The Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky (CEDIK) was approached by the Bourbon County Joint Planning Office to assist with a public engagement process to result in a highly supported comprehensive plan for the county.  CEDIK faculty and staff and the Bourbon County Joint Planning Office staff crafted and facilitated a public engagement plan to shape the goals and objectives of The Envision 2040 Comprehensive Plan.  The comprehensive plan needed to align with residents’ vision for development for the county, and the county wanted to develop goals for the plan with resident working groups.  

CEDIK Director and Ag Econ Professor Alison Davis, and Associate Director and Associate Professor of Community and Leadership Development, Dan Kahl met with Andrea Lacy, Director of Bourbon County Planning Office, and agreed to the following guidelines:  

• The goals and objectives of the plan must be developed and supported through public involvement.
• The goals and objectives of the plan must be supported by the citizenry (public).
• The goals and objectives of the plan must be accomplishable and in balance with land use priorities and projections.
• The goals and objectives of the plan must show consistency with projected land use needs.
• The established goals and objectives must meet Kentucky Statute requirements.  

CEDIK worked in conjunction with the planning office to establish a series of engagement methods that allowed participation, reflection, and steady advancement of the planning process. Methods of engagement included CEDIK facilitated “Chalk and Talk” sessions, walk-ability studies, focus groups, “On the table” discussions, working groups, youth engagement, special community events, public hearings, and the convening of an advisory committee. Each of these activities was designed to elicit involvement in plan creation or feedback on plan goals, objectives, and processes. One aspect of this process was the convening of working groups to detail the goals and objectives for each of the core planning elements required in Kentucky in a comprehensive plan. This part of the process was led by Dan Kahl, Associate Director of CEDIK.  Kentucky statute (KRS 100.187) details that the comprehensive plan must include: “A statement of goals and objectives, which shall serve as a guide for the physical development and economic and social well-being of the planning unit.” To accomplish this, we designed an interactive series of meetings for county residents to establish goals. Attention was given to allow progress to be made while participants came and left the process, and to ensure all residents of the county had continuous access to the planning progress. In addition to prioritization processes, a modified consensus decision making process was utilized. The modified consensus process is a decision-making process where a recommendation is rated for acceptability, and suggested alternatives are rated and compared. The alternative with the most support from the group is the version that moves forward. The approach resulted in goals and objectives that are publicly generated and represent the most preferred goals. 

Through a series of 32 working group meetings that involved more than 300 participants, community members crafted the core goals and objectives of the plan, which contains twenty (20) development goals in six different categories:  Housing, Economic Growth, Public Health, Agriculture & Environment, Heritage & Urban Form, and Land Use.  

The iterative approach to planning meant continuous reintroduction and refinement of ideas and language to craft the plan. The plan was shared in person and online to interest groups, community organizations, government officials, and in public forums and left for viewing in public locations for review and feedback. After final introduction with one question referring to the goals and objectives, the drafted comprehensive plan was approved for recommendation by the planning commission on February 4, 2021