Photo by Shawn Arrajj[/caption]
After nearly one year of drafting and planning, Jersey Village officials will give residents another chance to read and provide input on the new, soon-to-be-implemented comprehensive plan. A full draft of the plan with recommendations for council will be available for residents to explore at the public meeting, which is set for May 28.
The city’s comprehensive planning advisory committee—composed of 12 residents appointed by City Council—met with consulting firm Freese and Nichols April 23 to review the near-finished draft and make some final tweaks. The plan is broken up into nine chapters and provides 21 priority recommendations for City Council to consider. Freese and Nichols planner Shad Comeaux said the draft is 90 percent complete, with mainly minor formatting issues left to complete. Chapters include transportation, economic development, parks and land use. Suggestions offered by CPAC members revolved around making sure enough emphasis is put on key issues for City Council to act on, such as reducing flood risks, creating an identity for the city and reaching out to businesses to bring to the area. CPAC members agreed that adding an economic development coordinator to the city staff needs to be a priority. Other recommendations that have been determined over the course of the planning process include upgrading the Jersey Village Civic Center and other city facilities, increasing dedication to city beautification efforts and being more active in reaching out to businesses to relocate within city limits. Councilman Harry Beckwith III, who sat in on the meeting as council liaison, said the plan would be most useful to council if recommendations are clearly expressed, yet broad. “Let council know what it is you want to see, and how you want to city to evolve,” he said. “But I think keeping recommendations broad enough to give us room to work and revisit certain issues will work best.”
City Council and the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission are scheduled to review the plan June 25 with adoption potentially coming as early as the July 20 City Council meeting.
