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Saratoga Associates is Selected to Update the City’s Comprehensive Plan
Review Existing and Implemented Plans, Projects and Studies:
The first step to updating the Comprehensive Plan will be a review of events that have taken place through the 1990’s and into the 2000’s, thereby understanding the current needs and opportunities. The most efficient way to accomplish this is to build upon information that is already available. Saratoga Associates will consolidate this information into the Inventory section of the Comprehensive Plan and then will perform an analysis to determine what information is missing to help better understand the needs and opportunities in the City. The Team will then systematically work to gather the remaining information required to complete a comprehensive understanding of the current state of the City.
Final Inventory and Mapping:
During this task, Saratoga Associates will examine trends – past, present, and future. We will collect and analyze the following information:
- Existing land use
- Current growth trends and patterns
- Suitability of existing land use, zoning and subdivision regulations
- Infrastructure capabilities
- Transportation network
- Natural environment
- Demographic overview
- School systems
- Economic development opportunities
- Fiscal conditions
- Residential growth
- Recreational needs
Deliverable: Inventory Report and Maps (Base map, Existing Land Use Map, Existing Zoning
Map, and Natural Resource & Environmental Features Map).
The Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee must describe a vision for the City’s future. This vision will be based on the values enumerated by the public through venues outlined below in the Public Participation Strategy. Among the items to consider when crafting a vision statement are physical, economic, environmental, and quality of life aspects of future city life and business. From this vision, as well as from community inventory data and public input, the goals and policies that will make up the most important pieces of the Plan Recommendations will evolve.
The vision will also be the standard against which all goals, policies, rules, and proposals must be tested. All recommendations described in the Plan Recommendations and all action items set out in the Implementation Plan must move the community closer to realizing its vision.
Deliverable: Vision, Goals and Priorities Statement
Public involvement is crucial to the long-term success of a Comprehensive Plan. As described below, Saratoga Associates will work with the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee to create numerous opportunities to maximize public input.
The following techniques will be used by Saratoga Associates to engage the public, get at their concerns and help them verbalize their issues and dreams. We have also proposed a list of “Additional Opportunities” for additional outreach, if necessary.
Citywide kick-off meeting
One important aspect of understanding a community is not necessarily measurable by numbers such as population. During a citywide meeting Saratoga Associates will introduce the planning process to the public and gather feedback on current issues and concerns about the future.
Using flipcharts and maps, small group facilitators will learn from residents about the special places that need protection and problem areas that need attention. This meeting will take place in the second month of the process.
Visioning Meeting
Saratoga Associates will conduct a citywide visioning meeting. We will employ techniques to translate people’s general vision for their community into design and planning terms that will become part of the Comprehensive Plan. Where deemed appropriate, we might also use computer imaging to help neighborhoods understand and express opinions on particular issues facing them.
Focus Groups on Specific Topics
Focus groups are a powerful means to unpack the details behind certain kinds of issues or to test new ideas. Essentially, Saratoga Associates “interviews” six to ten representatives whose input and spontaneous reactions on a particular topic will help to shape the project. We will work with the Steering Committee to determine the topic of each focus group session. The City will be responsible for meeting invitations and coordination of meeting locations.
Community Update and Feedback Meetings
Keeping the public informed is an important part of maintaining the community’s interest and builds their confidence in the process. In addition to the kick-off and visioning meetings, we will conduct a citywide opening impressions meeting in which we present a preliminary draft of the Comprehensive Plan.
We will engage the public to hear comments and garner meaningful feedback on the various parts of the emerging Comprehensive Plan. These comments will then be evaluated and incorporated into a draft Comprehensive Plan and presented to the public for final comment and feedback.
Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee Meetings
These will be working meetings during which planning issues are discussed and strategies developed. The public will be encouraged to attend to understand the process and witness how their input is being shaped into a Comprehensive Plan. Time could also be provided at every meeting for public comment either on specific issues addressed during the working meeting or on the plan in general.
Website Material
Saratoga Associates would provide all material to the City in a format to make it easily accessible by the public on the City’s website.
Optional Public Participation Opportunities
In addition to the program listed above, the following opportunities to engage the public may be added, as community needs and available resources are determined. These can be written into the original contract or added, as additional services, as needed.
Community Opinion Survey
Saratoga Associates has been highly successful using mail surveys to gauge attitudes about community issues and potential resolutions. We would work with the committee to define an appropriate universe to sample (e.g. residents), compile an appropriately sized sample to survey, create a concise survey instrument, and analyze the results. This can be one of the most powerful tools in helping public officials understand what their citizens want of them.
Conflict Resolution
As the committee identifies specific issues that require more attention, Saratoga Associates could bring in a trained mediator. The mediator uses a Steering Committee Strategy in which representatives of “different sides” are brought together. The mediator works with them to get past presumed unmovable positions to gain an understanding of true interests. Once that dialog begins, a plan for resolving the dispute can be drafted by this “advisory committee” and presented to the large community as a mutually beneficial solution.
Community Display
The goal of this strategy is to keep the planning process in front of people and on their minds. The City would secure space for a display in a very public location (e.g. empty storefront, town hall, library, or community center). Saratoga Associates would provide material describing the Comprehensive Planning underway in Auburn. The visually engaging display would help citizens understand the challenges and opportunities facing Auburn and how each citizen can have their voices heard at various stages in the process.
