There was still some language to work out and the motion to recommend approval became a bit wordy, but the comprehensive plan Tuesday made it past the Albert Lea Planning Commission.

After a public hearing that featured some collegial debate among a few local leaders, the seven commissioners unanimously recommended approval of the proposed comprehensive plan Tuesday night, sending it to the Albert Lea City Council for the final hurdle.

The City Council is slated to meet Monday to vote on the document that has been 18 months in the making. About 10 people attended.

During the public hearing, Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce Director Randy Kehr, a chairman from the steering committee for the comprehensive plan, called on the commission to move forward with the document. He said the committee arrived at the language by consensus — not everyone got what they wanted but it had been created with large amounts of input.

Kehr said the implementation of the ideals set forth in the comp plan now rests with the elected officials.

Albert Lea Economic Development Agency Director Dan Dorman said he has concerns about making Albert Lea competitive with other areas. He said he supports the plan but has concerns about how companies considering Albert Lea might view some areas of the plan. He said the plan doesn’t show industrial areas clearly enough.

He said the April 2006 sale of the Albert Lea Golf Club to a developer, resulting in the closing and destruction of the course, is what started the ball rolling on the revision of the comp plan, which hadn’t been updated since 1970. He said an updated comp plan would not have prevented the sale of the golf course. Proper zoning would’ve been needed, too.

Dorman, a former state legislator, pointed out areas where he felt the language was in conflict with state laws. One was over the use of phosphates. He noted the language in the comp plan was more restrictive than state law presently is.

“I don’t think that’s what you mean,” he said.

He felt language on rainwater runoff was stronger than state law, too. He said he favors strong language, and it’s clear Albert Lea residents want clean water, but residents aren’t served by going beyond Minnesota Pollution Control Agency standards, he said.

One spot in the comp plan mentions that new buildings in the city must connect to the sanitary sewer — which Dorman felt could inhibit growth on Plaza Street — but then another spot mentions the city would “investigate innovative solutions” for sanitary sewer needs, he said.

“I think ‘investigate’ makes some sense,” he said.

He said Page 75 sounds like the plan favors four lanes for Bridge Avenue but Page 74 sounds like it is against it.

Dorman said one area notes downtown growth and development. He asked why downtown and not other areas.

He said he hears, “It’s just a guideline, don’t worry about it,” as responses to his business-oriented questions, but he said the document calls for implementation. He said he wants it to stand on its own merits and said it is better if it can be defended.

Consultant Brad Scheib, project manager from Hoisington Koegler Group Inc., responded to Dorman’s concerns. He said “downtown” in the language on growth and development was unintentional and should reflect all areas.

On industry, he said the plan does note the existing industrial zones but it leaves flexibility for future industrial types. He said displaying industry would requiring defining industry, which would have to delineate between wide-ranging types such as smokestack factories and corporate campuses. He said the industrial areas shown are open-ended.

Scheib said he has reworded the Bridge Avenue pages many times and people have pushed both ways on the issue. He said the language isn’t so strong that it say it supports a four-lane Bridge Avenue altogether and in other areas it mentions many caveats. He said the solving of the controversy will come down to implementation.

Scheib said he would try to pin down some of the areas Dorman noted that could be in conflict with state statutes and revise the document.

Mayor Randy Erdman suggested moving the document along. He said the selling of the golf course helped get the City Council moving on the comp plan because some councilors felt it mattered. He added the first initiative to draft an updated comp plan actually goes back to the 2001 blaze at the Farmland Foods packing plant.

The mayor, whose term in office ends at the end of the month, said the comp plan revision process has been presented at service clubs, featured on KSMQ, written about in the Albert Lea Tribune, discussed on the government channel and shown on posters. He said it has been guided by the 34-member steering committee.

He called it “a process of discovery” that took four years total and said it has not been a fast-track. He said there has been a draft document ready for comments since June, implying input now is coming late.

Erdman noted that a city ordinance already requires all buildings in the city limits hook up to the city sewer.

After a short discussion on some areas City Planner Bob Graham thought were important to note, the planning commissioners began to talk about approving the plan.

“It’s a living document,” Robert Hoffman said, adding that it will need regular review.

Scheib said the best comp plans don’t collect dust. He said they have tattered edges; cities rely on them and know them well — elected officials, planning officials, staff members and everyday residents.

“Dan’s going to find a bunch more stuff as he reads it,” Scheib said.

He said each year it should be modified, perhaps at the first Planning Commission meeting of the year. He said the zoning ordinance and other city policies should be reviewed with the same scrutiny so the two are brought closer to alignment. He said he expects that to happen.

Planning Commissioner Mark Rofshus mentioned the Planning Commission should do what it can to make Dorman’s economic development job as easy as possible.

Planning Commissioner Greg Nainani said if more citizens reviewed the comp plan as well as Dorman, it naturally would be a better document. He said the job of the Albert Lea Economic Development Agency, however, is to promote economic development but within the comp plan’s vision. He said everyone likewise will work within the comp plan’s vision but also will work to reduce the conflicts between the comp plan and city regulations.

After the hearing, City Manager Victoria Simonsen said there will be annual reviews. She said one role of the new city attorney will be to revise and enforce many ordinances on the books. She said in light of the struggling U.S. economy, it makes for an easier time to implement a comp plan. It allows time to step back and prepare now for growth when the economy rebounds.

She said the comp plan revision originally had a 12-month timeline and now is at 18 months. She said the present City Council and the administration are working to get it going before the changeover in council seats that comes in 2009. She said the present council benefits from familiarity with the process and, like a legislative session in St. Paul, the present session of the City Council ends at the end of the year. The elected city officials have goals, one of which is to approve a comp plan.

Dorman said noted the concerns he brought were dated Nov. 10, so it isn’t as though he is making his comments at the last minute. He said he will know whether he was satisfied with Tuesday’s meeting when he sees the next draft.

He said he was pleased to see language that stated “on our terms” removed. He had told the steering committee last week that the wording was unfriendly to new businesses.

Mayor-elect Mike Murtaugh said he felt the comp plan has too many late revisions and additions and needs to be ready and clean before being approved.

“Given that there is nothing urgent in the plan, I would be more comfortable in allowing the public and interested parties to comment more fully on the comprehensive plan, including the appendices until the new council is seated in January,” Murtaugh said.