INDReporter

Comp Plan draft released

by Walter Pierce

The Citizens Advisory Committee working on Lafayette's comprehensive plan will meet with representatives of planning firm WRT on Tuesday to commence the next stage in developing the plan for Lafayette's future growth.

A land-use map in the draft comports with an earlier "Preferred Scenario" developed through community forums and the work of the Citizens Advisory Committee. It features mixed-use development nodes (the orange areas) spread around the city in which commercial and residential, along with governmental components, are concentrated, reducing the need for driving and minimizing the impact on public infrastructure.

The Citizens Advisory Committee working on Lafayette's comprehensive plan will meet with representatives of planning firm WRT on Tuesday to commence the next stage in developing the plan for Lafayette's future growth. The meeting comes on the heels of Tuesday's release of a draft of the plan's elements and action items.

The 66-page draft covers such aspects of planning as future land use, housing and neighborhoods, economic development, transportation, culture and resource conservation.

"Some of the highlights, in my opinion, are actions to improve our parks system, the adoption of a Complete Streets policy, and taking steps to preserve the I-49 Corridor," says advisory committee chairman and newly minted LCG Chief Development Officer Kevin Blanchard in an email to committee members.

Ahead of Tuesday's meeting, LCG staff along with development stakeholders such as engineers, developers and bankers will begin the process of streamlining Lafayette's development code, according to story in today's Daily Advertiser.

On Tuesday the committee, lead by WRT, will vote on how to group and prioritize the planning aspects, sorting them by short-term and long-term goals as well as identifying community partners - the chamber of commerce and civic groups, for example - to help drive the process.