Open House
After the draft plan is completed, a series of posters, other boards, and presentation materials could be created for each element. The public would be invited to comment, over the course of several days, via journal books placed at each station. This would provide the public, especially those who could not make the meeting, another opportunity to contemplate the plan and comment on it. A community room in the library or town hall would be ideal for this public participation opportunity.
Speaker Preparation
One of the most effective ways to reach out to people is to have citizen’s talk to citizens. Saratoga Associates could work with Steering Committee members or other appropriate individuals on short, lively and informative presentations that can be given at meetings of local civic groups such as Lions Clubs, Elks, Kiwanis, Chamber of Commerce, etc. We can create a simple and effective way to record feedback from these gatherings and include it in the Comprehensive Planning process.
Neighborhood Walkability Survey
Another way to gather important information and get citizens involved is to have them conduct walkability surveys. The primary purpose of this exercise seems to be correcting physical infrastructure, but it also helps residents think about the physical, commercial, cultural and personal connections within their communities. It also provides planners and Steering Committee members with a better sense of the issues and operations at the neighborhood point.
Newspaper / Television / Radio Coverage
Saratoga Associates can draft material, such as press releases and op-ed pieces that can facilitate coverage and an understanding of the planning process. We can also help prepare people for media interviews, often an important avenue for updating the community on progress and urging them to provide their opinions.
Community Visualization
In addition to GIS and other computer-based visualization tools, our office has a number of talented architects who can illustrate the “look and feel” of certain rules or policies. This component of the Comprehensive Plan will present in a clear, concise, and graphically appropriate manner an understanding of the current situation and a specific program that will move Auburn toward realization of its vision and goals.
An opening impressions plan will first be developed that will identify preliminary opportunities and recommendations for the various plan elements. Then a Draft Plan, in narrative and graphic form, will be prepared with a focus of identifying actions, programs and projects required to establish a course of action. The Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee will review the document before it is presented for public review and comment.
The plan elements will include:
- Economic development
- Open space and recreation
- Land use and development patterns
- Housing (quality, affordability, neighborhood development)
- Natural resources
- Public facilities and services
- Transportation and circulation
- Sustainable Planning and Design
Visualization of Potential Opportunity Areas
“A picture is worth a thousand words.” We will work with the Steering Committee to develop concept plans and architectural renderings for the areas in the City that hold the greatest potential for development. These graphics then become an important part of reaching out to the private sector to generate investment opportunities. We will work with the City to determine the number of areas for evaluation.
Incorporation of Sustainable Planning and Design Element
Saratoga Associates recognizes that significant economic, social and environmental benefits will accrue to communities that successfully integrate sustainability as an operational objective. We will work with the City and Steering to fashion a set of governmental policies, goals and benchmarks that will assure that the city, it businesses and its residents are able to take proactive steps to meet ongoing environmental challenges as well as capitalize on new, emerging opportunities. The Sustainable Planning and Design Element will set forth a series of guiding principles for effective and sustainable decision-making and identify a number of objectives that decisively move the Auburn city government toward sustainability.
Deliverable: Comprehensive Plan
The Implementation Plan will be a straightforward plan to move the Auburn community towards realizing its vision. It will be a step-by-step guide to implementing the Comprehensive Plan through specific policies and action items. The Implementation Plan in particular must be clear, concise, and easily accessible to all city officials, boards, agencies and citizens. It should paint a picture of community desires for people wanting to invest here and provide a measuring stick against which residents and business owners can test actions.
Supporting and shaping growth will be a key feature of the Comprehensive Plan. Therefore, we will work with the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee to develop a specific set of regulatory and non-regulatory tools to help the city achieve its objectives.
Saratoga Associates will prepare an Implementation Plan that includes prioritized action items, assigns responsibilities, projects funding needs (and potential opportunities) and provides a timeframe for carrying out each. For the highest priority strategies, the action plan will be very specific. It will provide details about required activities; plan proposals and the implementation tools needed for successful implementation.
Deliverable: Implementation plan and matrix
Saratoga Associates will provide the necessary materials and products for all Committee meetings, including draft materials of the inventory, vision and goals, plan elements and implementation. Saratoga Associates will make ten (10) hard copies and ten (10) PDF copies on CD of both the Draft and Final Comprehensive Plan. Additional copies can be provided as an additional service.
Deliverable: Ten (10) full color, hard copy draft and final reports
Ten (10) PDF copies on CD (draft and final reports)
One full color, loose-leaf report (draft and final reports)
Digital copies of all presentation material including displays, slides and PowerPoint presentations.
Optional Report Format
Comprehensive Plan Poster
Translating the vision, plan elements and implementation plan into a graphically-oriented format that is easily interpreted is a valuable product to serve as a reference guide for local elected officials and board members, build support and keeping the momentum of the plan moving. Saratoga Associates has graphics designers on staff that can develop a poster that provides an overview of the Comprehensive Plan, land use recommendations map, goals and objectives, and priority action recommendations. The specifications of the poster can be discussed with the City if this option is selected.
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