Both the Douglas County Commission and Lawrence City Commission are being asked this week to start the process of amending the local comprehensive plan known as Horizon 2020.

That document is used by both units of government as well as the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission to guide land use and development in the area, including zoning decisions and transportation facilities.

The current document was approved by the city of Lawrence in January 1997, and then by Douglas County commissioners in May 1988.

Scott McCullough, director of Planning and Development Services, noted in a memo to city and county officials that the plan has been updated and amended several times since then and that it does not need a complete overhaul. However, he said, enough changes have occurred in the community in recent years to warrant seeking public input about updating the plan.

Among the changes that have occurred, he said, are demographic shifts that were shown in the 2020 federal census, changes in land-use patterns and changes in the city’s transportation network, including the upcoming extension of the South Lawrence Trafficway.

Both the city and county commissions are being asked to appoint a steering committee to guide a review process that would likely take about a year to complete.

McCullough is recommending the steering committee be co-chaired by one city commissioner and one county commissioner, with representatives from the Planning Commission, Lawrence school district, real estate and development industry, neighborhoods, the business community and at-large representatives of the city and county.

The Lawrence City Commission will consider that plan when it meets at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.

The Douglas County Commission will take up the issue when it meets at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the County Courthouse.