Tiffin Comprehensive Plan – Updated 2018

Land Use Additional Planning Tools In addition to the zoning and subdivision ordinances, the city has other options when planning for future growth. A fringe-area agreement with the county is another very important tool a city can use to coordinate growth management policies and manage future development. In addition, a growing city such as Tiffin should have annexation policies in place to facilitate the annexation process when the need arises. The following describe fringe-area agreements and the city’s annexation policies. Fringe-Area Agreements With an adopted subdivision ordinance, a municipality has the right to review plats within two miles of its boundaries. A fringe-area agreement with the county is necessary if the city wanted to coordinate its standards in the fringe area with the county. This would lead to cooperative planning for the sound development of the entire region. Tiffin has a current fringe-area agreement with Johnson County that was adopted in 1997. That plan is effectively outdated as both the city and metro area has grown substantially since its adoption. Tiffin is currently in discussion with Johnson County, North Liberty and Coralville to create an overall Metro Area Fringe Agreement. The new fringe-area agreement should be consistent with the maps, goals and objectives contained in this plan. The city should ensure that municipal standards should be used when reviewing development proposals in the city’s primary growth areas. For example, in the Phase One growth area, it would be appropriate to allow city zoning and subdivision standards, as well as any municipal design standards to be used when reviewing proposed developments. Since it is very likely that future development in the city’s growth area would eventually be annexed into Tiffin, the development should occur at city standards. City of Tiffin, City of Tiffin 2018 Comprehensive PlanComprehensive Plan 50