#1 2011-12-14 13:37:10

damicoaustin
Member
From: Austin, TX
Registered: 2008-05-27
Posts: 143
Website

Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan Draft Review ... Important Deadline

Just a note that public comment on the draft comprehensive plan (Imagine Austin) ends tomorrow, at least for the prioritization survey. There will still be chances for comment in many future stages before plan adoption (e.g. boards and commissions, council, etc.), but tomorrow's deadline is important for getting in any changes, additions, etc. to be reviewed by staff, the citizens task force and the Planning Commission.

You can weigh in on the Priority Tool at http://www.imagineaustin.net/lpriority

Or you can visit here for commenting: http://imagineaustin.icanmakeitbetter.com/

Or you can post here on the forum if you want to discuss the item

Or you can contact city staff or members of the citizen's task force (including me) here: http://www.imagineaustin.net/taskforce

Remember that this is a much more general planning effort, so it's not going to include the kind of detail needed specifically for bicycle planning...like the Bicycle Master Plan does. Nevertheless, you can download the entire plan here http://www.imagineaustin.net/intro and search the document to see if you think something is missing or inadequate, etc.

For instance, just last night I noted that there's nothing that includes "bicycle parking," while one of the action items (CFS Action-25) notes parking for electric vehicles. Is bicycle parking something too specific, or should it be noted? The citizens task force, COA staff and the Planning Commission are all working on the draft and reviewing comments to rank them for inclusion, further study and discussion, exclusion, or just noting that they are general comments. So now is the time to weigh in if you haven't yet.

Rob D'Amico
Imagine Austin Citizens Advisory Task Force

Offline

#2 2012-02-24 10:44:51

damicoaustin
Member
From: Austin, TX
Registered: 2008-05-27
Posts: 143
Website

Re: Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan Draft Review ... Important Deadline

Just a note that the Imagine Austin Citizens Task Force has finalized its formal work on the city's "30-year" comprehensive plan, which now goes forward to the Planning Commission for action, before heading to the City Council for final approval.

There will be:  Planning Commission Briefing
Tuesday, February 28 at 6:00pm
City Hall, Council Chambers

In addition, the Planning Commission will hold two public hearings on March 13 and 27 (also at 6:00pm in Council Chambers) to discuss the draft plan.

Bicycling is integrated through much of the document. And in the final stages there were some improvements for bicycling. For instance, there was a specific reference added for bicycle parking instead of just amenities. A priority action of adopting a more comprehensive complete streets policy is bolstered by a flushed out example of what that policy might include. And the first action on the Land Use Transportation table (LUT Action-1) notes: "Give priority to City of Austin investments to support mixed use, transit, and the creation of compact. walkable, and bikeable places."

There was considerable discussion about the plan not going far enough in influencing a compact city, along with concerns about how to handle four "neighborhood centers" in the recharge zone on the growth concept map (e.g. whether designating something on a map endorses new development, or simply tries to repurpose development that's already there). And while the plan addresses affordability extensively, I personally think it doesn't go for enough in actions to address it. But in all, I think it's a good plan.

You can view the draft here (it's still rough from all the changes, so there will be a lot of grammatical errors)
http://www.imagineaustin.net/chapters

And if you have any input, you can send it directly to the Planning Commission and/or myself, and I will be sure to relay it.

Rob D'Amico
Imagine Austin Citizens Advisory Task Force

Offline

Registered users online in this topic: 0, guests: 1
[Bot] claudebot

Board footer

[ Generated in 0.020 seconds, 10 queries executed - Memory usage: 533.64 KiB (Peak: 992.11 KiB) ]