|
|
|
|
Guiding
Principles for Conducting a Successful Comprehensive Creating
a Vision for Enhancing the Quality of Life for Residents and
Establishing Albany as a World-Class Destination Background
On December 3,
2005, the Neighborhood Resource Center sponsored the 6th annual “Albany
Neighborhood Works” Conference. The
conference sessions highlighted the benefits of the comprehensive planning
process, and speakers discussed how the current approach to planning in Albany
could be strengthened. The City of
Albany Administration subsequently announced that it supports initiating a
comprehensive planning process. CANA
established a “Comprehensive Plan Task Force” made up of conference
participants who were charged with conducting research on comprehensive
planning processes and submitting recommendations to CANA for its use in
advising the Common Council and the City Administration as they initiate the
comprehensive planning process. The
Task Force has researched communities comparable to Albany, and submits the
following document which sets forth “best practices” for the comprehensive
planning process. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Proposal
for a Process to Develop a Comprehensive Plan:
The Common Council
of the City of Albany establishes and designates the Albany Comprehensive Plan
Committee (ACPC). The ACPC leads a
public-consensus-driven planning process to identify a city-wide vision and
major organizing themes for city actions over the next 10 to15 years.
The ACPC will produce the draft Comprehensive Plan and a report in
conjunction with consultants, and present the report and its recommendations
to the Common Council and Mayor for Common Council adoption. The Common Council
directs the process as lead agency:
Common Council appoints a Comprehensive Plan Committee which is a
diverse, representative body of Albany’s population. Extensive public
participation is the basis for this process: All session, and meetings of
committees and subcommittees throughout the process are open to public
participation. The process takes
existing neighborhood, civic and institutional master plans into
consideration. The Committee determines
the strategic actions and organizations to carry out the Plan.
The Plan includes a
framework for periodic updates. The City begins fully
funding the process in its next annual budget. Guiding Principles for Conducting a
Successful Comprehensive Creating a Vision for Enhancing
the Quality of Life for Residents and
Establishing Albany as a World-Class Destination Proposal
for a Process to Develop a Comprehensive Plan:
The Common Council
of the City of Albany establishes and designates the Albany Comprehensive Plan
Committee (ACPC). The ACPC leads a
public-consensus-driven planning process on behalf of the Common Council to
identify a city-wide vision and major organizing themes for city actions over
the next 10 to15 years. The ACPC
will produce the draft Comprehensive Plan and a report in conjunction with
consultants, and present the report and its recommendations to the Common
Council and Mayor for Common Council adoption. I.
APPROACH AND PROCESS A.
As official entity, the Common Council selects a diverse, balanced
group to be the Albany Comprehensive Plan Committee (ACPC).
The Common Council appoints all volunteer members of the committee and
designates the Committee’s purpose, mission, and work time table.
The City Department of Planning and Economic Development works directly
with the Committee. Professional
consultants are hired to guide the process, provide expertise and ensure that
the planning process and products are delivered in a timely fashion. B.
The City allocates a significant, ongoing budget to invest in this
city-wide planning process. This
ensures that a sufficient budget is available to retain an experienced,
professional planning and design firm.
The City conducts a Request for Qualifications process before selecting
the short list of firms to prepare competitive proposals including a detailed
scope of services and estimated costs. The
overall project budget provides a sufficient planning project budget to ensure
extensive public participation throughout the entire process.
C.
The project is carried out within a well-paced time frame of 18 to 24
months. This includes monthly
ACPC meetings at a minimum, and several series of public, neighborhood-based
public workshops and planning sessions to support direct public participation
in developing design and planning strategies.
The Committee adopts an open door policy for all task force meetings,
with ample time allowed for public comments.
Members of the public are invited to participate in subcommittees or
working groups. D.
The framework establishes strong leadership, clear responsibilities and
coordination among the Committee, consultants, planning staff and the Common
Council. E.
City of Albany Planning and Development Initiatives—Past, Current and
Future. In order to avoid
incongruities, the Committee considers the existing or developing
neighborhood, civic and institutional master plans.
Any conflicting elements are resolved before the comprehensive plan
process is complete.
For future planning and development proposals, the ACPC will be
apprised of all major proposals in the “pipeline” that are before the
Common Council or any City agency. A
formal mechanism for ensuring communication among the entities must be
developed. F.
Key Elements of the Planning
Process: In order to benefit
from the range of insights of among residents, from native and long-term
residents to those who have recently chosen Albany as their home, it is
crucial to begin the process with a round of outreach sessions.
There are two main objectives: 1.
To explain the planning process to residents, and 2. To begin to gather
information from residents about their assessment of and hopes for Albany.
1.
Prepare and present an analysis of existing conditions. Note
that the understanding and analysis will grow by engaging with the public and
ACPC to expand and flesh out the understanding. 2.
Develop themes that express:
Strengths of the City
Needs and Opportunities
Topics of highest priority 3.
Develop action plans to meet the goals of each major theme. The
elements of the action plans are defined as clearly as are the Plan’s goals
and objectives. The consultants
and City staff will suggest which agencies and organizations can assume
responsibility for carrying out components of the Plan. 4.
The Comprehensive Plan sets forth a framework for assessing progress
and updating the Plan on a regular basis. 5.
Develop draft plan for public
review and comment. The Common
Council will be kept informed throughout the process and the final Plan will
be presented to the Common Council. II.
THE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PROCESS A.
Representation on the Albany Comprehensive Planning Committee.
The Committee is large enough to include a variety of perspectives
and ensure consistent participation, possibly between 15 and 25 members.
[See section at end for prospective members.] B.
A city-wide announcement and promotion of the planning project will
ensure that residents are informed about the project and given ample
opportunities to participate. This
outreach to a broad audience is accomplished through media outlets,
neighborhood associations, websites, library postings, notices at all public
and private schools and community centers and information posted at main
public venues and along main thoroughfares.
C.
Meetings are planned to accommodate a range of work schedules including
a mix of day, evening and weekend sessions. D.
Conduct regular reporting and communication back to the public to
maintain interest and participation. Use
specific project meetings and hold public sessions including, at minimum: §
early public participation meetings that are key in helping
people learn about the plan and how they are needed to participate; §
visioning sessions, also early in the process, to gather
information about the city at the macro and micro levels;
§
interim sessions for evaluating draft maps and synthesizing
input from all sections of the city into a city-wide vision and city-wide
themes; §
discussions focused on developing action plans to achieve goals
and objectives; §
discussions to report out and review revised action plan for
achieving vision; §
meetings to review implementation steps, estimated costs and
potential roles for local agencies and organizations. E.
Consider how to undertake some early implementation by end of project
to build confidence and sustain interest in the Comprehensive Plan (apply
for grants, initiate a project, etc.). III.
Prospective members of Comprehensive Planning Committee: City Residents Geographic spread across
all neighborhoods People of color Residents of all age
groups including college Lifelong residents Newly relocated residents Business Community Private business leaders Neighborhood-scale
business owners Lending institutions Business improvement
district staff Residential and commercial
realtor Tourism Other Professional Housing advocacy Arts and culture Historic preservation Planning and urban design Environmentalist Institutional &
Regional Colleges/Universities Medical institutions Human service agencies Public and private schools Public library Local Government Planning Director Common Council Office of General Services Parks and recreation Public Safety Regional perspective Albany County Capital District Regional
Planning Commission Capital District
Transportation Commission Other municipalities in
Albany County New York State OGS
as major landowner in city Council
of Albany Neighborhood Associations
Howard Stoller, Chair 38
Catherine Street, Albany, NY 12202
https://members.tripod.com/councilalbanyna/ |