Planning

The Northwest Regional Planning Commission (NWRPC) provides technical assistance to member communities to address the growth challenges in a manner that sustains community character and fosters a sense of place. Many rural communities across the region are seeing the effects of growth in the form of changing landscapes, development, and population increases. NWRPC has expert staff to respond to the long-range and day-to-day needs of our member communities and provide support services to assist local planning officials and staff. Whether your community is currently developing a Comprehensive Plan or has general questions about community planning NWRPC can help:

  • Answer questions about the Comprehensive Planning process, Wisconsin's comprehensive planning law, and other land use legislation
  • Prepare a Comprehensive Plan or Comprehensive Plan Update
  • Provide training for planning commissions through workshops and/or customized sessions
  • Develop a Community Vision and/or facilitate a Community Visioning process
  • Provide Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping services to support a community planning effort

Local planning commissions and planning offices are working to remain current with the review of applications and ever-changing regulations, and seldom have the time or the staff to undertake long-range planning projects. Our goal at NWRPC is to provide staff support with both cost-effective and professional services ranging from Comprehensive Plan development and revisions to the zoning ordinance and regulation revisions and map adjustments to providing technical advice on land use.

NWRPC also assists local governments with transportation planning, hazard mitigation, and community wildfire protection planning, park and recreation planning, historic preservation, tax increment financing and environmental issues like water quality and natural resource planning.

Transportation Planning

NWRPC continues to provide regional transportation planning to member communities through its partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Assistance to communities includes roadway evaluation ratings, Safe Routes to School, Byways designation, Corridor Planning, Grant writing for transportation improvement projects, Airport planning, Rail Planning, and Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning.

Metropolitan Planning Organization

NWRPC and the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission (ARDC), Minnesota continues its longstanding cooperation in supporting metropolitan transportation planning in the Duluth-Superior area. NWRPC was designated the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Superior Area in 1975, upon which NWRPC and ARDC jointly created the Metropolitan Interstate Council (MIC). The MIC is assigned the responsibility for carrying out the continuing, comprehensive, and cooperative (3-C) urban transportation planning process for the Duluth-Superior Metropolitan Area.

Sheldon Johnson serves as the Deputy Director of the MIC and Jason Laumann serves as a member of the Harbor Technical Advisory Committee (HTAC).