2001-01-02 - Laserfiche WebLink

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272 Mr. Satyendra Huja, Director of Strategic Planning, said the Presentation is organized around seven vision themes generated by Council and attributes linked to those themes: 1) A progressive economic center that generates opportunity and prosperity for all citizens; 2) Promote educational excellence and an intellectual climate (art and culture); 3) Encourage the community to create constructive change and preServation of what is good; 4) Enhance our natural and built environment; 5) Enhance the social fabric; 6) Greater residential opportunities and options throughout the City; and 7) World Class government. Mr. Huja review ideas collected from other cities and gave a slide presentation of cities throughout the world. Mr. O'Cormell said he hopes the presentation will help expand Council and staffs thinking as they review the Comprehensive Plan and budget. Ms. Richards said she found the presentation inspiring and the riverfront ideas in other cities intriguing, and said she would like to explore that in more depth. REPORT/ORDINANCE: NEIGHBORHOOD PLANS Mr. Jim Tolbert, Director of Neighborhood Planning and Development Services, said he thinks it is a good idea to defer the vote on the Neighborhood Plans in order to better tie them to the Comprehensive Plan and make sure they are realistic plans. He said staff will set up a meeting with Johnson Village in the next two to three weeks. Mr. Tolbert said there is an issue of expectations of the Plans, noting that there are up to 600 actions included which cannot all be done. Mr. Tolbert said the Planning Commission has recommended that funding be provided to neighborhoods and let them decide priorities for infrastructure projects. Mr. Tolbert said this funding formula needs to recognize there are greater needs in certain neighborhoods. Mr. Tolbert recommended that neighborhoods be asked to prioritize their plans which would then go into key actions for this year. Mr. Tolbert said it is a critical concern to honor what neighborhood want, but we need to make sure items are not on the list that cannot be done. Mr. Tolbert said a draft Comprehensive Plan will be distributed next week, and said Council may want to adopt the Comprehensive Plan before adopting the Neighborhood Plans. Ms. Nancy Damon, Chair of the Planning Commission, said that the neighborhoods need to be reminded that the City cannot do everything, and the Neighborhood Plans need to be looked at in conjunction with the Comprehen~ve Plan. Mr. Lynch said it is unclear whether the Plans are neighborhood based plans or a contract between the City and neighborhoods. Mr. Lynch said he feels that what these plans represent needs to be nailed down and we need to be realistic in terms ofwhal the City can do. Mr. Tolbert said they are both neighborhood based plans and a contract, Mr. Toscano said that is an important point because the Neighborhood Plans are attached to the Comprehensive Plan and are what people look to, and we need to make sure we explain what those attachments mean. Ms. Richards said the neighborhood planning process has been unprecedented. Ms. Richards said we need to preserve and protect neighborhoods and. to the extent neighborhoods are telling us what they want, should help drive the Comprehensive Plan. Ms. Richards said traffic could be increased in neighborhoods by using the urban plan for connectivity. Mr. Caravati said that if housing is increased in Johnson Village and only one entrance is kept, it will impact Cherry Avenue residents, and some of these issues need to be reconciled. Mr. Caravati also expressed concern about neighborhood expectations and said there have to be realistic priorities. Mr. Caravati said one issue that is particularly hard is addressing greater needs in certain neighborhoods.