# What Is the THINK Kirksville 2040 Comprehensive Plan?

THINK Kirksville 2040 is the City’s long-range comprehensive plan for land use, housing, infrastructure, transportation, economic development and community priorities.

2026-08-27


![What Is the THINK Kirksville 2040 Comprehensive Plan?](https://switchboardtechservices.com/static/images/defaults/articles.webp)

THINK Kirksville 2040 is the City's long-range comprehensive plan.

It was completed in 2020 through a community-based planning process and is intended to guide decisions about how Kirksville grows and develops over roughly 20 years.

It is a planning framework, not a 20-year construction contract.

## What subjects does the plan cover?

The full plan includes major sections on:

- community identity;
- neighborhoods and housing;
- the economy;
- mobility and transportation;
- infrastructure and public facilities;
- planning and land use;
- future land use;
- implementation.

That broad scope is normal for a comprehensive plan because land-use decisions connect to streets, utilities, housing, business activity and public facilities.

## What does "future land use" mean?

A future-land-use map describes the City's long-range planning vision for how different areas may develop.

It is not automatically the same thing as current zoning.

A parcel's legal zoning is controlled by the current zoning map and code, not simply by the category shown in a long-range planning document.

## Does the plan make projects happen automatically?

No.

A recommendation in THINK Kirksville 2040 may still require later actions such as:

- City Council approval;
- budget funding;
- engineering;
- property acquisition;
- zoning or code changes;
- grant funding;
- additional public process.

The City's Plans & Studies page describes approved plans as guides for future infrastructure investment and redevelopment.

That is different from saying every concept is funded or scheduled.

## How is implementation tracked?

The plan includes an implementation process and matrix.

A City Council study-session report from March 2024 provides a useful historical example.

That report said implementation began in 2021 and that 33 prioritized strategic objectives had been organized into strategy-team work. It also said four objectives had been marked complete in 2022 and that progress slowed in 2023 partly because the City Planner position was vacant.

That is a dated implementation snapshot, not a statement about 2026 completion status.

Use the newest City implementation report when current project status matters.

## Why does the plan matter if it is not law?

A comprehensive plan gives City officials, staff, developers and residents a common long-range framework.

It can influence:

- development review;
- infrastructure priorities;
- future land-use discussions;
- redevelopment planning;
- transportation decisions;
- later zoning and budget choices.

Its influence comes from guiding later decisions, not from replacing those decisions.

## Where to read it

The City maintains a Comprehensive Plan page and lists THINK Kirksville 2040 under Plans & Studies.

When evaluating a specific property or project, use the plan for long-range context and then check the current zoning, code, budget and Council actions that actually govern the present situation.

That distinction is the key to reading the plan correctly:

**comprehensive plan = direction**

**ordinance, zoning, budget or project approval = implementation**

- Categories:
  [General Services](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/categories/general-services/)
- Tags:
  [#City Services](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/tags/city-services/), [#Planning](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/tags/planning/)

[Articles RSS](https://switchboardtechservices.com/feeds/articles.xml "Subscribe using an RSS reader")

---

Canonical URL: https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/think-kirksville-2040-comprehensive-plan/

Language: en-us

Content type: article

Published: 2026-08-28T01:39:13+00:00

Description: What the THINK Kirksville 2040 Comprehensive Plan does, how it guides City decisions and why a comprehensive-plan recommendation is not the same as zoning law or a funded project.