Welcome to the Final Virtual Open House!

Thank you to all who attended the Nov. 19 Open House. This page has all the information shared at the in-person event for the DRAFT Mower County and City of Austin Comprehensive Plans.

Scroll down to learn more.

The Final Open House

The City of Austin and Mower County will release DRAFT versions of their Comprehensive Plans by November 14. Since Spring 2024, both the City and County have been collaborating to develop these plans jointly.

The city will host the final in-person Open House on Wednesday, November 19 from 5:00 to 7:00pm at the Hormel Nature Center.

Mower County and the City of Austin encourage community members to review the DRAFT plans and provide their input.

Community Voice Shapes the Plan

Public input has played a key role in developing both plans, ensuring they reflect community values and ideas. Since the planning process began, the project team has had approximately 37,000 community interactions. These interactions include website visits, an open house, pop-up workshops, online survey participation, advisory committee meetings, business outreach, city staff involvement, and more. Community input was used to develop recommendations, goals, and strategies.

Community input will be used to refine the draft Comprehensive Plans before they are presented to the Mower County and City of Austin Planning Commissions. The Planning Commissions will then decide whether to recommend their respective Plans to the City of Austin City Council and the Mower County Board of Commissioners for adoption.

Next Steps

The Comprehensive Plans will remain in draft form until they are formally adopted by the Mower County Planning Commission and the City of Austin City Council. The drafts will be revised based on input from community members as well as county and city staff.

Prior to adoption, Mower County and the City of Austin will also hold a public hearing, including a 30-day public comment period, to gather final community input. Adoption of the plans is anticipated in January or February 2026.

This project website will continue to provide updates as they become available.

Review the Plans

The project team is working hard to finalize the DRAFT Comprehensive Plans and will post once they are ready.

Thank you to all who attended the November 19 Open House.

Provide your Comments

Please provide your input on the DRAFT Comprehensive Plans and materials using the comment forms below.

MOWER COUNTY: Provide Your Comments
CITY OF AUSTIN: Provide Your Comments

Have more Questions?

Please contact Mower County, City of Austin, or Impact Austin staff:

Informational Resources

COMMUNITY INPUT has been key to the development of these Plans.

  • Pop-up workshop at Mower County Fair - Aug. 2024

  • Kick-off Open House - Jan. 2025

  • Kick-off Open House - Jan. 2025

  • County and City Technical Advisory Committee Meetings

  • Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) Meeting

  • Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) Meeting

  • Comment Map for City of Austin

  • Next: Events and Comments

    Workshop with the Karenni Community - Feb. 2025

  • Community of Practice Meetings