Providing Economic Development, Geographic Information Systems, Intergovernmental Cooperation, Land Use Planning and Transportation Assistance since 1973
The objective of the Broadband Plan is to offer insights into the current state of broadband deployment in Langlade County. The information presented in this plan aims to help the county understand broadband, thus assisting local officials in making well-informed decisions in supporting the right broadband deployments. The plan is to help facilitate the optimal broadband connections to residents, taking into consideration the cost associated with these deployments. Access to quality and affordable high-speed internet opens new opportunities for economic development, education, public safety, entertainment, and healthcare for Langlade County.
The purpose of a Comprehensive Plan is to guide future growth and development in the Town over the next 10 to 20 years. A comprehensive plan provides the vision and direction for natural resource protection, housing and economic development, transportation and community facilities, land use, intergovernmental relations, and other factors that together form the community’s future. Comprehensive planning was enacted to encourage long-range planning for communities and provide consistency in land use decision making. The Comprehensive Plan is a guide that elected officials, residents, and business owners can use for directing growth and redevelopment in the community. The Comprehensive Plan is a long-range policy document consisting of goals, objectives, and policies prepared to meet the State’s definition of a comprehensive plan as defined under Section 66.1001.
Portage County’s Parks Department updates its Outdoor Recreation Plan every 5 years to identify essential outdoor recreation needs that affect the future of outdoor recreation in the County.
This Outdoor Recreation Plan (ORP) focuses upon County managed outdoor recreation facilities, and also list projects within the towns and villages. The City of Stevens Point and Village of Plover both have ORPs which will both be referenced in this plan. All listed nature based and active recreation based projects become eligible for competitive federal and state outdoor recreation grant money when this plan is adopted by County or local municipality by resolution.
All communities that want to use this plan to apply for grants, must adopt it by resolution.
Non-profit groups, foundations, and the general public may also use this document to coordinate their own private efforts for developing outdoor recreation facilities.
Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs are an opportunity to make walking and bicycling to school safer for children in grades K-8, and to increase the number of children who choose to walk and bicycle. On a broader level, SRTS programs can enhance children’s health and well-being, ease traffic congestion near the school, and improve community members’ overall quality of life.
Planning Process In 2022, the North Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission and the School District of Rhinelander won a WisDOT SRTS planning grant to create a SRTS Plan for several schools in the District. In the fall of 2023, the City and District began SRTS Planning with the assistance of the North Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (NCWRPC). The NCWRPC guided the Rhinelander SRTS Task Force through the planning process.
The following schools are part of Rhinelander SRTS Planning: James Williams Middle School Central Elementary Crescent Elementary Northwoods Community Elementary Pelican Elementary
Rhinelander SRTS Task Force Robert Thom, Director of Business Services, School District of Rhinelander Kyle Raleigh, Principal, James Williams Middle School Paul Johnson, Principal, Central Elementary Alex Bontz, Principal, Crescent Elementary Gayle Daniel, Principal, Northwoods Community Elementary Candice Cook, Principal, Pelican Elementary Lloyd J. Gauthier, Jr., Chief, Rhinelander Police Department Patrick Reagan, Rhinelander City Administrator & Dept. of Public Works Director Fred Heider, AICP, Planner, North Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission
The Wood County Comprehensive Plan will help guide County decision makers on a wide array of issues over the next twenty years. As of Spring 2025, the Plan’s Housing Element has been completed in the form of a Housing Report which can be viewed below. The remaining 8 Comprehensive Plan elements will be developed over 2025 and 2026. Click the links below to learn more:
The federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 mandates that mitigation plans be accomplished for all incorporated units of government as well as Native American tribes and updated on a five-year cycle. Although Vilas County collaborated with the Lac du Flambeau Tribe on the development of a joint hazard mitigation plan in 2008, its 2013 plan is considered the County’s initial All Hazards Mitigation Plan (AHMP) by FEMA. This is the second update to the plan. The next subsequent update will be due in 2029. An approved mitigation plan is required for a jurisdiction to be eligible for certain federal mitigation funding following a disaster. In addition, if a major disaster strikes a jurisdiction without a current plan, FEMA will require the jurisdiction to complete a plan.
The objective of the Intermodal Terminal Opportunities for Wisconsin and Eastern Minnesota Study is to determine the economic viability, operational feasibility, and potential location for a rail-truck intermodal services in Wisconsin.
A comprehensive plan is a local government’s guide to community physical, social, and economic development. Comprehensive plans are not meant to serve as land use regulations in themselves; instead, they provide a rational basis for local land use decisions with a twenty-year horizon for future planning and community decisions.
The Langlade County Comprehensive Plan. The plan provides detailed information on the county and also includes all seventeen towns, a village and one city.
The Farmland Preservation Plan’s required elements are incorporated into this Langlade County Comprehensive Plan. Those required elements were revised in 2024.
