What is a comprehensive plan?

Goals of planning
What are general goals of a comprehensive plan?
How might planning protect public health?
How might planning protect public safety?
How might planning ensure adequate circulation?
How might comprehensive planning help in the provision of services and facilities?
How might comprehensive planning ensure fiscal health?
Do communities have the right to practice “fiscal zoning”—that is to keep out land uses that are likely to cost the community for more services than they will yield in revenue?
How might a comprehensive plan help a community achieve economic goals?
How might a comprehensive plan ensure environmental protection?
How might a comprehensive plan distribute downward wealth and influence?

Comprehensive planning process
How has the comprehensive planning process changed since the days of the Chicago Plan?
What are some common elements of a participatory plan-making process?

What is involved in planning research?
What is a population forecast and why is it important?
What is a land-use inventory?
What is an economic base study?
What do traffic studies entail?
Why are studies of water and serer infrastructure important in comprehensive planning?
Why are soil studies important in comprehensive planning?
What are the elements of a recreation study?
What do fiscal studies entail?

Formulating Community Goals
What is the purpose of the goal-setting process?
How do planners facilitate the goal setting process?

Formulating the Plan
How is a plan formulated? 
What is impact analysis?

Implementing the Plan
Why is it important to coordinate capital investments and land-use controls both with each other and with the comprehensive plan?

Review and updating
Why is it important to review and update the comprehensive plan?
Why is maintaining community interest in the planning process important?

The Tools of Land-Use Planning
What are the two broad categories of actions that municipalities can take to shape its land-use pattern?

Public Capital Investment
What is the most important determinant of land value?
How does capital investment in transport affect land value?

Financing Capital Expenditures
Why are most capital expenditures paid for with proceeds of bonds?
What is a bond?
What is a capital budget and capital improvements plan? 
What are the two major types of bonds issues to finance public capital investment?
What is a general obligation bond?
What is a revenue bond?

Land-Use Controls
What are the subdivision regulations?
What is a plat and what is it typically required to show?

Zoning ordinances
What are the two major parts of a zoning ordinance?
What ar the typical items in a zoning ordinance?

Popularity of Zoning
Why is zoning the most popular means to control land use in contrast with eminent domain or contracts with property owners?
What is an easement and what are its advantages and disadvantages?
How might special tax treatment be used to control land use?

Effectiveness of Zoning
Under what conditions if zoning effective?  Under what conditions is zoning ineffective?

Limitations of Zoning
What are some of the limitations of zoning?
What might happen if permitted land uses are less profitable than forbidden uses for which there is a market?
What strategies might developers engage in to obtain changes in zoning?
Why is changing zoning profitable for developers, even if they never construct anything on the site?
How might cities play “zoning games” for municipal benefit?

Property Taxes and zoning
How are property takes levied?
How is tax rate connected with the level of municipal services provided?

Zoning and the Courts
Why has consideration of the rights and interests of those who are neither members of the community nor owners of property in it become important in court cases regarding zoning?  What happened in the Mount Laurel cases (I, II, and III) and what is their significance? 

Recent Developments in Zoning
What are some critiques of zoning as a planning instrument?
What can be done to make zoning more flexible?
What is “Bonus” or “Incentive” zoning?
What is Transfer of Development Rights?
What is inclusionary zoning?
What is a planned unit development?
What is cluster zoning?
What is Performance zoning?
What are Development Agreements?
What are exactions?

Other types of land use controls
What is Site Plan Review?
What is architectural review?
What is Historic Preservation?

Forces beyond local control
What forces are beyond local control?
How do state governments and the federal government make land-use decisions that were formerly under control of local governments?
Why is higher-level control necessary?