Title
Introduction to the Comprehensive Plan.
Body
BACKGROUND:
The City’s first comprehensive plan, Forward Farmers Branch, was adopted in 1989, and is the only city-wide comprehensive plan for Farmers Branch. Since 1989, the city has taken a unique approach of adopting area-based comprehensive plans, the West Side Plan (2003), the Central Area Plan (2012) and the East Side Plan (2017). These area-based plans have provided direction for future projects and growth in the City, however, an overall vision, strategy and implementation policy to guide the city and unite its long term as well as new residents has been lacking. As such, in the 2022 Strategic Plan City Council provided direction in B:05 Manage the Business: Adhere to the Strategic Management System - Develop a citywide comprehensive plan, to establish a citywide vision, goals and implementation strategy for the next 20 years.
To gain consultant interest for the project, a request for proposals (RFP) was issued. After evaluating all the submittals through a thorough selection criteria and in-person interviews, Stantec was selected by Council to perform this study. Funds have been allocated in the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 budget accordingly. Once completed, the citywide comprehensive plan will support the City’s strategic vision “to be a city of the future with a vibrant and diverse economy that supports beautiful parks, great amenities and friendly neighborhoods”. This vision will be supported through clear concise vision, goals, land use direction, and actionable implementation items that will aid in successful implementation of the plan over its 20-year lifetime.
Duration of the citywide comprehensive plan project is expected to be approximately 15 months in length, including project kickoff and the adoption process. The process (attachment 2) will be divided into three main phases including:
1. Discovery and Preliminary Engagement (currently on-going)
2. Visioning and Plan Development
3. Plan Review, Refinement and Adoption
The process will include a robust public engagement strategy with three main engagement pushes that will use a variety of techniques to engage the community and aid in the development of a community-driven citywide comprehensive plan. In addition, the process includes establishment of a technical advisory committee (TAC) and a stakeholder advisory committee (SAC) to help guide the plan through development and ensure that the plan is realistic, implementable, and reflective of community input.
Deliverables:
Upon project completion Stantec will provide the City with the following deliverables:
• Community Profile
• Public Engagement Plan
• Establish Vision and Goals
• Future Land Use Plan
• Mobility and Complete Streets
• Housing Diversity
• Economic Development and Redevelopment Strategy
• Implementation Strategy
• Production of an accompanying summary brochure that is graphic heavy and can be used as a marketing material for the study, on the City website, as well as other media, for public outreach.
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
At the August 17, 2022 Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting, the SAC will receive a presentation from staff and the consultants on project status and discuss the on-going public engagement efforts. Focus of the discussion will be around the visioning exercises that the residents participated at the August 4, 2022 community workshop. Additionally, different public engagement tools, goals and intended outcomes of the engagement strategy, will be discussed.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff will be available to answer any question.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Public Engagement Plan
2. Overall Project Schedule