2008 Woodie Awards
Comprehensive Plan receives citizen input
Sarah Foster
Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Community
Members of the community met four times this week in public forums to have their say in the update of Oxford's Comprehensive Plan.
The Comprehensive Plan lays out the vision for future growth and development in the community and Oxford hired a consulting firm, ACP Consulting, to lead the city in updating the plan.
The four meetings this week were held Monday and Wednesday at the Knolls of Oxford, Oxford United Methodist Church and the Talawanda Middle School. These meetings marked the first round of public participation, according to Aaron Domini, ACP planner.
"The purpose of these meetings is to discuss where and how future growth and development should take place," Domini said, at the Monday evening meeting.
Although several individuals said the meeting was a success, Oxford City Planner Kathy Dale said that there was a low turnout for the two open forums Monday.
"The numbers were very low for Monday night," Dale said. "This community is very involved in planning and zoning so we were surprised to see a low turnout."
Dale said that there were about 15 at the morning meeting and 50 at the evening meeting Monday. She said she had hoped for at least 50 in the morning and 150 in the evening.
Monday's public forums were held at the Knolls of Oxford in the morning and Talawanda Middle School in the evening. The third and fourth public forums were held Wednesday afternoon and evening at the United Methodist Church and Talawanda Middle School, respectively.
Each meeting had two parts-an assembly to provide an overview of the update and small group work that had residents brainstorm ideas and participate in a mapping exercise.
Domini said that the process of updating the plan isn't something that happens overnight. The update is currently in its third stage, which consists of generating ideas from the public and developing goals and objectives for Oxford's future.
The first phase, started in July 2007, was the project setup, which introduced the plan's agenda to the steering committee in a kickoff meeting. The second stage-which began in August 2007-was the technical analysis, where ACP and the steering committee analyzed elements such as regional trends and demographics in Oxford.
The Comprehensive Plan lays out the vision for future growth and development in the community and Oxford hired a consulting firm, ACP Consulting, to lead the city in updating the plan.
The four meetings this week were held Monday and Wednesday at the Knolls of Oxford, Oxford United Methodist Church and the Talawanda Middle School. These meetings marked the first round of public participation, according to Aaron Domini, ACP planner.
"The purpose of these meetings is to discuss where and how future growth and development should take place," Domini said, at the Monday evening meeting.
Although several individuals said the meeting was a success, Oxford City Planner Kathy Dale said that there was a low turnout for the two open forums Monday.
"The numbers were very low for Monday night," Dale said. "This community is very involved in planning and zoning so we were surprised to see a low turnout."
Dale said that there were about 15 at the morning meeting and 50 at the evening meeting Monday. She said she had hoped for at least 50 in the morning and 150 in the evening.
Monday's public forums were held at the Knolls of Oxford in the morning and Talawanda Middle School in the evening. The third and fourth public forums were held Wednesday afternoon and evening at the United Methodist Church and Talawanda Middle School, respectively.
Each meeting had two parts-an assembly to provide an overview of the update and small group work that had residents brainstorm ideas and participate in a mapping exercise.
Domini said that the process of updating the plan isn't something that happens overnight. The update is currently in its third stage, which consists of generating ideas from the public and developing goals and objectives for Oxford's future.
The first phase, started in July 2007, was the project setup, which introduced the plan's agenda to the steering committee in a kickoff meeting. The second stage-which began in August 2007-was the technical analysis, where ACP and the steering committee analyzed elements such as regional trends and demographics in Oxford.
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