless language with a more forward-looking statement establishing reliable wireless coverage throughout the Town as an infrastructure priority. Staff presented draft language to the Council on Sept. 14, 2026. Attachment 02 includes revisions made since then, including a restated infrastructure priority that emphasizes public safety and emergency communications, and a greater emphasis on identifying Town-owned property for wireless infrastructure. Consistent with the Council's direction on Sept. 21, the wireless narrative and Policy 3.3 would be included in the plan. The associated strategies would be removed along with the plan's other strategies, for consideration as part of the implementation plan.
Guidance on the strategies
On Sept. 14, the Town Council raised concerns about the number and specificity of the draft's strategies (Attachment 03). The current adopted Comprehensive Plan has 42 objectives and 182 strategies. The draft 2026 Comprehensive Plan has 95 policies and about 300 strategies. Council agreed that the Planning Commission, which prepared the draft on the Town Council's behalf, should do the detailed revision, provided it receives clear guidance.
Staff's understanding of the Council's consensus at its Sept. 21 work session is as follows, which the Council may confirm or modify at this meeting:
1. Adopt the Comprehensive Plan without the strategies. The vision, goals, and policies are the most critical part of the plan, providing general policy guidance for staff, the Council, and the community. The plan would move forward to adoption with the strategies removed.
2. Revise the strategies as a next step. The Planning Commission would then review and reduce the strategies, coordinating this work with its input on the Capital Improvement Plan. The revised strategies would serve as the first draft of an implementation plan and would not necessarily be incorporated back into the Comprehensive Plan.
For the second step, the Council asked the Planning Commission to use the following guidance:
1. Councilmember input. Take into account specific strategies identified by individual Councilmembers.
2. Reduction. Significantly reduce the number of strategies. The Council discussed a general target of approximately 150 strategies. The target is not absolute.
3. Redundancy. Combine strategies that repeat or overlap within a subject area and reduce topics that recur across the strategies.
4. Funding and commitment language. Reframe strategies that suggest a future policy commitment or future funding. Make clear that these are areas the Town will explore, and that the Comprehensive Plan is not making the decision.
5. Use of "consider." Use words like "consider," especially where a strategy involves Town funds or taxes.
6. Complexity. Recognize that some topics are more complicated than others and may warrant more strategies or more detail than others.
7. Coordination with the Capital Improvement Plan. Align the strategies with the Planning Commission's input on the Capital Improvement Plan.
Strategies removed or consolidated will be kept in a separate working document so they remain available for future consideration.
The Town Council remands the Planning Commission’s recommended draft back to the Planning Commission for the following reasons: (1) the draft does not reflect the Council’s guidance on the issues identified in Attachment 01, which arose from public comment, staff and VDOT review, and Council Members’ comments; (2) the wireless communications text does not establish reliable wireless coverage as an infrastructure priority, as set out in Attachment 02; and (3) the draft’s approximately 300 strategies are too numerous and too specific for the Comprehensive Plan, and several imply future funding or policy commitments the plan should not make. The Council therefore requests that the strategies be removed from the plan and revised separately as described in this report.
Council action at this meeting
Staff suggests that the Town Council first confirm the direction it wishes to send to the Planning Commission, including the approach to the strategies described above.
Under Virginia Code § 15.2-2226, the Town Council may approve and adopt the Comprehensive Plan, amend and adopt it, or disapprove it. Under Virginia Code § 15.2-2227, a disapproved plan is returned to the Planning Commission for reconsideration, with a written statement of the Council's reasons. The Commission has 60 days to reconsider the plan and resubmit it, with any changes, to the Council. Returning the plan to the Planning Commission with requested changes is the action staff anticipates. This agenda report, including Attachments 01 and 02, would serve as the Council's written statement of reasons.
Next steps
If the Council returns the draft Comprehensive Plan to the Planning Commission, the process would proceed as follows:
1. The Planning Commission reviews the Town Council's comments and begins making edits.
2. The Planning Commission holds a new public hearing on the revised draft.
3. The Planning Commission finalizes the revised draft and votes to forward it to the Town Council.
4. The Town Council holds a public hearing on the Planning Commission's revised draft.
5. The Town Council makes any final edits.
6. The Town Council adopts the updated Comprehensive Plan.
The Planning Commission's revised recommendation will establish a new resolution. The Council's timeframe for action under § 15.2-2226 will run from that resolution.
Separately from these steps, the Planning Commission will revise the strategies according to the Council's guidance and return them to the Town Council as the first draft of an implementation plan.
Attachments:
01 - Comprehensive Plan Issues Table with Council Guidance
02 - Revised Wireless Communications Text
03 - Goals, Policies, and Strategies - PC Draft Plan 2026 (reference)
Departmental Recommendation: The Department of Planning and Zoning recommends that the Town Council confirm its guidance and return the Draft 2026 Comprehensive Plan to the Planning Commission for reconsideration, with the guidance in the issues table, the revised wireless communications text, and the guidance on the strategies described above.
Finance Recommendation: N/A
Purchasing Recommendation: N/A
Town Attorney Recommendation: Consistent with the Town Council’s review and discussion of the Draft Comprehensive Plan, in its discretion, the Town Council may refer the draft Comprehensive Plan to the Planning Commission for further consideration, public input, revisions and recommendations to the Town Council.
Town Manager's Recommendation: I recommend the Town Council remand the draft 2026 Comprehensive Plan to the Planning Commission, as presented.
Cost and Financing: No direct cost.
Account Number: N/A
Prior Funding Approval: N/A
Decision Needed by This date: Oct. 26, 2026
PROPOSED/SUGGESTED MOTION
Recommended Action
Motion 1 - Disapproval and Return of the Draft Plan
“I move that the Town Council remand the draft 2026 Comprehensive Plan as recommended by the Planning Commission and return it to the Planning Commission for reconsideration and additional recommendations pursuant to Virginia Code § 15.2-2227. The agenda report and Attachments 01 and 02, as confirmed or modified by the Council at this meeting, shall constitute the Council’s written statement of the reasons for disapproval, including the requested changes and the removal of the strategies from the plan. The Planning Commission shall reconsider and resubmit the plan, with any changes, to the Town Council within sixty (60) days.”
Or
Other action deemed necessary by Council.
Motion 2 - Revision of Strategies for the Implementation Plan
“I move that the Town Council request that the Planning Commission revise the strategies from the draft 2026 Comprehensive Plan, consistent with the Council’s guidance in this agenda report, as confirmed or modified by the Council at this meeting, for use as the first draft of the Town’s implementation plan, and provide recommendations to the Town Council for consideration and possible adoption.”
Or
Other action deemed necessary by Council.