City Should Delay the Comprehensive Plan

City Council has shrunk the size of many departments. The new Council has a majority of members that will refuse to cut anything from Police and Fire. Since Police and Fire are the biggest part of the budget, that means that the other departments will suffer devastating cuts.

The existing Planning Department only has a few planners on staff. The Historic Conservation Office is down to one employee and one interim director. These people do not have the resources to continue to develop a New Comprehensive Plan. It is time to put the Comprehensive Plan on hold until the budget crisis is averted. A truly comprehensive Comprehensive Plan will require tons of staff time, and money for planning consultants etc.. I would like to see the plan get more aggressive on wholistic street design and form-based codes. But these are not small easy issues. Quite the opposite. As it is, the staff barely has time to review permit applications and man the office.

The Comprehensive Plan is important, but to be done correctly, it requires more resources. Am I wrong?

Last year, Council gave the administration the go-ahead to develop the first comprehensive plan for the city since 1980. The Comprehensive Plan will address a wide range of recommendations relating to land use, transportation, parks, health, environment and open space, community facilities, utilities and infrastructure, institutions, urban design, historic preservation, community character and identity, housing and neighborhoods, and economic development, among others. The plan sets the foundation for all land use decisions over the next 20-30 years from broad policy to detailed site design and development.