AUBURN — The City Council delayed appointments to a new Comprehensive Plan Committee this week after some officials said there should be a more robust process to attract a diverse array of applicants.

However, others argued that the process has been fair and resulted in a group of strong applicants with experience in multiple fields.

Earlier this year, the council included more than $100,000 in this year’s budget to draft a new Comprehensive Plan. The plan, which is used as a long-term guide by the Planning Board, elected officials and city staff for land use, development, and other purposes, was updated under the previous council in 2021.

According to Mayor Jeff Harmon, the impetus for drafting a new plan was to keep the city “consistent with statutory requirements” that say the Comprehensive Plan should be updated every 10 years. While the 2012 plan that’s in use received some updates in 2021, officials decided this year that it was time for a full update.

Prior to voting on a slate of appointments to the committee Monday, Councilor Steve Milks said the Comprehensive Plan is “tremendously important,” and that the city should have a “well-rounded group of people that represent the whole city.”

The council ultimately voted to postpone the votes on all 10 nominees until the second week of November, and also passed a motion to continue the application process until Nov. 8. Milks also supported increasing the size of the committee itself, but did not propose specific changes Monday.

Councilor Ben Weisner said more should be done to get the word out, and that he’d like to see representatives from young families be involved.

According to a council memo, a request for applications for the Comprehensive Plan Committee was posted Aug. 21 and the deadline to apply was Sept. 24. A total of 19 applications were received. The council also voted to appoint councilors Rick Whiting and Tim Cowan to the committee earlier Monday.

Nominees selected by the Appointment Committee ahead of Monday’s meeting included Rex Rhoades, John Cleveland, Denis Bergeron, Adam Lee, Bruce Rioux, Jane Costlow and more.

While ultimately voting in favor of postponing, Councilor Adam Platz, who chairs the Appointment Committee, said the nominations were “representative of the applications.”

Councilor Rick Whiting, who also serves on the Appointment Committee, said he agrees that the involvement of younger residents would be ideal, “we’re captive to the process” of who applies. He also added that residents with young children are often the “hardest ones to get to participate” due to time constraints.

Milks said he doesn’t believe enough effort was given to outreach, and he compared it to the city’s Strategic Plan process in 2019, which had a robust participation, prior to the pandemic. At the time, he said, people told him the process was “refreshing” because it “feels like the same people making decisions all the time.”

Harmon questioned why Milks didn’t speak up when the council approved the committee makeup in August, and what recruitment efforts he had conducted during the monthlong period when applications were open. He also pointed out that “only now, with the nominees selected, that questions are being raised.”

Harmon also said that under the rules for drafting a new Comprehensive Plan, there are significant requirements for public participation.

The debate over the appointments could also stem from elected officials eyeing potential changes to the Comprehensive Plan, particularly around zoning, which fueled considerable debate following the 2021 updates under Mayor Jason Levesque.

Harmon, as well as Comprehensive Plan Committee nominees John Cleveland and Denis Bergeron, were outspoken against much of the zoning implications in the update, including the use of residential zoning that encourages more in-fill development, neighborhood businesses and density that they argued would negatively impact the character of single-family neighborhoods. However, many argued the changes were in line with state goals for encouraging new housing to combat the housing crisis.

The 2021 updates made were to chapters of the plan on transportation, recreation and land use.