Comprehensive Plan Update

Subcommittees

About the Project

The City of Winona is embarking on a major update to its Comprehensive Plan, which was last completed in 2007. Over the next year and a half, city staff and project consultants will be engaging with community members to hear what is important to you about the community today and looking 10-20 years into the future. The result will be a new Comprehensive Plan that provides guidance for decision-making related to future changes and growth in Winona. Equity, technology, and sustainability are key themes that will be incorporated into each aspect of the plan.

The city wants to create, with the full community, a unified vision of Winona’s future. The plan is an opportunity to identify policies, programs, and projects that will benefit the city for years to come. The plan is also an opportunity to identify our values as members of the Winona community. When we establish what is most important to us, the city and its elected officials can make decisions with real knowledge of what Winona community members value.

Once it is complete, the Comprehensive Plan will determine how the city and its elected officials approach policy, action and decision-making in the coming years. The plan will create specific, achievable goals that the city and community can work toward in a wide variety of topic areas, from land use to economic development to recreation and arts. You can find a list of topics here.

The Twin Cities-based firm HKGi is the primary consultant on the project. Engage Winona, a local nonprofit organization, is leading engagement and public input.

Community involvement

Strong Towns Curbside Chat

Charles Marohn, urban planner and founder of Strong Towns, will be visiting Winona for a Curbside Chat on Tuesday, June 21 at 6:30 p.m. at the Winona Friendship Center, hosted by the City of Winona. He will lead a presentation and discussion on the growth and development of resilient communities centered on the traditional neighborhood and city development pattern, which creates a connected small-town feel, encourages neighborhood businesses, and is reflective of Winona’s historic development pattern in downtown.

Strong Towns has developed a powerful, resonating analysis of communities based on public connection and investment which ties in directly with the overarching Comprehensive Plan Update themes of equity, technology, and sustainability. Strong Towns’ analysis of traditional development patterns will provide a common understanding of the importance of investing in our City’s assets.

#WhereInWinona Photo Contest

Engage Winona wants to hear about your experience of community in Winona. We’re inviting all who live, work, or play in Winona to respond to one of these questions - with a photo!

“Where in Winona do you feel included?” Or, “Where in Winona do you have positive interactions with community members?”

Here’s how the contest works:

Take a photo or selfie as your answer to the question. Include a short description!
Share your photo on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #WhereInWinona.
If you prefer not to share on social media, you can email your photo to

engage@engagewinona.org or give us a call at 507-312-9133.

The contest runs from June 15 - August 15, 2022. Every two weeks, we’ll give a gift card to a local business to one lucky winner! These prizes are offered by Engage Winona. You can submit a photo each week, but you can only win once.

All submissions must be your own. Photos must be set to “public” and appropriate for all ages. We will share all submissions with the community when the project ends, and submissions may be used in the final Comprehensive Plan document.

Winona Creates! Community art with the Joy Labs and Engage Winona

Engage Winona is thrilled to partner with the Joy Labs this summer on a series of community mural painting events! Join us to help represent Winona’s vision and values on 5 mini-murals. All ages welcome. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts & cultural heritage fund.

Join us:

● Saturday, July 16 - at Winona Farmers Market, 9am-12pm
● Saturday, July 23 - in Downtown Winona, 1-4pm
● Wednesday, July 27 - at the Lake Park Bandshell, 6-8 pm

Winona Walks

Join Engage Winona for a walk this summer - and give your input for Winona’s future! We’re hosting three Winona Walks, where you’ll have an opportunity to explore different areas and share how you experience each place. Winona Walks last about an hour and involve walking about 2 miles total. Participants are welcome to go at their own pace and must sign a waiver before participating. Water and snacks are available at the start and finish. In the event of severe weather or extreme heat, the walks will be canceled; check Facebook for updates.

Join us:

● Thursday, July 21, 5-6 pm - Meet at the Levee Park parking lot on Walnut St. (Lot #9)
● Thursday, July 28, 5-6 pm - Meet at Visitor Center on Huff St.
● Thursday, August 11, 5-6 pm - Meet at Windom Park

What’s your Winona Story?

Engage Winona is creating a collaborative voicemail project about how folks imagine their future in Winona. The prompt is this: What are your hopes as you imagine your future in Winona? Leave a 1-3 minute voicemail with your answer at 507-312-9486. Responses will be woven into a collaborative recording and shared with the public.

Engage Winona is leading public engagement on this project throughout 2021-2022. We want to hear what you’re most affected by, what’s working, what changes you would like to see, and what bold visions and ideas you have for Winona’s future goals, ideas and policies. We’re looking forward to hearing from folks with a wide variety of perspectives and approaches - our only agenda is to listen to you and accurately capture your input.

Your feedback and ideas will determine what issues are most important, what projects the city works on first, what goals are set, and how the city can support residents and businesses.

We’re hosting a variety of activities to meet folks where they are and make sure we’re hearing from as many community members as possible. Engagement activities include listening sessions, pop-up engagement at community events, digital surveys and activities, and more!

To stay informed about the project, sign up for the project newsletter and find updates on the city website and the City of Winona Comprehensive Plan Update Facebook page

Phase 1 engagement took place from September-December 2021 and included a series of conversations, a survey, public events, and more! A report of feedback we received will be released in February 2022. Meanwhile, the voicemail box is always open for comments.