Minutes 08/13/1979 - Laserfiche WebLink

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2'69 August 13, 1979 79-289 - Presentation by the Planning Commission on the Comprehensive Plan Status Report: R. Laurence Howes, Chairman, Planning Commission, made the following opening statement: "We express our appreciation the opportunity to share with you the current status of the Compr'ehensive Plan as being developed. The most important taA~ facing us this year is the development of the Comprehensive Plan. · I was always aware that Portsmouth was a city composed of identified neighborhoods, but since becoming on the Planning Commission, and since becoming as Chairman, I have become more aware of the unique characteristics of our neighborhoods, and also the distinct difference that exist between many of these neighborhoods. Our citizens identify with these neighborhoods and want to maintain their unique~characteristics, and at the same time, want to see their living environment improved. I have also been impressed since being onRe Commission, that much progress has been made in recent years and I think this Council and City Administration de- serves credit. Of course, there is much yet to be done. As we set here today, we find ourselves facing new forces that affect our living habits and standards. I think it is particularly important that we go about this Comprehensive Plan process, that we give ~houghtful consideration about the new forces'that will be affecting us today. The Commission is dedicated to develo.ping a meaningful Comprehensive Plan. We are convinced that this requires the involvement, ~he participation, the City Department Heads and their key people who will be app'ly'ing the Plan, and also the involvement and participation of citizens who will be affected, by the Plan. We have one matter of con:ern that is Portsmouth's declining population. Rec. en~ly, we asked our Planning Staff to make an estimate, based on thbir data on housing starts, and they came back with a projection for 1980, population 101,000 to 103,000. Our concern is based on the assumption, that it is extremely important for Portsmouth to maintain a population ahoy the 100 thousand figure. The major share of our work by Mrs. Rivin and I will ask her are headed." this far has gone to the Police Task Force, which is chaired if she will give you indications where we are and where we Mrs. Zelma Rivin, Chairperson of the Policy Task Force and Member of the Planning Commis- sion made the f~llowing presentation: "I ~uld like to tell you the reasons why we asked to report tell you where ~e are at the present time; we want to give you a and we want to outline the steps that remain to be taken. to you tonight. We want tentative completion date; to What is a Comprehensive Plan? A ~omprehensive Plan may possibly be defined by telling you what it is not. It is not a set of tablets carved in stone. It is not a rigid document that will spell out and simp-~fy decision making. ~t is not a set of rul-~ to be followed religiously. It will not create a land use plan that is inviolate*. *It will not save the Planning Commission or ~-~e City Council fro~ special interest pressures. It is a working plan and a plan for working. It describes a process. It is a design for planning and changing on an annual basis, on a 5-year basis, and on a long term basis. We are instituting a process for planning, not a fait accompli. It is an ongoing process tied to capital budget programming. It establishes the ground rules for planning. It relates plannin~ for the city to goals. Goals that have been agreed upon bylthe citizens. Goals that describe the city we want their children and grandchildren to inherit. These goals are to be by a Policy Task Force, by by you, the City Council. based on empirical data that have been assembled and then reviewed the citizens of Portsmouth, by the Planning Commission and finally A Comprehensive reason alone, it is a wise modua operandi for the city of Portsmouth. Planning process is a rational and logical method of procedure. For that A more importan~ and a more urgent reason for the development of a comprehensive plan is that it is mandatedbylaw for every city and county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Article 4 Section 15.1 446 thru 15.1:556 specifies what a Comprehensive Plan shall address and what investigations are to be made in the preparation of the plan. It also speci- fies how the plan shall be implemented. Furthermore, the Code sets. a date requirement for the completion of comprehensive plans in every jurisdiction. That date is-~y 1980, and the Planning Commission is the agency mandated to create the plan. The Planning Commission and the Planning Department have, to my knowledge, for at least the last S years, stressed the urgent need for the development of a Comprehensive Plan. Last fall, when the City Council provided an additional Planner for the department, we were able to proceed. The crit$~al issue then bename TIMING. The exceptional effort made since then by city staff and ~olunteer citizens has enabled us to arrive at this stage. We of the city of Portsmouth are indebted to staff and citigens for hundreds of hours of homework, of study, of review, and of debate. Here is how ~e have proceeded since last October: We have devised and approved a study design to develop goals for the next 25 years. These goals to be reached through S successive 5 year capital budgets which are to be implemented on an annual basis. The design created three (3) T~k Forces: The Policy Task Force to develop the goals.