Richardson City Council and the Richardson City Plan Commission held a joint work session Oct. 21 to provide further feedback on the draft plan before future public hearings.
“This plan is still a work in progress,” City Manager Don Magner said. “Part of having all of your eyes on the plan is to help us as we refine the plan.”
What you need to know
Once adopted, the finalized version of the comprehensive plan is meant to assist city staff in several ways, said Mark Bowers, urban design and practice planning builder with consulting firm Kimley-Horn and Associates. These include:
- Providing general guidance on growth and development patterns in the city
- Placing other long-range planning efforts, such as the active transportation plan, within a single document
- Laying out a long-term vision, typically over 20 years, for the city
- Offering guidance for future land use cases as the market and city conditions change
The comprehensive plan is not a binding zoning document, Bowers added, which means development is not limited solely to the outlined future land use preferences.
The specifics
During the revision process, more than 7,300 engagements with the community occurred, according to a presentation. The plan also includes 60 guiding principles based on community feedback, which are meant to provide future guidance to city decision-makers.
Bowers said staff and consultants working on the project focused on identifying place types that correspond to future land use within the plan. Within outlined place types, there are appropriate primary uses, such as residential or commercial, and secondary types that could include missing middle housing options, including townhomes or duplexes.
“We heard a lot from the community that the community wanted to see a mix of uses and walkable areas,” Bowers said. “The devil’s going to be in the details as to how exactly you achieve that within some areas of the community, but this gives a lot more guidance about the appropriate primary and secondary uses.”
Going forward
The main areas of change that could result from the comprehensive planning efforts will likely occur in five identified reinvestment areas, Bowers said, because the city is mostly built out.
Individuals wanting to provide further feedback on the plan can utilize the online survey or sign up to speak at the city plan commission’s public hearing Oct. 29 or the final council public hearing Nov. 11. City staff and the consultant team working on updating the plan will continue to make minor tweaks, such as addressing typos, until the final version is adopted.
Bowers said the adoption of the plan is likely to take place in November or December this year.
