Following the February 15th Community Meeting, which addressed housing and redevelopment, City Council directed staff to initiate work to develop a new comprehensive plan for the Town. Since then, staff has coordinated funding, executed a procurement process, and selected a planning consultant team to partner with on this work. At today's meeting, staff will ask City Council to take action on a Professional Services Agreement with the selected planning consultant, Verdunity, to execute a scope of services that reflects a robust and highly engaging planning effort that will help the Town address key policy issues related to growth and redevelopment, housing, infrastructure and mobility, social amenities, and fiscal sustainability. The proposed scope of services accommodates a project duration of 15 months and will require funding in an amount not to exceed $449,935. The scope presented by Verdunity and its team of sub-consultants is comprised of six phases, which include:
- Phase 1: Project Initiation, Management, and Engagement
This phase covers the initial setup and launch of the project, as well as the ongoing management, communication, and coordination efforts that will run through the duration of the project. (August 2023 Kickoff, Continuous).
- Phase 2: Assess (Inventory and Baseline Analysis)
In this phase, the project team will gather, review, and analyze data to assess existing conditions and summarize opportunities and challenges facing the community. The team will also begin engaging the community in the planning process and orienting them to the project timeline and goals. (September – November 2023).
- Phase 3: Explore (Vision, Guiding Principles, and Goals)
This phase will reveal the results of the existing conditions assessment and land use fiscal analysis (LUFA) and provide education and insights from those results. Analysis and community input will be used to dig deeper into opportunities and challenges associated with various elements of the plan and develop a vision statement, guiding principles, and desired outcomes for the community. (December 2023 – January 2024).
- Phase 4: Organize (Strategy Development)
This phase shapes the strategic framework that will be utilized by the Town to align future public and private investment and regulatory tasks with the vision, guiding principles, and goals identified in Phase 3. Additional in-depth engagement and assessment efforts will be conducted to prepare and refine strategies for the various elements of the plan. Several of these policy areas require more detailed technical analysis and community engagement, as well as the development of physical plans and illustrative documents to communicate the intent of the strategy. (January – May 2024).
- Phase 5: Prioritize (Draft Plan and Implementation Program)
This phase consists of continued refinement of text, graphics, and maps, preparation of a fully formatted draft plan, and creation of a prioritized implementation program. (June – August 2024).
- Phase 6: Adopt and Implement (Final Plan, Adoption, and Project Closeout)
This phase consists of sharing the plan for public review and comment, incorporating final comments, and preparing the final deliverables for adoption. This phase also includes the formal process for adoption of the plan and efforts to kick off implementation. (September – December 2024).
Given the importance of this Town-wide planning effort, a robust community involvement plan will be executed by Town staff and Verdunity. This plan will include formal and informal community engagement events, individual interviews and focus groups, as well as web-based engagement mechanisms that allow residents to engage in the process at their own convenience.
To support this planning process, staff recommends that the City Council appoint an Advisory Committee of up to 25 members. This committee will serve as a sounding board for staff and the consultant as they develop the new comprehensive plan. Given that a comprehensive plan is a general plan that prescribes a vision for the future of the community and a broad range of growth and development policies addressing a 20-year planning horizon, it is critical that the composition of the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee (CPAC) reflects the diverse backgrounds and interests of our citizens and business community. Committee composition should equitably reflect membership from different geographic areas of the Town and should accommodate diversity of background, residency/business tenure, and professional experience/interests. Given Addison’s demographics and unique housing mix, representation for young professionals (40 and under) and residents living in apartments should also be addressed. Staff recommends a CPAC composition that includes:
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21 resident/business community members – 3 selections for each Council member (requires one business community member selection per Council member).
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1 Planning and Zoning Commission member – selected by the P & Z Chairman.
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3 legacy members (residents with a long history of service to the Town who can share context on how the Town has evolved) – selected by collective decision of the Council.
To support the CPAC selection process, staff will prepare an application and distribute it to the community via the Town website, eNewsletter, and other engagement tools. The application will include questions that allow the applicant to share background information and a few open-ended questions to allow applicants to share why they would be well-suited for this role. Given that this committee will meet 12 times over a 15-month period and will be tasked with reviewing an extensive amount of analysis and policy recommendations, it is critical for the success of the project that CPAC members are available, highly engaged, and are not solely focused on single, granular issues. Staff will present received applications for consideration by City Council at the September 26th City Council meeting. |