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Opinion: Review of Feb. 23 Planning Commission meeting

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By Elizabeth Jordan

Thursday, March 04, 2010

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There was a correction of the Feb. 23 Flint Planning Commission agenda. The item under Master Planning Initiative was renamed "Discussion items presented and reviewed by the Planning Commission" to reflect that those items were the product of group discussion and not a single person.

During the public forum one person spoke about some remarks heard at a neighborhood meeting in the Central Park area. He was concerned that the remarks could have been construed to mean that the neighborhood action sessions (the series of 27 meetings being held across the city, organized by the mayor's office and several community partners) were part of a master planning initiative.

The speaker suggested that the neighborhood action sessions be deliberately framed so as not to lead to any misunderstandings.

(For the record, the neighborhood action sessions are not part of master planning.)

The next item of business was a presentation from Wade Trim about a project they are doing for the city. They are examining previous plans put together for Hamilton Dam through Chevy in the Hole in order to weave together a single plan for the river in that section.

The intention is to have a single document that could be used to seek funding from the Army Corps of Engineers, federal stimulus or other sources.

Hamilton Dam is rated as a highly hazardous dam. According to the presentation, the trend with dams in many places nationally is to replace them with a series of rapids rather than a traditional dam, which allows for easier fish passage and recreational use of the river. The concepts Wade Trim is working from include some naturalization of the riverbank in the areas that are channelized.

Initially, I wanted to be sure that the work Wade Trim was doing was building from the previous plans that had been done rather than re-designing from scratch. I was assured that they were indeed building on past efforts.

(As I disclosed in the meeting, as the program officer for a grant from Ruth Mott to do a participatory planning process around Riverbank Park, I was familiar with the level of community work that went into the resulting design, and did not want that vision to be lost.)

I went to a public open house later that week where the work of Wade Trim was on display, and it did seem that the concepts from other plans were carried forward.

Other commissioners asked questions about ensuring that flooding would not occur if Hamilton Dam were replaced in the envisioned manner, or if some of the concrete channel were naturalized.

Wade Trim responded that the designs will be subject to hydrological testing before plans are finalized to ensure flooding will not be an issue.

Following that presentation, we heard from representatives of the Metawanenee Hills neighborhood and the American Institute of Architects, which assisted with that neighborhood's plan. While the presentation was quite in-depth, it focused on four primary assets — homestead stability, interesting architecture, Ramona Park and commercial areas.

Commissioner Robert Jewell gave an update on the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). The public comment period elapsed on the day of the planning commission meeting. The final draft will be given to the Flint City Council March 8 and Genesee County Commission March 9.

Under the master planning initiative, Chairperson Robert Wesley said he had a meeting scheduled for the following day with City Administrator Gregory Eason. There was some conversation about how to frame the items on which the commission was interested in getting clarification, and I suggested that the situation described by the person in the public forum be added to the list of things previously generated.

At the close of the meeting, Commissioner Patrick Ryals brought attention to his seasonal employment with the city as a crossing guard in light of a section in state law on planning commissions that says a city employee shouldn't be on the planning commission.

My sense is that the law was probably intended to prevent any undue influence of a department within the city government from swaying the commission, and do not view his employment as a problem. Nonetheless, the matter was referred to the legal department for guidance.

The next planning commission meeting will be at 6 p.m. March 9. It will still be in City Hall, but in the McKenzie Room on the second floor.

On the March 9 agenda is a site plan review for McLaren Cancer Center on Beecher Road and a report from Eason and Wendy Johnson, newly appointed director of Community and Economic Development.

In addition, there are standing items about the CEDS update and master planning initiative.

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Elizabeth Jordan is a lifelong Flint resident who represents the 9th Ward on the Flint Planning Commission.  In addition to working in the nonprofit sector, she is involved with various community initiatives promoting social justice and peace.

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