Which is a required element of a comprehensive plan?

• A. Zoning code
• B. Future land use
• C. City charter
• D. Economic development strategy

Answer: (B)

A comprehensive plan must include a future land use element. This part of the plan designates how land should be used over the long term and is usually shown on a future land use map, along with goals, objectives, and policies that guide growth, density, and the type of development allowed. The future land use framework is what everything else in the plan builds from, because it sets the broad directions for where residential, commercial, industrial, and other uses will occur and how services and infrastructure will support them.

Zoning code is the regulatory tool that implements the plan on a parcel-by-parcel basis, not a component of the plan itself. A city charter is the legal document that establishes the city’s form of government and powers, separate from the comprehensive plan. An economic development strategy might be included to promote growth, but it is not a required element of the plan under the statute.