The City of Columbus Comprehensive Plan currently includes 9 separate elements adopted over time beginning in 1999 with the Goals and Policies Element. These Goals and Policies, together with the Land Use Plan Element and the Thoroughfare Plan Element, form the basic components of the Comprehensive Plan. Comprehensive Plans are intended to evolve over time. For Columbus, this evolution has occurred as additional, more detailed elements are added for specific geographic areas and topics. Examples of these supplemental elements would include the Downtown Strategic Development Plan, the Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan, and the Central Avenue Corridor Plan. The Columbus Comprehensive Plan is adopted by the Columbus City Council.
All highlighted links are PDF documents.
The City of Columbus Comprehensive Plan includes each of the following elements:
Goals and Policies Element
Land Use Plan Element (Land Use Map)
Thoroughfare Plan Element (Thoroughfare Plan Map)
Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan Element (Bicycle Facility Map)(People Trail Map)
Downtown Strategic Development Plan Element
Central Avenue Corridor Plan Element
State Street Corridor Plan Element
Columbus Central Neighborhood Plan Element
City View District Plan Element
About Comprehensive Plans
The Comprehensive Plan is a long-term statement of a community’s vision for its future. The plan provides goals, policies, and other guidance for future land use and development. The Planning Department is the comprehensive plan record keeper and advocate for both the City of Columbus and Bartholomew County. While the Planning Department serves as the staff for both City and County, each jurisdiction has its own separate comprehensive plan. These plans were developed separately over time and involved extensive research and public input. The plans were adopted by the Columbus City Council and Bartholomew County Board of Commissioners, respectively. The comprehensive plan is a separate document from the zoning and subdivision control ordinances. The comprehensive plan is a policy guide that is intended to influence (but not mandate) community land use and development decisions. The zoning and subdivision control ordinances are also adopted separately by both the city and the county. These documents are laws regulating new development and are based, in part, on the guidance of the comprehensive plan.