Staff outline Imagine Austin comprehensive-plan update and new place-types mapping

City planning staff on Wednesday presented an update to Imagine Austin, the city’s comprehensive plan, outlining a two-year update process that will produce a citywide place-types map and a set of priority programs to guide implementation.

Evelyn Mitchell, principal planner and project lead, and Chris Ryerson, division manager for long-range planning, told the Planning Commission that rescoping was necessary after the council reallocated part of the consultant budget. The team kept the consultant-led work that required technical mapping and retained staff responsibility for other policy and engagement tasks.

"Creating the place-types map will be the first citywide future land-use map for Austin," Ryerson said, explaining the mapping’s role in tying future land-use guidance to zoning and implementation tools. Staff described a planned community-working group of 45 members, selected from roughly 360 applicants to reflect city demographics; the working group will meet repeatedly and help test draft place types and other deliverables.

Commissioners queried staff about outreach strategies that generated broad interest, youth engagement plans and how place-types would be applied. Staff said they will include targeted outreach through youth programs, provide stipends for working-group members and run an iterative process: the working group will workshop a draft palette of place types, staff will refine materials, and public meetings will follow to gather wider feedback.

Mitchell and Ryerson identified Goodman Corporation as the prime consultant and MIG as the primary subcontractor for place-type mapping work; staff emphasized the need to align the comprehensive-plan update with departmental strategic plans, the capital-improvement program and city budget priorities.

Next steps for the project include finalizing the working-group roster, producing an existing-conditions report (timed for completion this summer) and convening a series of public workshops to test the place-type palette before mapping. Staff said they will publish engagement summaries to track how public comments influence plan changes.