City staff, neighborhood representatives and residents all gathered in a Frisco Public Library event room Aug. 24 to discuss what principles should guide the city’s long-term plans.
The open house is one of the first steps needed before updating Frisco’s comprehensive plan, a 20-year, long-range planning document designed to guide Frisco City Council and their staff as they make citywide decisions.
“This will be the city's sixth comprehensive plan,” Development Services Director John Lettelleir said. “The first one was done back in 1982.”
The most recent comprehensive plan was updated in 2015 and includes the future land use plan, plans for downtown redevelopment, the parks master plan and more.
The framework
As part of the open house, residents were asked to add sticky notes with their thoughts and feedback to storyboards asking what they loved about the city, what they would change, what they would like to see and more.
Other boards asked residents what city services they would like addressed, what facilities were missing in Frisco or how they would change the city’s land usage.
A majority of the boards were covered in notes by the end of the event.
“We're really trying to look at, ‘Where do we envision ourselves as a city in the next 10 to 20 years?’” said Daniel Harrison, a project manager with the firm Freese and Nichols. “‘What do we want to look like?’”
Frisco is expected to continue growing and changing by 2040, with household income alone rising alongside its population since 2010.
“It's going to be a helpful guide, for not only the council and the [planning and zoning commission], but your city staff, citizens who are interested about what's going on in this part of town,” Harrison said. “What do we envision that this area is going to be in the next 10 to 20 years?”
Keep in mind
A comprehensive plan does not change zoning or set policy. Its main purpose is to serve as a tool elected officials can refer to when making long-term decisions, said Dan Sefko, a senior advisor with Freese and Nichols.
“What these guiding principles are, are really helping us to draw the lines on the field as far as, ‘What do we want to do moving forward?’” Harrison said. “This is going to help us know what is important to us as a community.”
Once completed, city officials will be able to use the plan the same way people use the picture on the back of a puzzle box, Sefko said.
“What we're trying to do is create a roadmap and a big picture to be able to follow and make sure all the pieces in Frisco go together in a proper manner,” he said.
Get involved
Residential feedback on each guiding principle will be accepted until the online survey closes Sept. 7.
“We're looking for adoption in October [or] November of next year,” Harrison said. “It's roughly an 18-month process.”
Here is a quick look at what comes before adoption (specific dates to be determined):
- Sept. 7, 2023: Online survey closes
- September-November 2023: Comprehensive Planning Advisory Committee compiles residential feedback from the open house and survey to create concept and goals drafts
- January-May 2024: CPAC draft reviews
- June 2024: CPAC and City Council approve more comprehensive plan open houses
- July-August 2024: Up to two open houses on the comprehensive plan draft
- August 2024: Final review and recommendation on the plan
- September 2024: CPAC and council host a workshop discussion
- October 2024: Frisco Planning and Zoning Commission hosts a public hearing on the comprehensive plan
- October-November 2024: Council hosts up to two public hearings on the plan
Residents can access the online survey here or reach out to city staff directly at [email protected] or 972-292-5361.
