Orem planning staff presented an update on the city's general plan revision, outlining an accelerated schedule, a public-engagement process and a statutory requirement to adopt a water element by the end of the year.

Planning staffer Jerry Hals told the City Council the update aims to "align, involve, adopt, and integrate" city goals into a readable general plan. He said the planning commission is meeting weekly on draft chapters and that the administration will share draft sections with council members through Google Drive for iterative review.

Hals said the team will present a draft land-use section in early April, follow with transportation and economic development sections and return to the council for additional review in June. He said a pre-final draft will be presented in August with public meetings planned in September. "There aren't any weeks to spare," Hals said, referencing the expedited schedule.

The presentation stressed two planning decisions: (1) keep the general plan concise and readable and push technical detail into appendices (for example, the master transportation plan would be referenced rather than reproduced in full), and (2) make the plan a ‘‘master principle' document that guides future, more detailed plans and analyses." Hals and other staff said that approach is intended to make the general plan both more usable for staff and clearer for the public.

Hals also flagged a state law change and said the city must adopt a water use and preservation element by the end of this year. He told council members the water element has been drafted and could be extracted and adopted on an accelerated schedule if necessary.

Council members asked staff to coordinate the general-plan timeline with a planned joint meeting of council and the planning commission in May and stressed the importance of multiple review opportunities for the council. Hals said the city will post drafts to Google Drive and invite comments so councilors can comment in real time.

If approved on the stated schedule, the general plan would move from chapter drafting through planning commission review and public meetings toward adoption before year end; staff cautioned the timeline is aggressive and will be adjusted if needed.