|
|
What is a Comprehensive Plan?
A
comprehensive plan is the policy framework communities use to guide
development and land use activities. Land uses include housing and
neighborhoods, roads, commercial uses, recreation, open space, natural
resources, and public facilities.
A
comprehensive plan is as much a process to engage the public in local
decisions as it is to create a document for guiding development. The
planning process is fundamentally a way for people with different
perspectives to articulate the sort of community they would like to live in
and leave behind. Planning can also help create a stable, predictable, fair
set of policies and ground rules within which development, entrepreneurship
and the marketplace can flourish. Above all, it is about making places
better.
Who is conducting the planning process?
Three parties are teaming up to bring the Cameron Comprehensive Plan to
completion. The Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee, which is
described in a following section; City of Cameron staff; and a team of
consultants with BWR.
Who is on the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, and how were they
chosen?
The
Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee is the primary decision-making body
for Cameron Comprehensive Planning update process, up to the point at
which the final draft plan is submitted to the Planning Commission and
City Council for adoption. The Advisory
Committee members were appointed to provide a broad representation of all the community’s
interests. The members and the groups with which they’re affiliated are:
Will I be able to add input to the process?
Absolutely! The public has three ways to influence the shape and content of
the comprehensive plan.
-
The planning
process includes a number of public meetings designed to check in with
the public at critical points in the decision-making process. You can
attend one or more of the community meetings throughout the coming year.
The first public meeting is scheduled for March 14, 2008 and various
other public meetings are planned for the spring, summer, and fall of
2008. A total of six public meetings and open houses will be held
during the creation of the draft plan.
-
The representative
advisory committee consists of members of our community. Feel free to
contact one of these committee members if you have input you’d like
considered. You are also encouraged to contact the City’s Community
Development Department staff.
-
You may also leave
comments though this web site or forward your comments
through
email and US mail.
How can I review the status of this process?
There are several ways. The Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee meetings
are open to the public, so you can attend and watch the members in action.
Periodically summaries of the meeting and other reports will be posted to
the
Comprehensive Plan’s special Web site. You are also free to
contact the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee members or the Cameron
Community Development Department.
What is the timeline? When will the plan be done?
The process is currently underway, with participants reviewing and assessing
existing data, and conducting various public meetings. The Cameron
Comprehensive Plan will be completed by the end of 2008. Before any approvals, the
Planning Commission and the City Council will hold public hearings.
After the plan is approved, how does the plan affect ordinary citizens and
businesses?
The Cameron Comprehensive Plan will direct policies, investments,
programs, and ordinances to regulate, encourage, and guide public and
private day-to-day decisions. Therefore, the City’s day-to-day decisions
relating to land use, transportation, open space, natural resources,
utilities, capital improvements and so on are based on the Comprehensive
Plan.
How long will this plan be in use?
Plans of this nature look out 20 years in the future. Communities generally
need to update comprehensive plans more frequently than every 20 years, as
goals are achieved or new circumstances come to light (for example, who
among us had ever heard of a website 20 years ago?). But the Plan sets
long-term goals, and guides today’s decisions based on how they bring the
City closer to the desired future plan for land use patterns, economic
development, and natural resource viability.
return to top
|
