La Crosse County is a diverse and growing place with a rich history and an exciting future. Our Comprehensive Plan - ENVISION 2050 - will be a vision for how we build that future together. The plan will be a collective effort that will reflect our diversity and prioritize our values. We will create a vision for a sustainable and thriving La Crosse County and a roadmap for how we get there. ENVISION 2050 will guide La Crosse County’s budgets, land use and natural resource policies, and general direction for the next generation and beyond.

A Comprehensive Plan is:

• A long-range planning document that must be updated at least once every 10 years.
• A description of the existing condition of the county, including land use, demographics, and the local economy, and a vision for the future, taking into consideration various risks and opportunities.
  
• An opportunity for the community to agree on the values and vision that should guide the county’s decision-making process.
• A combination of data, statistics and public input that includes expertise, personal stories, and values that can be drawn upon throughout the planning process and beyond.

The State of Wisconsin’s 1999 comprehensive planning law requires that all land use decisions in the county be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.

We are making great progress on the Comprehensive Plan and will continue to post drafts of the chapters as they become available. Please direct comments or questions on these chapters to Charlie Handy. His contact information is listed below. 

Existing Conditions Executive Summary_draft

FARMLAND PRESERVATION PLAN 21_draft

La Crosse County’s Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee, along with county staff, are in the final stages of drafting the new Envision 2050 – Comprehensive Plan. The plan will create a vision for the future of La Crosse County and a roadmap for how we get there. To aid the review process, staff have put together synopses of each of the document’s chapters in a series of short videos. The videos provide an overview of what each chapter covers, including policy recommendations. Please click on the links below to watch the videos. PDF copies of the PowerPoint used in the videos are linked below each corresponding video.

Over View - 

Overview Video

2021 Comprehensive Plan Overview

Future Land Use -

Future Land Use Video

Future Land Use Chapter

Cultural and Natural Resources -

Cultural and Natural Resources Video 

Cultural and Natural Resources Chapter

Utilities and Community Facilities -

Utilities and Community Facilities Video

Utilities and Community Facilities Chapter

Equity -

Equity Video

Equity Chapter

Housing -

Housing Video

Housing Chapter

Farmland Preservation -

Farmland Preservation Video

Farmland Preservation Chapter

Intergovernmental Cooperation -

Intergovernmental Cooperation Video

Intergovernmental Cooperation Chapter

Sustainability -

Sustainability Video

Sustainability Chapter

Economic Development -

Economic Development Video

Economic Development Chapter

Transportation -

Transportation Video

Transportation Chapter

Implementation -

Implementation Video

Implementation Chapter

If you have suggestions for our Comprehensive Plan after viewing these videos, please send them to Charlie Handy - [email protected]

We have encouraged PUBLIC PARTICIPATION throughout the process.  Please go to publicinput.com/envision2050 to see the results from past opportunities.

We also encourage you to explore data on the County, using our DATA HUB - data-hub-lacrossecounty.hub.arcgis.com/. 

Charles Handy, Planner

Administration Center - Rm. 2300

212 6th Street North
La Crosse, WI  54601

Phone: (608) 785-5919

Office Hours:  8:00 AM - 5:00 PM Weekdays

Our Mission

The mission of the Zoning, Planning & Land Information Department is:

• To assist and advise individuals, businesses, professionals and governmental communities by uniformly administering all chapters of the La Crosse County Code of Ordinances pertaining to land use.  
• To balance individual property rights with the health, safety and welfare of the public by instituting appropriate land use and growth management controls and by carrying out comprehensive planning efforts to provide the most efficient delivery of public services.  
• To coordinate a land information system, which is thorough, accurate and accessible for use by the public and private sector.