Warren County, KY had to find creative ways to engage the community to address critical challenges it is facing. The county will grow by 33% in the next 20 years. Judge Executive Doug Gorman asked, “are we going to let growth happen to us, or for us?” What Could BG Be? provided the conduit needed to have the “largest town hall in the United States”. The result was 8,000 participants, 4,000 unique ideas and 1,000,000 data points of public input, analyzed by artificial intelligence and community leaders, which produced a database of agreement on issues of importance the community can use to plan its future. In April, BG 2050 delivered a vision document that charts the course to 2050 and is the basis for a new comprehensive plan.
The Planning Commission has been busy preparing for the new BG 2050 Comprehensive Plan. From December 2025 through March of this year staff compiled a BG 2050 Data Book which contains a repository of resources, statistics, trends and a land use analysis for Warren County and each of its incorporated cities. Staff also worked with InnoEngine to remap all of the 1 million points of data from the What Could BG Be? input process into categories that match our comprehensive plan categories. The result was a Community Preferences Analysis that gives insight into these categories through a community consensus index with statements on key areas of agreement and disagreements especially with regards to land use.
What’s happening now? Staff and InnoEngine are meeting with the remapped participants in the BG2050 Pillar Groups to create a draft of goals and objectives for the new BG2050 Comprehensive Plan. Ultimately the community will distill these data results down to a land use policy that matches the community’s vision.
What’s next? Staring this summer we will begin our next public input phase with a series of face-to-face meetings and online surveys gathering specifics on draft goals and objectives and area specific desires within the community. This phase is expected to start in August and last through the end of this calendar year. Stay tuned for dates and times.
Please submit questions or suggestions regarding the 2050 Comprehensive Plan to planninginfo@bgky.org. The plan is expected to be completed by the end of 2027 and will replace the current Focus 2030 Comprehensive Plan.