A couple weeks ago, a new section was added to the city web-site devoted to the Comprehensive Plan Update process which is currently underway.  Here you can find announcements, draft revisions for each chapter, opportunities to provide comments and input, a calendar of events and more.  I think the most interesting part, however, will be the briefing papers.

As I explained in a post last year, this update to the comprehensive plan will be relatively minor.  A major comprehensive plan re-write is expected in the next couple of years.  For that reason, the changes to the comprehensive plan itself, will primarily be tweaks to the 2004 plan.

 The briefing papers are an explanation of the background information that justify these tweaks.  They are a snapshot of various types of statistical information on the city that show who we are and where we stand.  It is as if someone wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal about us.

 So far, two briefing papers have been published, out of eleven.  The first, “Comprehensive Plan Mechanics”  is just an explanation of the masterplan format.  The second, “Regional Development Snapshot” explains how regional land use can impact the city in the future.  It is full of information about the status of primarily commercial land from Merrifield to Fair Lakes.  It conveys a lot of information that people generally know, but backs it up with graphics.  For example, everyone knows that Fair Lakes is a huge shopping destination, but the graphics make it clear just how large compared to shopping areas in the city.

It then goes on to describe several nearby proposed developments and their potential impact on the city, such as MetroWest and future phases of Fairfax Corner.

I look forward to reading the rest of these papers.  Here is a list of the eleven briefing papers that will be published…

1.Comprehensive plan mechanics

2.Regional development snapshot

3.Public facilities and lands

 4.Economic development opportunities and partnerships

5.Land use and zoning

 6.Models of development

7.Census 2010 data update

8.Parking

9.Sustainability and the environment

10.Multimodal transportation

11.Fiscal Impact Analysis

Urban planning briefing papers might not seem like the most exciting reading, but they aren’t very long, so take a look and you might just find you’ve gaining a better understanding of your own community.

Also, check the city comprehensive plan web-page from time to time for upcoming events and opportunities to participate.  As mentioned previously, I will try to make announcements here as well.