In response to the Neighborhood Advisory Council’s desire to increase planning opportunities for registered neighborhood organizations in the city and the need to update four existing neighborhood plans, the City’s Planning and Development department has developed a new neighborhood planning program.
The Blueprint for Neighborhood Betterment (BNB) program is a structured planning process intended to facilitate updates to several neighborhood plans and develop new plans for those neighborhoods that are without plans. The program will also serve to facilitate input for the Land Use Plan and Capital Improvement Program.
The BNB Program was created to be an efficient and streamlined neighborhood planning process to focus on Land Use Planning with a format and structure intended to collect input on the built environment. The objective is to gain information that is connected directly to quality of life and improvement of the physical environment of each neighborhood.
The process aims to identify points of stress and friction for neighborhoods and residents on the fringe. The process should also help to identify opportunities for new development (what types and where), identify qualities residents celebrate about their neighborhood and things they might like to do differently.
The BNB and any other neighborhood plan is an extension of the City’s Comprehensive Plan. Plans are not a regulatory, binding document. The Comprehensive Plan and these neighborhood plans are intended to provide guidance and support for policy decisions and future land use development. The plans are intended to track common themes where demographic data and resident input intersect and recommend new strategies for solutions and opportunities to improve the physical development of the neighborhood.
The expedited, interactive, efficient and focused process is expected to take place over the course of two meetings in three months and is designed to be easily replicated from neighborhood to neighborhood. The proposed process provides three options for participation by residents – an online option where residents can respond to all questions and study the maps of their neighborhood, a paper copy option of all the meeting materials and the attendance at the meetings.
At the first meeting, attendees will be broken down into “table teams” for small group discussion. Each group will be encouraged to draw on a provided map, record their thoughts and discuss the pre-determined topics with the help of a trained facilitator. At the second meeting, City staff will report back with the results as well as share a demographic analysis, trends in community input and vision with the participants.
The goal at the end of the process is to have a plan for the neighborhood that is a resident inspired, living document reflective of the neighborhood’s vision for improvement.