Town center and the general plan
Work begins this year on two items that will shape this city’s remaining development opportunities and include citizens serving on two new advisory panels, if City Council members wisely follow past practices and a blue-ribbon committee recommendation.
One involves Town Center redevelopment policies based on a series of clear and concise guiding principles and recommendations from the 24-member Town Center Blue Ribbon Committee, which is expected to deliver a final report to the council next month.
The blue-ribbon body suggests preparing a specific plan for Town Center consistent with the committee’s findings and, importantly, forming a Town Center Specific Plan Citizens Advisory Committee to “uphold” the blue-ribbon group’s recommendations.
Clearly, the proposed watchdog committee would eliminate the closed-door Town Center discussions involving council members, city staff and designated developers that played a major role in dooming a past council’s high-density Old Town project.
Another involves a second update of the city’s original General Plan, scheduled to start this year with actual completion in two or three years.
A citizens group, including several low-density advocates elected to the 1970 and 1972 councils, wrote the first General Plan in 1971. It was endorsed 2,317 to 1,902 by voters in 1972 and replaced a county plan approved in 1962.
Residents also played a key role in the plan’s first update in 1993, with insurance broker Mike Duvall chairing a citizens’ advisory group before his election to the council in 2000 and state Assembly in 2006.
The revision was adopted by the council but not placed on the ballot. It maintained an overall density of 2.8 dwelling units per acre, which includes the dwelling unit lots and the streets, other easements and open space directly serving the acre.
However, densities of 15 units per acre were approved for specific areas in the downtown core, and new areas were added to various land use designations, including low, medium low, medium, medium high and high-density.
Although council properly will hire an outside professional planning firm to guide the process, formation of a citizens’ committee to oversee the revision and evaluate likely changes is essential.
Both the Town Center Specific Plan Citizens Advisory Committee and a General Plan panel should be created using a method similar to selecting Town Center Blue Ribbon Committee members, a procedure that brought together a diverse group of residents.
A FINAL NOTE
The City Council recently voted 5-0 to hold Town Hall meetings at various locations for each month with a fifth Tuesday, starting Jan. 29 at Lakeview Elementary at 6:30 p.m.
Two sessions were held in 2007, with John Anderson and Jan Horton attending a Jan. 2 discussion that drew 48 to City Hall, and all five council members responding to citizen queries at a July 31 meeting that attracted 82 to the Eastlake Village clubhouse.
One involves Town Center redevelopment policies based on a series of clear and concise guiding principles and recommendations from the 24-member Town Center Blue Ribbon Committee, which is expected to deliver a final report to the council next month.
The blue-ribbon body suggests preparing a specific plan for Town Center consistent with the committee’s findings and, importantly, forming a Town Center Specific Plan Citizens Advisory Committee to “uphold” the blue-ribbon group’s recommendations.
Clearly, the proposed watchdog committee would eliminate the closed-door Town Center discussions involving council members, city staff and designated developers that played a major role in dooming a past council’s high-density Old Town project.
Another involves a second update of the city’s original General Plan, scheduled to start this year with actual completion in two or three years.
A citizens group, including several low-density advocates elected to the 1970 and 1972 councils, wrote the first General Plan in 1971. It was endorsed 2,317 to 1,902 by voters in 1972 and replaced a county plan approved in 1962.
Residents also played a key role in the plan’s first update in 1993, with insurance broker Mike Duvall chairing a citizens’ advisory group before his election to the council in 2000 and state Assembly in 2006.
The revision was adopted by the council but not placed on the ballot. It maintained an overall density of 2.8 dwelling units per acre, which includes the dwelling unit lots and the streets, other easements and open space directly serving the acre.
However, densities of 15 units per acre were approved for specific areas in the downtown core, and new areas were added to various land use designations, including low, medium low, medium, medium high and high-density.
Although council properly will hire an outside professional planning firm to guide the process, formation of a citizens’ committee to oversee the revision and evaluate likely changes is essential.
Both the Town Center Specific Plan Citizens Advisory Committee and a General Plan panel should be created using a method similar to selecting Town Center Blue Ribbon Committee members, a procedure that brought together a diverse group of residents.
A FINAL NOTE
The City Council recently voted 5-0 to hold Town Hall meetings at various locations for each month with a fifth Tuesday, starting Jan. 29 at Lakeview Elementary at 6:30 p.m.
Two sessions were held in 2007, with John Anderson and Jan Horton attending a Jan. 2 discussion that drew 48 to City Hall, and all five council members responding to citizen queries at a July 31 meeting that attracted 82 to the Eastlake Village clubhouse.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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