Comp Plan Update Process Ideas

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Comp Plan Update Process Ideas
This presentation was developed by Larry Leveen,
not the City of Olympia. Ideas and opinions
herein are the authors only, and are not adopted
recommendations of the Olympia Planning
Commission. Larry is Chair of the Planning
Commissions Comprehensive Plan Update
Subcommittee. You can reach him at
larryleveen_at_comcast.net.
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Update Process Goals

• A good Comp Plan Product
• A timeless document
• Relevant for years into the future
• Not reflective of only a single issue/concern
• Provides clear policy direction
• Goals and policies should be concise
• Internal consistency within each chapter and
  throughout the Plan
• A resource for Council, staff, advisory
  committees and community at large
• No guarantee, but certainly a requirement!

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Update Process Attributes

• Should be designed specifically to enable the
  previous goals to be reached
• Should be clearly communicated to the public
  throughout all phases
• Timeline (past, present, future), specific tasks,
  opportunities for input, type of input needed
• Should integrate Planning Commission (OPC) in a
  meaningful fashion
• So we can provide Council with information needed
  to make informed decisions leading to adoption of
  plan

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Update Process Design Issues

• Outreach Pitfalls
• Public confidence is (always) at stake
• Mistaking quantity of outreach for quality
• Assuming public buy-in on existing Plan structure
  or content
• Internal Pitfalls
• Must be a realistic task for OPC
• Large volumes of unfocused public input will be
  difficult to use in updating the Plan
• Update timeline must be adhered to
• It must not derail other OPC work (SMP update,
  etc.)

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Update Process Strategy

• A phased approach that
• Breaks the project into manageable pieces
• Refines and specifies input over time
• Helps ensure public buy-in on structure and
  content
• Avoids requiring fluency in Planner-speak
• Orients public to and fosters familiarity with
  The Plan
• Provides OPC with tested input
• Helps OPC evaluate current Plan Goals Policies
• Helps us make specific recommendations to Council
  about Draft Plan issues, tensions, content, etc.

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Update Process Strategy Proposal

• Phase 1 Collect public input as general Guiding
  Principles regardless of content
• Similar to Comp Plan Goals
• Be specific on the feedback format -- desired as
  future process steps rely on format fidelity
• Example A We need a variety of park types to
  serve Olympias diverse recreation needs.
• Example B Every neighborhood should have retail
  destinations within them.
• Example C No private development should be
  permitted within a full block of the waterfront.
• Compatible with planned public meetings

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Update Process Strategy Proposal

• Phase 2 Public Hearing/meeting check-in
• Share public input collected to date in the
  format of Guiding Principles
• Ask the public
• Did we hear you properly when recording these
  Guiding Principles?
• If not, what did we miss?
• Inform the public of our intent to seek
  commentary on these Guiding Principles from
  Expert Panels
• Potential Opportunity to check in with City
  Council on progress-to-date

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Update Process Strategy Proposal

• Phase 3 Ask Expert Panels to critique Guiding
  Principles (GPs)
• Panelists would have special or professional
  level experience with specific topics (e.g. land
  use, transportation, finance, etc.).
• Panelists would be asked for each GP
• 1. Does it have any fatal flaws? If so, what?
• 2. If flawed, but not fatally flawed, what tweaks
  could be made to still capture the spirit of the
  GP?
• 3. What specific policies would be needed to
  support unflawed or mildly flawed GPs?

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Expert Panel Process Flow Chart
Does Guiding Principle have any fatal flaws?
Yes.
What are they?
Record for later use.
Does Guiding Principal have non-fatal flaws?
No.
No.
Guiding Principle proceeds in process unaltered.
Yes.
What are they?
Record for later use.
How could Guiding Principle be tweaked to still
capture its intent/spirit?
Record for later use.
What policies are needed to support this Guiding
Principle?
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Update Process Strategy Proposal

• Phase 4 Public Hearing/meeting check-in
• Share Expert Panel feedback about Guiding
  Principles
• Group A Non-problematic GPs
• Share Panels draft policies to support GP
• Group B Mildly Problematic GPs
• Share Panels concerns and suggested tweaks
• Share Panels draft policies to support GP
• Group C Highly Problematic GPs
• Share Panels perspectives about these as truly
  unworkable
• Seek buy-in on Panels tweaks to Group B
• Seek buy-in on Panels draft policies for Groups
  A B
• Seek buy-in on dropping Group C GPs
• There may be no buy-in, which is OK
• Check in with City Council on progress-to-date

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Update Process Strategy Proposal

• Phase 5 Synthesize Draft
• OPC converts GPs into Draft Plan Goals
• OPC uses feedback to draft any further policies
  needed to support GPs
• Existing Plan Goals and Policies likely used
• Provide a Draft Plan for public comment editing
  iterations prior to a Final Draft Hearing
• Hold OPC Hearing

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Update Process Strategy Result

• OPC can hand off to City Council
• A Draft Plan
• Commentary Raising specific policy
  issues/problems encountered that need resolution
• Specific recommendations on those issues
• Other recommendations on issues related to
  enacting the plan (not just adopting it)
• Council Can hold a hearing and deliberate

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Update Process Strategy Summary

• Public input gets more specific over time
• Has two public buy-in points
• Has been reviewed by experts
• Has OPC input to normalize language of Draft
  Goals and Policies
• Uses the existing Plan where appropriate
• Innovates where needed
• Provides realistic hand-off point for Council
  hearing/deliberations/adoption
• Provides Plan Implementation advice

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Comp Plan Update Process Ideas
End of Presentation

This presentation was developed by Larry Leveen,
not the City of Olympia. Ideas and opinions
herein are the authors only, and are not adopted
recommendations of the Olympia Planning
Commission. Larry is Chair of the Planning
Commissions Comprehensive Plan Update
Subcommittee. You can reach him at
larryleveen_at_comcast.net.