Tomorrow Plan Could Influence Waukee Development

A new regional planning document for the Des Moines area could influence Waukee city officials as they work to lure commercial development to the city.

During an interview with the Des Moines Register after the hourlong forum last week at Waukee City Hall, Waukee Mayor Bill Peard, who is a member of the planning group’s policy board, said he supports many of the ideas put forth in the plan. For example, it calls for continued improvements to nature trails across the region.

“We’ll take some of the best practices they were talking about,” Peard told the newspaper. He said the Tomorrow Plan would not interfere with Alice’s Road project.

Planner Bethany Wilcoxon said the plan calls for communities to work more closely together on how they develop, such as establishing regional watershed management authorities by 2016.

The plan also calls for municipalities to adopt ordinances that require new developments to reduce harmful runoff by 2018, the Register said.

“It becomes just another tool in the toolbox, when we take a look at, say, updating our comprehensive plan,” Deets told the newspaper.