April 24, 2008 11:21 pm
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By Susan Redden
sredden@joplinglobe.com
CARTHAGE, Mo. — Consistency seemed to be a favorite theme Thursday night among Carthage residents who gathered to weigh in on development strategies that should find their way into a future comprehensive plan for the city.
More than 30 residents gathered at Memorial Hall to sort through nearly 90 potential strategies and decide which should have the highest priority.
Those choices will be compiled and will become part of a plan that should be ready, in draft form, sometime next month, said Sara Copeland, project manager with Planning Works. The firm was hired by the city to work with officials on development of a new comprehensive plan.
“This is an important part of the process,” Copeland said, “because this will help you decide what’s most important, what should be done first and what will be most challenging.”
Strategies that got the most votes as immediate priorities included adoption of a code that would bring together all city development regulations and ordinances.
Buying or annexing land to support economic development and exploring alternatives for controlling odors from Renewable Environmental Solutions also ranked among the priorities, along with ensuring an adequate water supply and utility development to support long-term growth.
In addition to ranking immediate priorities, participants were asked to choose those that should be started in the near term and in future years.
Selections were made from among potential strategies developed by a steering committee and planning team working with officials on the plan. The team has representatives from the City Council, from the Zoning, Planning and Historic Preservation Commission, from businesses and from other areas, Copeland said. Some strategies also came from the city’s current comprehensive plan that was completed in 1994.
Copeland also showed residents the current version of a future land-use map, based on suggestions from an earlier community workshop in which residents where asked to suggest how and where Carthage should grow.
She said comments on that part of the plan still are welcome, and that residents can offer suggestions to city officials or on a Web site that has been developed to let residents participate and track the progress of the work.
On the Net
Information on the comprehensive 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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