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It's difficult to look at a map that shades land densities, marks unpaved roads with dotted lines and tiers growth boundaries and think of it as the guide to the "storybook of the city's future."

But, that's exactly what Nick Colonna, comprehensive planning manager for the city, considers the Frederick city 2010 Comprehensive Plan.

The city's comprehensive plan, updated every six years, is the blueprint to the city's growth and development for the next 20 years. The 2010 plan is scheduled to come before the Board of Aldermen for a vote on Nov. 5.

The 2010 plan outlines plans for future transportation and housing needs and challenges as well as maintaining the city's character as it grows from both the inside out, and the outside in.

Colonna admits that the comprehensive plan never received much attention until it was the city's chief argument in the recent debate surrounding three recently approved annexations, which were shown on the city's 2004 comprehensive plan.

But the debate did bring to light an important message — the city has plans to grow, and residents are integral to determining how growth will take place, well before it becomes a debate.

"For the average person, it's important to know that there is a guide the city has that shows where the city plans to go, and how they get there," Colonna said. "So, when the city does something, you can go back and say, ‘Oh, I see how they got there.'"

There have been dozens of workshops on the plan, and the report incorporates more than 1,500 resident comments gathered from surveys.

Colonna said that residents have been most concerned about transportation, housing needs, economic development, and boundary growth — all of which the plan extensively outlines.

Residents who want to offer input, or want to view the plan before it is passed, have one more week to do so. The report is available on the city's home page, www.cityoffrederick.com.

For details on the plan or process, contact Nick Colonna, at ncolonna@cityoffrederick.com or 301-600-1248.

E-mail Erica L. Green at egreen@gazette.net.