Community-neighborhood meeting to review the latest draft of the Chapel Hill 2020 Comprehensive Plan
In their continuing mission to confuse the hell out of me, the Town is holding a meeting for "neighborhoods" to comment on the draft 2020 plan. Do they mean people who live in neighborhoods? If so, isn't that everyone in town? What is this really?
Town press release:
Neighborhoods invited to shape latest draft of Chapel Hill 2020
Posted Date: 4/13/2012
A community-neighborhood meeting to review the latest draft of the Chapel Hill 2020 Comprehensive Plan will be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, in the Council Chamber of Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
The visioning plan for the community’s future is going through several iterations before it is brought for consideration by the Town Council on May 21. For those unable to attend, the meeting will be aired on Chapel Hill TV-18 and provided on streaming video at www.townofchapelhill.org (link to "Video").
The public is invited to read the draft plan that is posted online at http://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=1950 and provide input, including edits, commentary and reactions, to the draft goals and objectives. The 2020 plan will be an overall policy document, balancing the many voices and ideas about our community’s future.
Drafting of the new comprehensive plan is occurring simultaneously as stakeholder groups refine its goals and objectives. The final community meeting of the yearlong process is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, at Chapel Hill High School. If your neighborhood is curious about the plan and hasn't yet had a chance to learn what it says, this is an opportunity to have a brief overview and opportunity to comment directly to staff.
“The process is structured in this way to allow for maximum transparency as we incorporate community input, theme group input and technical information into the evolving plan,” said Rosemary Waldorf, co-chair of the Chapel Hill 2020 project with George Cianciolo.
This document, the vision and framework for the Town’s future, will be followed by implementation – making the vision into reality.
The Chapel Hill 2020 process began with brainstorming and visioning. The first community meeting was held in September 2011 at East Chapel Hill High School and drew 475 people, people who wanted to have a stake in the future of Chapel Hill. Eventually, the community identified six theme groups, and the stakeholders got to work. The theme groups are Good Place and New Spaces, Town and Gown, Getting Around, Community Prosperity and Engagement, A Place for Everyone and Nurturing Our Community.
Chapel Hill 2020 has about 20 dedicated theme group co-chairs, who have attended countless community meetings, provided thoughtful input, and moderated energetic group discussions. They are Dave Godschalk, Paige Zinn, Rick Igou, Chris Derby, Brian Russell, Roger Waldon, Anita Badrock, Brian Curran, Maria Palmer, Jan Bolick, Marlene Rifkin, Gary Saleeby, Fred Black, Nathan Huening, Eleanor Murray, Delores Bailey, Kristen Hiemstra and Jonathan Howes. Read more about them: http://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=1825
Throughout the process, the Chapel Hill 2020 outreach team has been visiting with all segments of the community and bringing their ideas, comments, needs and inspirations back to the ongoing process. These community comments are continually folded into the process to create the plan. For example, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce recently held a series of meetings and focus groups, and the information gathered has been forwarded for consideration of inclusion into the draft plan.
The draft comprehensive plan will feature the initiatives, policies, regulations, partnerships and funding sources that move us toward achieving our aspirations. But it will also identify the gaps -- things needed but not currently in place, or opportunity to increase efficiency and creativity. The document will also inventory and organize the important new ideas about how to move the community in ways to achieve our vision and goals. It will also assemble appendices to catalog and save for future use the wealth of information that has been gathered.
For more information about Chapel Hill 2020, visit www.chapelhill2020.org or www.2020buzz.org or contact compplan@townofchapelhill.org
