The City of Bellingham is updating its comprehensive plan and looking for input on where future growth and development should happen within the city.

Mayor Kelli Linville and city staff will hold an open house to gather public comments on March 17 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17 at the Squalicum Boathouse, 2600 N. Harbor Loop Drive.

The plan will guide development decisions in Bellingham for the next 20 years. In that time the city is expected to get 36,000 more residents — a nearly 50 percent increase from the current population of just over 80,000 — according to a news release from the city.

The comprehensive plan guides city decisions on where to add new jobs and houses, how to improve transportation, and where to make capital investments such as utilities, sidewalks and libraries.

The city news release calls the plan the “framework for most of Bellingham’s big-picture decisions on how to grow while preserving and improving our neighborhoods.”

For more information, visit www.cob.org/compplan.