April 16, 2008 12:17 am
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By Susan Redden
sredden@joplinglobe.com
CARTHAGE, Mo. — Carthage residents will be asked to set priorities to guide the city’s growth in a workshop planned for 7 p.m. Thursday, April 24, at Memorial Hall.
The feedback will put planners closer to wrapping up work on a new comprehensive plan for Carthage, said Sara Copeland, project manager for Planning Works. The City Council last year hired the firm to write up a new plan to help guide city growth and development.
“We’ve gotten a lot of input on the community survey and the future land-use map,” Copeland said. “We’re hoping residents will attend the workshop to give us feedback on the kind of strategies the city should use to achieve its vision for the future.”
The future land-use map developed in earlier public sessions also will be presented.
Those attending will be asked to set priorities among 86 suggestions, and to recommend others. The list includes steps developed by a city steering committee working with the planning group and some that were a part of the city’s last comprehensive plan completed in 1994.
The steering committee includes representatives from the council, from the Zoning, Planning and Historic Preservation Commission, from businesses and from other areas, Copeland said.
“They developed a lot of the list,” she said. “Now we’ll be asking residents what is most important, and which things should be started right away as opposed to those that should come later. We also want to know if residents have ideas about priorities that we haven’t thought about but should be added.”
The priorities were to have been discussed April 3, but so few people attended that the meeting was rescheduled, Copeland said.
“There weren’t many there, and they were all from the planning committee or city staff,” she said. “We want to hear from more residents.”
The planning effort also has received input on a Web site that was developed to keep residents informed about the project. The site includes a project journal, resource center, documents and maps, and a comment center. Initially, it included a survey that many residents completed online.
Earlier sessions have been held to seek residents’ comments on what issues should be targeted in the plan and how the city should grow. Copeland said elements of the new plan are being compiled, along with policies related to city goals and decision-making.
“We’ll have a draft document ready sometime at the middle or end of May, and we’ll be presenting it to get feedback from the steering committee and City Council before we start on a final draft,” she said.
On the Net
Information on the plan is available via a link to Planning Works on the city of Carthage Web site at www.carthage-mo.gov.
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