Comprehensive plan: Smart says city shouldn’t ‘shoot from the hip’

Local News

December 14, 2009

By Ronica Shannon The Richmond Register Mon Dec 14, 2009, 11:52 AM EST

It has been almost five years since Richmond’s comprehensive plan officially was revised, and city planning and zoning director Mike Roberts addressed the commission Tuesday saying it was time to begin preparing for the revision process.

Kentucky Revised Statute 100 requires that a city’s comprehensive plan be updated every five years.

Roberts asked for the commission’s advice as to how he should approach the task, and said he was in need of help from a professional firm.

“I didn’t know whether to move forward and start interviewing or to put it on hold,” said Roberts, who already has advertised a Request for Qualifications from planning firms.

Commissioners agreed that Roberts should continue pursuing a planning firm that would be of best service to the city.

A Request for Qualifications is not a bid and does not include a dollar amount, Roberts said.

He did not give an estimate as to how much professional services would cost, but the last professional comprehensive plan for Richmond cost between $40,000 and $50,000, he said.

Roberts received replies from “... two very professional and reputable firms within the planning community,” he said.

The inquiries were submitted by Urban Collage and HNTB, both of which are national firms, but have offices in Lexington and Louisville, respectively.

“I would like to have a firm chosen by the middle of January,” Roberts said.

The comprehensive plan revision process will take about one year, and the city is required by statute to have its revision complete by Feb. 28, 2011.

The firm that is chosen to complete the plan’s revision will have several responsibilities, as outlined in the Request for Qualifications.

Some of these duties include creating a comprehensive plan steering committee, collecting and analyzing data and creating various types of maps to go along with the final revised document.

Throughout the process, there will be several public hearings and citizens will have a chance to weigh-in their opinions and help draft the revision,” Roberts said. “We want them to be a part of it.”

Commissioner Rita Smart addressed her concerns about the city’s future infrastructure, stating that the city often has been guilty of a lack of planning.

“It has been my observation that because of our lack of planning, we seem to shoot from the hip, and then we come back later to correct our mistakes,” Smart said. “I believe if we had a plan of work, including identifying our core services — vital things we cannot do without and what the taxpayers expect — we would not be in the financial situation we are today.”

One example of those “vital things” Smart identified at Tuesday’s meeting was the quality of city streets.

“Streets are one of the vital core services, and four years after a (comprehensive) plan was adopted, we have not touched a vital service that taxpayers have given their money for,” she said. “I would like some evidence that we will start doing some comprehensive planning for short and long-range goals based on our vital service needs and financial capability.”

A date has not been set as to when the plan’s revision process will begin.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 624-6608.

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