After two years of asking the public what they envision, a final draft has emerged.

“Plan Ogden is the city’s 25-year vision and plan for future land use, helping guide how neighborhoods develop, where housing and businesses are located, how transportation systems evolve and how open space is preserved through 2050,” a press release on the final draft read.

In that same release, Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski said the general plan is big for laying out the direction of the city.

“Plan Ogden is more than a planning document; it’s a reflection of our community’s shared vision for the future,” he said. “The decisions we make today about housing, transportation, economic opportunity and quality of life will shape Ogden for generations. I’m grateful to the thousands of residents who helped create this roadmap for our city’s future.”

Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner

On Wednesday, Plan Ogden officials held the Plan Ogden Showcase at Ogden Union Station to give the public a chance to give feedback on the plan before it goes before the Ogden Planning Commission next month.

The evening began with a presentation of the plan, which centers on livable neighborhoods by Megan Moore, principal planner with Logan Simpson.

“Tonight is that opportunity to celebrate the entire process,” she said. “It gives us a chance to reflect on what’s been heard throughout the process, what the vision is, what the land-use map looks like as well as start to prioritize some of those key action items you would like to see implemented on the boards around you this evening.”

She said community participation in the process of forming the general plan has been substantial.

Following an overview of the elements of the general plan and its structure, attendees were given the opportunity to give feedback on posters with elements of the plan as well. They were also able to pose in front of screens with renderings of what the community could look like in years to come.

Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner

Following the presentation, Ogden Planning Manager Barton Brierley told the Standard-Examiner that over 4,000 people have participated over the last few years in some way, shape or form.

“What’s really exciting is we’ve gotten a really broad range of the community,’ he said. “We’ve had a lot of young people involved, a lot of different community groups involved, people living all over Ogden, business people. It’s extremely broad input that we’ve got.”

Brierley said there were several takeaways from the two-year process.

“We know that people love our open spaces, they love parks and trails — they want those expanded,” he said. “They want more opportunities to own a home in Ogden, so there’s an emphasis on providing more opportunities for home ownership. Promoting business is a big thing. Bringing employment to Ogden that will help our economic vitality and improving downtown and continuing to make downtown the downtown for Northern Utah.

He said there is also a lot of support for transit and making the city more walkable.

Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner

From here, the feedback from Wednesday and online comments made in the next few days will be considered and they along with the draft will be considered by the Ogden Planning Commission at its July 15 meeting. If the Planning Commission recommends adopting the general plan, it will go before the Ogden City Commission. Both parts of the process will include collection of public comment.

For more information on the general plan draft and to give input, visit https://plan-ogden.com/.