A series of four public workshops will be held starting Wednesday, Oct. 19 and continue each day through Saturday, Oct. 22. The workshops are designed to provide input for New Ulm’s comprehensive plan, which is scheduled to be completed in spring 2023.

City Planner John Knisley said the idea of the comprehensive plan is to take a 10,000-foot view of the city and what it wants to do 10 years or even 20 years from now.

“It’s really used as a basis for our zoning ordinance,” Knisley said. “We’re looking into the future in a way that is well thought out versus a shotgun approach that takes whatever comes forward.”

A comprehensive plan helps a city logically prepare for changes. It is in the city’s best interest to plan because development can be costly in terms of utility and street infrastructure.

At the same time, comprehensive planning can help determine where to put residential, commercial, or industrial developments. Due to physical land barriers in New Ulm, such as the rivers and airport, the city needs to be strategic in terms of development.

Knisley said the community needs to ask what housing will look like in the future. Will it look the same? Will half acre lots be the norm? These are common questions the comprehensive plan is used to prepare.

New Ulm’s last comprehensive plan was completed in 2007, meaning the city is due for an update. The city began developing the latest comprehensive plans earlier this summer, but public input is needed.

The workshops are designed to bring in the public by focusing on four key areas of development in New Ulm. The four key areas that will be discussed are downtown New Ulm, Upper Cottonwood, Northwest New Ulm/Milford and the East Airport Area.

Knisley said the visual concepts presented at the workshop will be extremely engaging. Artists will be doing mock-up designs of what these areas could look like in the future.

“What could downtown look like if it were more pedestrian friendly?” Knisley asked, as an example.

There were questions about whether Minnesota Street should remain a one-way. Will residential development continue downtown? What will happen once George’s Ballroom is demolished? Should multi-family housing or commercial property or a combination be added?

These are some of the interesting questions posed by the comprehensive plan workshop.

Upper Cottonwood has seen significant development in the last 10 years and further development is expected, but what kind of development and in which direction?

Knisley said major utility infrastructure will be needed for further development of Upper Cottonwood, including lift stations and a water tower. There have also been questions about park development in this area.

Knisley said the idea behind this rapid planning was to get the public interested in participating in plan development. Ultimately the plan belongs to the people.

The rapid planning workshops focus on four specific areas, but the public can provide input on all areas of the comprehensive plan including streets, parks, trails, economic development or utility infrastructure.

Anyone who misses their chance to be heard on comprehensive plan development will need to wait at least another 10 years for the chance to come around again.

The rapid planning begins at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19 at the New Ulm Community Center. This first workshop will be a kickoff and introduction event designed to set goals for planning.

The second and third days of the workshops will be divided into two parts. In the morning, the public is invited to tour parts of the community that will be discussed that day. Later in the evening, a presentation will be held with consultants featuring concept designs of what was discussed in the morning.

From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 20 the public will meet at the community center before a tour of downtown and Upper Cottonwood. At 5:30 p.m. the workshop will re-group at the community center to discuss the initial concept created by consultants based on public comments.

From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Friday, Oct 21 the workshop will tour northwest/ Milford and the East airport area. At 5:30 p.m. the workshop will return to the community center to discuss concepts for the northwest/Milford and east airport area.

On the final day, Saturday, Oct. 22 the workshop will feature draft concepts and discussions covering all study areas in the comprehensive plan.