City’s small area plans revealed

Local residents got an in-depth look at the city’s Small Area Plan Program at an open house held Wednesday night at the Price Center. 

“It is a program that has come out of the adoption of our new land development code,” planning chief Shannon Mattingly said. The program is meant to give residents input in how their neighborhoods will be shaped in the future.

Planner Andrea Villalobos gave a brief presentation on the program, noting that it emerged from the city’s comprehensive plan, which she called “very neighborhood driven.” That plan has several goals, including making sure that existing neighborhoods retain their character. 

The new development code, Code SMTX, gave the city the tools needed to achieve the comprehensive plan’s goals, Villalobos said.

“Now we’re really going into neighborhoods and helping them plan for growth,” with the Small Area Plan Program, she said.

Small area plans are meant to ensure that “residents have a proactive role in envisioning the future of their neighborhoods,” the city explained in a statement. “Examples of projects, programs and policies found in a Small Area Plan include enhanced pedestrian and bicycle facilities, improvements to public space, public art opportunities, neighborhood monitoring and enforcement, etc.”

These plans differ from neighborhood character studies, a long-discussed process the city began but has not completed. The studies include “mainly character things,” the city said, such as setbacks, structure heights and other characteristics that could be covered if residents want.

The Small Area Plan Program includes a survey, which is available online now for residents to take, about what they believe small area plan goals should be, what they would like to see in terms of outcomes and where they believe neighborhoods are most likely to be affected by growth and where people are living without basic amenities. So far, Villalobos said, survey respondents seem most interested in being able to shape development.

“They want to really have some say in what’s happening in their neighborhoods,” she said. 

Once the program kicks off, residents and community groups will be able to apply for small area plans from the city. Because the city wants to make sure there is sufficient support for a plan, Villalobos said a neighborhood will have to have 20 percent of residents and a variety of stakeholders support the application. Though small area plans will be tailored to individual neighborhoods, they must consider citywide goals. 

The city will continue taking survey responses from residents until Oct. 31 at the city's website. The next phase in implementing theprogram will come in November, Villalobos said, when staff takes it to city council for policy review. Applications should be available in December, and in January the city will select its first planning areas.