Kootenai County commissioners today will accept public testimony on updates to the county’s comprehensive planning map.

Commissioners will hold two public forums, both in the first floor meeting room of the administration building, 451 N. Government Way. Comments will be accepted at 2 p.m. and again at 6 p.m.

In a process that began last year, the county’s planning and zoning commission has been working on updating the comp plan through a series of workshops and public hearings that culminated in September when P&Z members voted 4-3 to forward its revisions to commissioners.

The comp plan is a blueprint to guide how rural areas in the county grow and develop over the next several years by providing a broad statement of community goals and policies. The plan was last updated in 2010.

In updating the comp plan, planning and zoning commissioners worked to balance the protection of natural resources with private property rights, providing sufficient wildfire management and preserving ground water supplies.

Communications manager Nancy Jones said county commissioners may choose to adopt the updated plan this evening after taking public comment. Two meetings are being held to maximize the opportunity for public comment.

“When there’s something like this with a lot of interest, we’re happy to do whatever we can to accommodate the public,” she said.

Keeping the public involved in the process was a top priority throughout the process, Jones said.

Kootenai County community development director David Callahan in September applauded the planning and zoning commission for its efforts in streamlining the comp plan to make it a more user-friendly document.

“They eliminated 347 policies that were verbose, overlapping or unnecessary and really put things in plain English,” he said. “It will be much easier for the public to get a quick sense of county policy.”

Callahan said land use issues attracted broad attention from differing perspectives throughout the update process.