Jersey Village seeks applicants for comprehensive plan committee

The City of Jersey Village is looking for active members in the community to participate on a Comprehensive Planning Advisory Committee as it moves forward through the process of drafting a new comprehensive plan.

Jersey Village City Council voted to hire Texas-based consulting firm Freese and Nichols to help guide and draft a new plan at its March 17 meeting. Shad Comeaux, a planner with Freese and Nichols, informed council that planning would involve meeting with city staff and holding public hearings to gather input, as well as meeting with the advisory committee. The CPAC will be composed of 12 people appointed by council. Ideally, it will be composed of a mix of residents and business owners.

Council determined that it would open the process up to the public, hoping to recruit active residents and business owners representing different parts of the city. Interested citizens can sign up by filling out the Application for City Boards, Commissions, and Committees available under the "City Secretary" page of the Jersey Village web site. Completed applications should be sent to the city secretary at city hall or e-mailed to [email protected] no later than 5 p.m., April 15.

Members of the planning committee will serve as ambassadors of the community, providing feedback throughout the process on what issues are important to consider moving forward, Comeaux said.

"The most successful plans are the ones where both city council members and active citizens are involved," City Manager Mike Castro said. "Making sure we get good members on this committee is the first and most important step we are going to take as a community to ensure we have a successful plan."

Several council members, including Harry Beckwith III, emphasized the importance of getting business owners involved on the CPAC.

"The economic development part of this is going to be significant, and these are the people who have an interest in that," Beckwith said. "They are helping fund the community through retail sales taxes and should have a say in how we grow."

The current Jersey Village Comprehensive Plan was drafted in 1989. The updated plan will be developed over the course of several stages and will tackle land use, transportation, economic development, community facilities, community character, parks and financial planning. Part of the update will also include updating water and wastewater rates based on population growth projections.

The CPAC will meet with Freese and Nichols planners several times throughout the 13-month process, which is expected to start in April. The first CPAC meeting would be sometime in May. Council plans to have the 12-member CPAC, along with three alternates, decided upon and approved at its next meeting April 21.