After 18 months of planning and discussion, it looks like it is back to the drawing board for the Burleigh County Comprehensive Plan.

Burleigh County Commissioners tabled the plan again Wednesday after Commissioner Doug Schonert offered a lengthy list of changes he would like made.

In the end, the commissioners agreed to revisit the matter in the coming months' meetings after they had a chance to review his revisions.

The board intends to review the issues for the first October meeting.

Public comment is expected to follow for the early November meeting. Commissioners hope to resolve and pass the controversial plan by January 2009.

The plan spells out how the county commission will plan for townships which do not carry a comprehensive plan of their own.

It was required by the state for all counties to have a comprehensive plan about how the county will grow. Townships may choose to have their plans deferred under the county's plan.

Eleven townships in Burleigh County have opted to do so.

Commissioner Mark Armstrong initially motioned to approve the plan. It was seconded, but the vote on the plan was tabled after more opposition surfaced.

"We have spent an extensive amount of time and a variety of viewpoints on this. … We have considered many of the different things. I stated that not many people would be entirely happy with this comprehensive plan when it was finished. We needed a plan that would give our planning department and our planning commission a place to begin the next step in this process. That is, the ordinances that would come from this plan."

After the meeting, he likened the comprehensive plan to the Constitution. He said it only more like a map for the ordinances to be considered. Then, there can be more public comment and is where people would be most impacted.

"What this plan does is give us a shared vision. It's not a vision everyone will be happy with in the end, but it is a vision that identifies important goals and objectives," Armstrong said during the meeting.

"The plan gives us the tools we need for orderly growth in the future for the county. At the same time, it allows for parameters to allow for amendments in the future. It allows for development where it is appropriate and allows for our agricultural heritage to continue."

Barb Knutson, representing the Burleigh County Township Association, voiced her opposition as well.

"There is so much that needs to be looked at before we adopt this plan," Schonert said.

"The intent was to update the plan. At least, that was my intent. I believe when we asked for this study was to update it, not redraw the whole plan," he commented.

"The people most affected by this plan are the ones being ignored," Schonert said. "The ones that are going to be the most affected are the landowners out there and the people who are going to be purchasing a property in some future time. If we put this plan in place, there are going to be many things that drive up the cost," Schonert said. "I think it was purposely done. If not, it needs to be taken out of there."

Among Schonert's concerns were statements that residential and commercial growth is encouraged and guided into over adjacent to established cities and communities primarily where fundamental water and sewer services are available and resources will be protected from isolated non-farm development. That is basically a no-growth statement," Schonert said.

"I ask that be changed to read that in Burleigh County residential and commercial growth is encouraged primarily where public water is available and the protection of agricultural and natural resources will be considered."

He also cited growth management issues as a concern.

"All of the ordinances are going to be written off this. Once this is in place, that is the guideline the ordinances will be made. It is important we get these corrected."

He also aired issues with the plan vision's of evaluating development based upon its impact of production agriculture. "I think we should consider agriculture, but we shouldn't evaluate future development impact on the future of agriculture. … It is not the cornerstone of the economy in and around Bismarck. That is not the economic cornerstone of the economic vitality of this area anymore. It may have been, at one time."