It’s been over two decades since a new general plan was integrated. The last plan was adopted in 1998, according to the county’s website.

Lauren Ryan, the countywide planner for Cache County, said she was hopeful the plan would be updated regularly going forward.

“Every five years is ideal,” Ryan said, explaining a plan should be reflective of current county trends. “You want to be looking at updating and reviewing every five to 10 years — just because, obviously, things change so quickly.”

Nearly three years ago, according to Ryan, the county launched the “Imagine Cache” initiative to garner feedback for the longterm planning document.

“It’s something that you definitely want heavy public involvement in,” Ryan said, explaining the “long, ongoing process” strives to hone in on a vision for the plan through several public outreach efforts both in-person and online. “We had over 1000 participants for that online survey that we did.”

One of the recurring themes in the plan, Ryan said, is to “keep the city, city and the country, country.” Feedback received from citizens highlighted the importance of maintaining Cache Valley’s agricultural character and bucolic scenery in the midst of development.

“People really value that,” Ryan said.

Ryan said the proposed plan addresses the unincorporated county area and has no influence over the 19 municipalities in the county. However, the plan does include a regional collaboration plan, Ryan said, that addresses how the county works with those cities.

“The county continues to grow,” Ryan said, explaining that “smart land-use decisions” impact the future. “This was a much needed update and refresh to the plan that we were working under.”

The proposed plan first goes to the planning commission, Ryan said. After hearing public comment, the commission can then make a formal recommendation to the Cache County Council or decide to make additional revisions to the plan. Some revisions to the plan were made during a workshop last week.

Ryan described the plan as an “advisory document” that helps guide the future growth of the county for years to come.

“It does not directly create any regulations or requirements,” Ryan said. “The general plan is just recommending new policies and regulations as implementation strategies going forward.”

A draft of the proposed general plan can be viewed on Cache County’s website.