AGENDA #3a(1)
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Review of Status of Comprehensive Plan Implementation
DATE: January 12, 2006
The attached materials provide the Council with information to assist in its review of the status of implementing actions listed in the Town’s 2000 Comprehensive Plan:
· Attachment 1: Quarterly Update of Council Goals, through November 21, 2005
· Attachment 2: Memorandum concerning Planning Department Workload, (October 12, 2005)
· Attachment 3: Comprehensive Plan Implementation Summary and Worksheet
· Attachment 4: Action Plan from the 2000 Comprehensive Plan (as revised by the Council on May 12, 2003)
BACKGROUND
The Town Council adopted a new Comprehensive Plan on May 8, 2000. A key emphasis of that plan was the desire of the community to improve implementation of the Plan after adoption. In a departure from previous Comprehensive Plans for Chapel Hill, each section outlined a set of specific actions to be taken along with a timeline for accomplishing priority tasks. An implementation chapter summarized what needed to be done and laid out a timeline for action.
The implementation program acknowledged the Town lacks the resources to implement all of the strategies simultaneously. Therefore, the Plan described an Action Plan that identified short-term (0-2 years), mid-term (2-5 years), and long-term (5-10 years) priorities for implementation. The Action Plan is a guide to decision-making that sets priorities and identifies the general phasing of the Comprehensive Plan recommendations.
In the last three annual planning sessions, the Council has used a review of the implementation measures in the Town’s Comprehensive Plan “Action Plan” as a basis for establishing Council goals for the year. We recommend use of this process again for 2006. Of course we will be pleased to assist the Council in using whatever process the Council finds most effective for setting goals.
DISCUSSION
To assist in your discussion of Council goals, we have prepared the following materials:
Attachment 1 contains the most recent Quarterly Update of Council Goals, current through November 21, 2005.
Attachment 2 provides a workload and staffing update for the Planning Department as of October 12, 2005 and recommends work priorities given the workload and staffing.
Attachment 3 Implementation Summary and Worksheet, lists each 2005 Council Goal.
The time periods are defined as:
· Short-Term (0-2 years): 2003 and 2004
· Mid-Term (2-5 years): 2005, 2006, and 2007
· Long-Term (5-10 years): 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
We also provide our summary assessment of the progress on each Goal using the following categories:
· Deferred
· Progress
· Substantially Complete
· Complete, or In Regular Operation
This Attachment also provides a worksheet column on the right side of the page to assist the Council in making an assessment of how the Council Goals might be changed to reflect past progress and the Council’s present priorities. Space is also provided after each section of the worksheet for Council members to make notes.
This summary and worksheet will also be posted in the meeting room in a large-scale format.
Attachment 4 contains the 2000 Comprehensive Plan Action Plan, as revised by the Council on May 12, 2003.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The Comprehensive Plan calls for a monitoring program to track progress made in implementing the Action Plan and to provide a mechanism to make needed “mid-course” adjustments. To date, the Council has:
· received annual reviews of progress in October 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 on the Action Plan;
· published the Data Book annually, with a section analyzing the indicators of the Comprehensive Plan;
· published a Growth Management report in June 2002; and
· evaluated the Action Plan and made revisions in January-May 2003.
The Comprehensive Plan also calls for periodic plan evaluation, through the Growth Management Report, and periodic adjustments to the Action Plan. Since the 2003 retreat, the Council used a process of setting Council goals using the Action Plan. Action Plan components are also considered in the Town budget, Capital Improvements Program, and the work plans of affected departments.
In addition to evaluations, the Plan calls for the Council to undertake a major revision of the Comprehensive Plan five years following Plan adoption. We recommend that the Council consider setting a goal of the initiating revision of the Comprehensive Plan in 2006.
NEXT STEPS
Following discussion by the Council, adjustments to the Council’s goals will be put in resolution form and presented at a regular meeting for the Council’s consideration.
ATTACHMENTS