The Comprehensive Plan is an official public document adopted by local government as a policy guide to decisions regarding the physical development of the community. The Comprehensive Plan describes, in a general way, how the town government leaders, based on community input, guide the community to develop in the future. However, unlike a zoning ordinance, the Comprehensive Plan is not a piece of legislation and does not dictate what categories of uses may be permitted in a specific area. Rather, the Comprehensive Plan is a policy guide whose purpose is to promote the wise use of the physical and social/cultural resources of the Town in order to ensure the protection of the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the community into the future. As such, to achieve maximum effectiveness from the planning process, the Comprehensive Plan should be reviewed periodically and referred to when making decisions on proposed development or projects.

The essential characteristics of the Comprehensive Plan are that it is comprehensive, general and long range. This is not meant to imply that the proposals contained in the Comprehensive Plan must be limited to only the physical environment. This Comprehensive Plan recognizes that policies and actions affecting the physical environment must also evaluate and consider the impacts of these policies and actions on social/cultural goals and objectives. Physical plans are not an end to themselves but are a means to larger social, cultural, economic and aesthetic objectives.