What Is the THINK Kirksville 2040 Comprehensive Plan?

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