City Council, Plan Commission Discuss Comprehensive Plan
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jennifer [email protected]
Warsaw City Council and Warsaw Plan Commission held a joint meeting Monday night during the kick-off for the plan.
The outcome of comprehensive planning is to develop a plan which dictates public policy in terms of transportation, utilities, land use, recreation and housing, according to Brad Johnson, president and principal planner for Ground Rules, a Zionsville comprehensive planning company.
“The community must have policies set for future land use, public thoroughfares and public facilities,” Johnson said. “Our hope is any average citizen can pick up the document and know where the city wants to be in 10 years.”
Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety previously approved a $50,750 contract with Ground Rules, which will work with the city to complete the comprehensive plan.
The consultant will prepare a community values and needs survey to utilize a public input process.
They also will prepare three drafts of the plan and a final adoption. The completion and adoption of the plan is a 10-month process and is scheduled for completion in March 2014.
The next step is for workshops to be scheduled and community-wide surveys to be prepared. Ground Rules officials will meet with interest groups such as Winona Lake, the county, and builders, realtors and bankers.
Public forums will follow and then a draft of the plan will be conducted.
Johnson met with city leaders during Monday night’s meeting to discuss their likes and dislikes of the existing comprehensive plan, and what they would like the updated plan to focus on.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said he felt the comprehensive plan in 1998 was readable and laid out well.
“It was an easy document to find what you needed, and my hope is that council members and plan commission members are presented with a good working document that lays out everyone’s wishes in an uncluttered fashion that is accessible and easy to read,” Thallemer said.
Tom Allen, plan commission president, said the economy and needs have changed since 1998 which the existing plan has not taken into account.
“The community is embracing different concepts than it did back then and with the bike trend we need to accommodate and have access for areas for that,” Allen said.
Jim Gast, plan commission president, said the weak point of the existing plan is planning for major arterials.
“Most of our fast-growing population centers are for shopping and financial activity that is in outlying areas of the county and we are unable to keep up with the growing traffic patterns that we need to get people freely in and out of our county,” Gast said.
Cindy Dobbins, councilwoman, said she would like to see a vision for aesthetics for buildings addressed in the plan.
Jeff Grose, city councilman and plan commission member, said the city has been blessed with economic and residential development and the plan should continue to support that.
Grose said it would be helpful to have a short- and long-term list of priorities for the plan as a guide.
“My fear is that there is not a blueprint for 2013 and 2014 and the current plan is outdated. I’m looking forward to this exercise giving us direction and helping us out like it did in 1998,” Grose said.
Diane Quance, city council president, said she would like to continue to update the comprehensive plan, and make sure the demographic the plan was originally based on is still statistically reliable.
She said she hopes the plan will look at Warsaw’s growing boundaries and clarify citizen’s values as well as addressing unoccupied businesses that are in the downtown.
Charlie Smith, councilman, said there has been a tremendous amount of urban growth that the city has not been able to keep up with. He said the plan should address annexation.
Thallemer agreed annexation should be addressed in the plan.
“From an annexation standpoint there has to be a growth strategy and we need to look at infrastructure we have and what areas we want to expand,” Thallemer said. “More importantly we need to have an annexation strategy in the comprehensive plan.”
Rick Keeven, commission member, said he would like the plan to support the orthopedic industry and the city’s aesthetics.
“I’d like to see a plan that maximizes two of those things so when someone from the east or west coast comes here to interview for a job they don’t have a problem moving here,” Keeven said.
Dobbins said the downtown is an asset that should be protected, and Quance said an asset is the diversity of shopping and health care services.
Dave Baumgartner, plan commission member, suggested the plan address and identify historical points of interest in the community.
City officials also identified areas important to updating the plan including: greenway and bike path implementation, maintaining neighborhoods, community aesthetics, housing to accommodate future growth, maintaining the airport, collaboration with local government agencies, and redevelopment of properties.
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Warsaw City Council and Warsaw Plan Commission held a joint meeting Monday night during the kick-off for the plan.
The outcome of comprehensive planning is to develop a plan which dictates public policy in terms of transportation, utilities, land use, recreation and housing, according to Brad Johnson, president and principal planner for Ground Rules, a Zionsville comprehensive planning company.
“The community must have policies set for future land use, public thoroughfares and public facilities,” Johnson said. “Our hope is any average citizen can pick up the document and know where the city wants to be in 10 years.”
Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety previously approved a $50,750 contract with Ground Rules, which will work with the city to complete the comprehensive plan.
The consultant will prepare a community values and needs survey to utilize a public input process.
They also will prepare three drafts of the plan and a final adoption. The completion and adoption of the plan is a 10-month process and is scheduled for completion in March 2014.
The next step is for workshops to be scheduled and community-wide surveys to be prepared. Ground Rules officials will meet with interest groups such as Winona Lake, the county, and builders, realtors and bankers.
Public forums will follow and then a draft of the plan will be conducted.
Johnson met with city leaders during Monday night’s meeting to discuss their likes and dislikes of the existing comprehensive plan, and what they would like the updated plan to focus on.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said he felt the comprehensive plan in 1998 was readable and laid out well.
“It was an easy document to find what you needed, and my hope is that council members and plan commission members are presented with a good working document that lays out everyone’s wishes in an uncluttered fashion that is accessible and easy to read,” Thallemer said.
Tom Allen, plan commission president, said the economy and needs have changed since 1998 which the existing plan has not taken into account.
“The community is embracing different concepts than it did back then and with the bike trend we need to accommodate and have access for areas for that,” Allen said.
Jim Gast, plan commission president, said the weak point of the existing plan is planning for major arterials.
“Most of our fast-growing population centers are for shopping and financial activity that is in outlying areas of the county and we are unable to keep up with the growing traffic patterns that we need to get people freely in and out of our county,” Gast said.
Cindy Dobbins, councilwoman, said she would like to see a vision for aesthetics for buildings addressed in the plan.
Jeff Grose, city councilman and plan commission member, said the city has been blessed with economic and residential development and the plan should continue to support that.
Grose said it would be helpful to have a short- and long-term list of priorities for the plan as a guide.
“My fear is that there is not a blueprint for 2013 and 2014 and the current plan is outdated. I’m looking forward to this exercise giving us direction and helping us out like it did in 1998,” Grose said.
Diane Quance, city council president, said she would like to continue to update the comprehensive plan, and make sure the demographic the plan was originally based on is still statistically reliable.
She said she hopes the plan will look at Warsaw’s growing boundaries and clarify citizen’s values as well as addressing unoccupied businesses that are in the downtown.
Charlie Smith, councilman, said there has been a tremendous amount of urban growth that the city has not been able to keep up with. He said the plan should address annexation.
Thallemer agreed annexation should be addressed in the plan.
“From an annexation standpoint there has to be a growth strategy and we need to look at infrastructure we have and what areas we want to expand,” Thallemer said. “More importantly we need to have an annexation strategy in the comprehensive plan.”
Rick Keeven, commission member, said he would like the plan to support the orthopedic industry and the city’s aesthetics.
“I’d like to see a plan that maximizes two of those things so when someone from the east or west coast comes here to interview for a job they don’t have a problem moving here,” Keeven said.
Dobbins said the downtown is an asset that should be protected, and Quance said an asset is the diversity of shopping and health care services.
Dave Baumgartner, plan commission member, suggested the plan address and identify historical points of interest in the community.
City officials also identified areas important to updating the plan including: greenway and bike path implementation, maintaining neighborhoods, community aesthetics, housing to accommodate future growth, maintaining the airport, collaboration with local government agencies, and redevelopment of properties.
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