Opinions
Opinion: Planning Commission Oct. 26 meeting reflections
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- By Elizabeth Jordan
- Sunday, October 31, 2010
- Hits: 440
The main item of discussion in the Flint Planning Commission Oct. 26 meeting was the master plan. Although the city has not formally begun a master planning process, a grant was written to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for $1.57 million to develop a master plan. Flint was notified last week that it received the funding.
The grant requires a local match. Both cash and in-kind contributions count towar it.
The proposal indicated that several groups, including the Genesee County Land Bank, the city's Department of Community and Economic Development, UM-Flint, Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and others, would commit staff and resources.
The proposal specifically mentioned that the city would have a chief planning officer's time going toward the project. We do not currently have a staff person identified in that role. It was unclear at the meeting whether the grant would obligate the city to hire someone for that position or whether it could be satisfied by identifying an existing employee as chief planning officer.
Some of the local match has yet to be raised. Zoning Coordinator Sheree Pierce said the city plans to apply for a three-year, $50,000 per year grant from the Ruth Mott Foundation and will submit a letter by Nov. 5.
During the discussion, commissioner Robert Jewell referred to Public Act 33, the Zoning and Enabling Act, which sets the requirements for master planning in state law. Specifically, it charges planning commissions with making and approving a master plan. Several commissioners said the planning commission must be centrally involved in this process.
I shared my desire to be more involved moving forward in identifying the concepts that go into any request for funding. While actually writing a proposal is certainly a staff responsibility, the task of mapping out the priorities and goals the request embodies is a shared responsibility where the planning commission has a significant role.
In the case of the HUD grant, I did not see what was requested until two months after the proposal was turned in. We were informed that the mayor has been working on outlining roles and responsibilities between the administration, planning commission and Flint City Council.
In other action:
- Several commissioners are attending an annual workshop put on by the Genesee County Metropolitan Planning Commission. One of the topics this year is medical marijuana and local zoning. After that, our subcommittee on the topic will meet again.
- A summary of Building Neighborhood Power (BNP), a collaborative focused on supporting and building residents' capacity to create change in their neighborhood, was included in our packet. BNP uses workshops and trainings to help residents learn to run their own meetings and develop neighborhood plans. This process is being applied to the South Park Neighborhood (just north of Thread Lake). BNP hopes to expand the program to other neighborhoods.
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