The Crookston Planning Commission met Tuesday night in the city council chambers at City Hall to review the latest draft of the proposed comprehensive plan.
The plan, entitled “Embolden Crookston”, has been developed by KLJ Engineering and was presented to the commission by Joel Quanbeck. Quanbeck has been working on the comprehensive plan for several years and has seen how this project has grown from a small update into a full plan for future housing and economic development, land use, and transportation. “It was intended to be a pretty small update, but it kind of morphed into a lot more because of other studies that were being done at the same time,” Quanbeck explained. “So we’ve brought in some of the input from those other studies, and that’s pretty unusual for me. Other than that, I think the biggest thing is that Crookston is a fascinating community. I love its strong historic roots and the opportunity of having an intact historic district downtown that’s already there seems like something that should be taken advantage of.”
In the comprehensive plan draft, Quanbeck focused on reviewing the land use, housing, and transportation sections, as these were the sections that had been amended since the plan was last reviewed at the May 18 Ways and Means Committee meeting. “Just thinking about the major parts of the comprehensive plan, it’s got a section that’s about future land use and opportunities for long-term potential growth areas,” said Quanbeck. “It has a section on housing and potential future housing demand, and also has a really important section on land use that’s just thinking about how downtown Crookston can be enhanced and become a more lively place for people who live here as well as for tourists.”
For land use, the plan focuses on adding industrial zones outside the city limits on the south side of Crookston to support future development and expansion. He also discussed a plan called Activate Downtown, which would create pedestrian-friendly infrastructure in downtown to help create more public events and draw more tourists to Crookston’s historic district.
For transportation, the Highway 2 reconstruction project will help create more pedestrian areas for residents and visitors. In addition, the city has its Active Transportation Project Plan, which was created and approved earlier this year, and will also help create more efficient travel options for Crookston residents.
Quanbeck told the commission that the plan identifies a significant need to produce more housing options, with a primary focus on entry-level and high-end options. One identified recommendation in the plan is to add middle housing, which would allow lots to be developed with more townhouse-style options, increasing housing land-use efficiency while simultaneously providing affordable ownership opportunities for current renters.
Overall, Quanbeck appreciated the feedback he received from the city and community on how they want to shape Crookston’s future. The commission decided to spend additional time reviewing the current draft so that any recommendations can be made to Quanbeck and incorporated into an additional draft that could be presented at a future City Council meeting.
