The City of Henderson’s Land Use Planning Steering Committee held a public meeting yesterday at the H. Leslie Perry Memorial Library.
According to city Planning Director Erris Dunston, the purpose of the meeting was to present the public with a time to “speak up”.
The public input garnered Tuesday evening is in addition to approximately 800 surveys returned to the committee via Henderson water and sanitation bills.
Present to assist at the meeting were Oliver Bass, Senior Planner, and John Morck, Chief Planner, both of the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Division of Community Assistance.
Dunston said that the development of a land use plan is an ongoing process that she hopes will be completed by the end of the year.
Bass said that the purpose of the meeting was to get input on important growth issues for the next fifteen to 20 years.
Taking the committee and members of the public through a PowerPoint presentation, Bass defined a comprehensive land use plan as a long-range policy document. He said that the document is not regulatory in nature, but can be used to make regulatory decisions.
The purpose of planning, according to Bass, is to build a consensus of a community vision.
The planning process consists of preparing a draft, adopting a plan, and implementing a plan. The plan is prepared by gathering information on such topics as housing, population, and economy, public facilities, infrastructure, and public input. That information is translated into a draft that incorporates a vision for the future, long range goals, and desired future conditions and outcomes. An implementation strategy is then developed for the plan. Finally, the plan is adopted by the city council after receiving public input and modifying the plan appropriately.
Once the plan is approved, it is then implemented. Provisions must also be made to evaluate and revise the plan.
Bass told the audience that they could become involved by completing surveys, attending committee meetings, receiving meeting minutes, and otherwise look for opportunities to participate.
Bass then asked the audience “What do you like about living in the city of Henderson?”
For several moments, there was no reply. An audience member quipped that the lack of response said a lot.
Bass rejoined that there must be a reason, since [the audience member] lives in Henderson.
“Not all of us,” the audience member rejoined.
County Commissioner Scott Hughes noted as a positive that more people in Henderson are getting involved.
That was the extent of contributions by the public (non-committee members).
Members of the committee itself contributed:
Bass then asked “What do you dislike most about living in the city of Henderson?”
Members of the committee contributed:
A Vance business owner commented that he would like to have potential employees and residents of Henderson to have better than a sixth or seventh grade reading and math level, have a valid driver’s license, and be able to pass a drug test.
He said that he thinks that these things are prerequisites to bringing jobs.
Bass said that the comments would be used to develop a statement of what the community would like Henderson to be in the future.
Attendees were then asked to visit five stations around the room and fill out worksheets from each station where they would identify specific issues. Those stations were:
Public Services and Facilities
The information gathered from the questionnaires is to be incorporated into the eventual plan.