The Comprehensive Plan 2021 is a 20 to 30-year framework to guide the city’s future, providing policy and direction related to future growth and redevelopment, transportation, housing, city services, and other important aspects of the community. The Plan will inform current and future decision-makers about where we’ve been, where we are today, where we want to go, and how we intend to get there.

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The Comprehensive Plan will be used every day by a variety of stakeholders to make important decisions about how to invest in the community and enhance the quality of life in Plano. For example, residents can use the Plan to see how the city intends to guide growth and redevelopment in ways that meet their needs and aspirations; land owners can use the Plan when considering improvements to their property; businesses can use the Plan when deciding to reinvest or relocate to Plano; and the Plano City Council, Planning & Zoning Commission, and city staff can use the Plan to make decisions about development proposals and where to best invest city resources to achieve the community’s vision for the future.

The Vision Statement of the Comprehensive Plan 2021 is as follows: Plano is a global leader, excelling in exceptional education, abounding with world class businesses and vibrant neighborhoods.

Click here to learn more about the Plan’s Vision and Guiding Principles.

Much of this new Plan may look familiar, as aspects of the previous Comprehensive Plan outside the four topic areas assigned by City Council, such as policies related to the environment, social services, and the economy, remain largely unchanged. However, significant changes were made to many of the most impactful parts of the Plan, and important new content was created, including a set of Guiding Principles, a Redevelopment & Growth Management Policy, and Future Land Use Dashboards.

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On November 11, 2019, the Plano City Council appointed a 16-member ad-hoc advisory committee called the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee (CPRC). The role of the CPRC was to review the city’s Comprehensive Plan and recommend updates to address community concerns related to four key topics: Land Use, Transportation, Density, and Growth Management. They were also to act as advisors and ambassadors of the planning process, working with the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) to find consensus among the diverse viewpoints of city residents. After {X} months, the CPRC and P&Z completed their work, resulting in the Draft Comprehensive Plan 2021.

Following the directives from City Council, the CPRC and P&Z focused their changes into four topics areas: Land Use, Transportation, Density, and Growth Management. Proposed updates were forwarded back and forth between both bodies until they received at least a 75% approval by the CPRC and 50% approval by the P&Z.  City Council then held a public hearing on XX to consider final approval and adoption of the plan by ordinance.

Per the Comprehensive Plan Guiding Principles, implementation of the Plan will be open and transparent, with a high standard for exceptions to land use principles, proactively seeking community input, and updated when needed with opportunities for the public to continually share their needs and priorities with community leaders and inform the decision-making process.

Updates to the implementation of plan policies will be maintained on the Comprehensive Plan website. Sign up for City of Plano Newsletters for updates on future planning efforts and community involvement opportunities.

The Comprehensive Plan is a 20 to 30-year framework to guide the city’s future, providing policy and direction related to future growth and redevelopment. The Zoning Ordinance acts as a tool to implement and enforce the Comprehensive Plan by regulating the uses of land; the height, number of stories, sizes of buildings and other structures; and the density of housing units. All zoning change requests, along with updates to the Zoning Ordinance and other development regulations, are reviewed for conformance with the Comprehensive Plan.

No, only zoning can regulate the use of private property.  Per state law, comprehensive plans shall not be used as zoning; but if a city has zoning regulations, they must be created in conformance with a Comprehensive Plan.  

Yes. Any future development must still be approved through the Planning & Zoning Commission and ultimately, the City Council.  The Commission and Council will consider each proposed development as they have throughout Plano's history, with objective and careful scrutiny to determine if it is appropriate for Plano.

Click here for more information about the Zoning Process. Questions and concerns regarding the Zoning Process should be addressed to city staff at 972-941-7151.

Approximately 4% of Plano's total land area remains undeveloped.  For more information, click here.

Per the Comprehensive Plan Guiding Principles, the Plan promotes the safety, viability, and vibrancy of Plano’s existing neighborhoods, managing growth, and shaping change the complements the city’s suburban character and rich history. The Plan respects the suburban character of Plano and seeks to preserve and enhance the built environment.

Each Future Land Use Dashboard includes a general description, list of priorities, mix of uses chart, and table of design characteristics which are desirable to meet the community’s vision for these areas. In the “Neighborhoods” Future Land Use areas, single-family residential should remain the primary use within neighborhoods. It is the intention to preserve and enhance these uses and to regulate the design of new residential infill products to be within the context of the surrounding environment.

Click here to learn more about the Future Land Use Map and Dashboards.

With less than 4% (approximately 1,800 acres) of undeveloped land remaining, the area available for new housing in Plano is limited.  As such, residential growth will depend largely on redevelopment of existing commercial sites.  Since precise market support for redevelopment is unknown, Low and High Redevelopment Scenarios were included in the Comprehensive Plan upon its original passage in 2021, projecting Plano’s population between 322,600 and 331,000 by 2050.   However, changes to state law in 2025 require that multifamily or mixed-use residential be permitted in any area that allows office, commercial, retail, warehouse, or mixed-use development.  For Plano, this means multifamily or mixed-use residential must be permitted in any nonresidential zoning district.  With increased land availability for residential development and continued housing demand, Plano’s population is now projected to grow to between 368,400 and 385,000 by 2050.

The Comprehensive Plan 2021 includes policies and actions for topic areas related to future growth and redevelopment, transportation, housing, city services, and other important aspects of the community, with the topic areas grouped by Pillars and Components. The Pillars divide the Plan content into five major topical categories: Built Environment, Social Environment, Natural Environment, Economic Environment, and Regionalism. Each Pillar consists of Components, which combine related topics into 11 sub-categories.

Click here to learn more about the Plan’s Pillars, Components, and Policies.