LANGLEY — The work on Langley’s comprehensive plan is shifting from envisioning what the community needs to formulating what it wants.

The comp plan is the city’s guide for handling growth over the next two decades. At the upcoming meeting, the comp plan group’s 10 committees will share the work they’ve done since spring 2006 on the plan.

Called “Coming into Focus,” the program is a city-sponsored interactive town meeting that’s free and open to the public. The meeting is from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 1, in the Fellowship Hall at Langley United Methodist Church, and organizers will use posters to explain and expand the discussion on the vision they have developed for Langley’s future.

“This meeting marks a major milestone. We’re moving from visioning time to the prioritizing time,” said Councilman Robert Gilman, comp plan chairman.

People who want to influence the vision for Langley’s future should come to this meeting, he said.

“This may be the most important meeting in the comp plan process,” Gilman said.

Participants will be guided through a poster walk, which will highlight the most important points the various committees have found during its review of topics in the comp plan. They can then ask the committee members questions and register their preferences on surveys.

“People will like this — they don’t have to sit and listen, they are part of the process,” he said.

After the poster walk closes, Gilman will make a presentation about the comp plan process.

The comp plan group is extending a special invitation to the younger generation.

“We’d love to get more young people there,” Gilman said.

After all, he said, the comp plan group that is staffed mostly with baby boomers who are shaping the future of the town for today’s teenagers. So far the comp plan group worked without youth input.

Langley resident Stephen Sharder said he has long wondered how to engage the ultimate beneficiaries of these plans.

He added that he takes time to talk one-on-one with young people at Island Coffee, for instance, but it would be great to get them involved.

Shrader said it’s a shame that so many young people choose to leave the island because there aren’t enough jobs or affordable housing.

Two committees, the transportation and land-use groups, have already made presentation to the city council.

All 10 committees have written concept papers, however.

The integration committee, the group that will coordinate and combine the findings of the other committees, is getting ready to make its presentation to the city council on March 21.

Gilman said a major issue that came out of the economic development committee is the focus on diversifying the economy.

Supporting arts, culture and education are also top priorities to the community, and the comp plan groups believe that much economic ground can be gained in that sector.

Another interesting idea is to build a moderately scaled conference center in Langley that would keep retail, restaurants and lodging businesses supplied with customers year around.

There has also been much talk about “smart growth” and how Langley can accommodate its responsibility to grow without losing its rural character.

“We’re moving away from our kind of 1960s zoning to zoning with focus on neighborhoods and lots of variety,” Gilman said.

There is still plenty of work to be done. The city’s comp plan can only be updated once a year and the comp plan group hopes to have the process completed and changes implemented by the end of this year.

Gilman urges all people interested to attend.

“This is really a watershed point,” he said.

As an added incentive, there will be a selection of desserts and snacks, along with coffee and tea.

For more info, contact Robert Gilman at 221-6095.

Michaela Marx Wheatley can be reached at 221-5300 or mmarxwheatley@southwhidbeyrecord.com.