Input on the Next Comprehensive Plan
Louisville is in the midst of developing a new Comprehensive Plan. I would like your input on certain aspects of this process.
City Council most recently considered work towards our new Comprehensive Plan at its meeting on 21 January. At this meeting we focused on the new Plan’s future land-use framework. As I wrote shortly before that meeting, the Comprehensive Plan is the principle document guiding the City’s development over the next decade. Here the word ‘development’ should be interpreted in its broadest sense, encompassing changes of all sorts, not merely changes of the built environment. The Comprehensive Plan’s land-use framework is arguably its most foundational element: by setting the City’s policies regarding future land-use, this framework will significantly shape the City’s development.
At the end of City Council’s discussion, I raised some questions concerning the process of developing our new Comprehensive Plan.
Has the City adequately reflected upon its outgoing Comprehensive Plan? As preparation for developing a new Comprehensive Plan, we should thoroughly assess the current Comprehensive Plan. For instance, how has it served to guide the City’s development, how has the City progressed on its implementation, and what have been its successes and failures?
Has the City and its consultants followed best practices for development of a new Comprehensive Plan such as those recommended in the American Planning Association’s report Sustaining Places? While we have certainly implemented some of the principles, processes, and attributes proscribed therein, I am uncertain that we have—or will—implement all of these recommendations.
How will the City and its consultants integrate all of the City’s existing plans and goals into the new Comprehensive Plan? The City has engaged in extensive planning, ranging from transportation to housing to arts. We should thoroughly embed these efforts and their outcomes in a new Comprehensive Plan.
What form should the land-use framework assume? A zoning-based land-use framework—in which parcels are labeled by their zoning designations—is conventional, but other forms exist. For instance, a form-based land-use framework sets forth the desired characteristics of a city’s existing and future neighborhoods. When should the City determine this form during the process of developing our new Comprehensive Plan?
Has the City adequately studied the effects—negative, neutral, or positive—of the land-use framework proposed by the City and its consultants? For the City, City Council, residents, businesses, and visitors to realistically assess this framework, all of these stakeholders must possess some understanding of the effects likely to result from implementation of this framework.
I am interested in your thoughts on these questions. Please provide input, and please raise other thoughts, questions, and concerns.
