As the City of Asheville continues work on its Comprehensive Plan update, staff members are making a concerted effort to fold neighborhood needs into the overall picture.
One of the ways to integrate neighborhoods into the Comprehensive Plan is through Plan on a Page. So far, 30 Asheville neighborhoods have registered with the City through its Plan on a Page initiative. By submitting your neighborhood, groups help contribute vision and insights into what the future of our city of neighborhoods can be.
To share information about the benefits of participating in Plan on a Page, the Comprehensive Plan update leadership will hold a community meeting from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Feb. 23 at the U.S. Cellular Center banquet hall, 87 Haywood St.
Todd Okolichany, Department of Planning & Urban Design, will team up with Director of Historic Resources Stacy Merten to give an overview presentation of the Comprehensive Planning Process including an update on Living Asheville: A Comprehensive Plan for Our Future, present a Plan on a Page analysis and discuss how these neighborhood plans will be folded into the comprehensive planning process. This will be followed by a panel discussion with neighborhood representatives and a Q&A session with staff and the panel.
The meeting will be divided into three parts.
- Overview presentation
- What is a Comp Plan?
- Comp Plan goals and project schedule
- Plan on a Page purpose/goals
- Help to inform Comp Plan strategies
- Empower neighbors to identify issues and establish a community vision
- Start a conversation as to how neighborhoods should be involved in the planning process
- Plan on a Page process
- Discuss how the Plan on Page documents will be used to help inform strategies in the Comp Plan and possibly as the framework for more extensive neighborhood planning
- Neighborhood panel: With the help of Elaine Poovey, Chair of the Neighborhood Advisory Council, the presentation will be followed by a five member neighborhood panel with folks drawn from the five regional areas of Asheville who will reflect on the Plan on a Page process and discuss the following items.
- What was it like to work on the Plan on a Page?
- What can the City do for neighborhoods? What role should the City play?
- What is the role of neighborhoods in planning?
- Open discussion: Staff will pass around a microphone for a general Q&A session with staff and the panel.
Please join City staff for this informative discussion and learn how to get your neighborhood involved with Living Asheville: A Comprehensive Plan for Our Future and Plan on a Page.
For more information, contact Neighborhood Services Coordinator Marsha Stickford at mstickford@ashevillenc.gov or 828-259-5506.