Comprehensive Plan headed to Council
Planning Commission concludes its review
Hudson - While not one resident spoke out about the comprehensive plan Monday night, planning commission members combed through the document one final time before forwarding it to Council with their recommendations.
Council will need to consider a list of suggested changes from the commission and host a public hearing before making a final decision. The comprehensive plan provides objectives and strategies for the city's future. The draft the planning commission considered was created by a 15-member steering committee and Community Development Department staff members working from the original 1995 comprehensive plan.
The plan includes seven sections: land use; environment, recreation and open space; community facilities; transportation and mobility; downtown and historic core; growth management; and economic development. Each section in the proposed 2004 plan includes goals, an overview and key findings.
Planning commission members considered the updated plan May 10, but delayed action until Monday's meeting. Most discussion at the first meeting centered on square footage requirements for District 9 - located near Hudson's border with Stow - and contiguous city and school boundaries.
At Monday's meeting, commission members agreed with the steering committee's recommendation to increase the allowed square footage from 5,000 to 10,000 square feet for non-residential buildings in District 9.
They also asked that a recommendation for contiguous city and school boundaries be changed to state, "the city and school district should work closely together to achieve growth management objectives."
Monday night, commission members tackled issues related to stormwater management and economic development. They also made minor clarifications and added the Route 91 corridor study to the transportation section of the plan.
Stormwater management
Tom King, director of community development, said a brief description of the March 2004 income tax increase would be added to the community facilities section while references to a stormwater management fund would be eliminated.
King also said references to a specific "stormwater management plan" would be generalized.
"The city has quite a menu of stormwater projects," he said, adding it would be appropriate to include references to securing future funding in the plan. "While the income tax puts the city on solid ground, it only funds part of the projects."
Economic development
Commission member Kelly Brennan commended the steering committee's addition of an "economic development" section to the six sections in the 1995 comprehensive plan.
The goal of economic development is to encourage business growth within the city, according to the plan. With the framework in place, a consultant will be hired to identify Hudson's assets and to develop a strategic economic development strategy.
King said a committee, including members of the Chamber of Commerce and city staffers, will soon ask for proposals from interested consultants. The city should receive the proposals in a month and results of the economic development strategy should be available six months after that, King said.
"We need to decide. Do we want economic development or do we want development that meets our standards? [The latter] is the hope, but maybe it's not possible," King said. "That's why we're going for an outside audit."
Brennan said businesses considering a move to Hudson have to see what the city has to offer.
"It's not so much who do we want, but what Hudson has to offer," he said. "That's where the plan will come in handy."
E-mail: sfellenstein @ recordpub.net
Phone: 330-688-0088, ext. 3163