It’s that time again.
Time for Oxford Township to dust off the old master plan and freshen it up.
Last week, the township board voted 6-1 to approve a proposal from the Ann Arbor-based Carlisle/Wortman Associates to update the master plan for an amount not to exceed $25,000.
A master plan serves as a guide for decisions about the physical, social, economic and environmental development of a community.
The current master plan was adopted in December 2011 and state law requires it be updated every five years.
Planning Commission Chairman Todd Bell explained that back then, ‘we did a cursory review of the master plan,? so that’s why now it’s ‘in need of a major overhaul.?
‘We really need to do this,? he said.
According to Carlisle/Wortman’s proposal, background information pertaining to subjects such as population, housing, land use, etc. needs to be updated; the master plan’s goals and objectives need to be thoroughly reviewed and revised; and work needs to be done on the land use, transportation and greenways plans.
‘It’s going to be a ton of work,? Bell said.
Citizen participation will be crucial in this process.
‘The last update contained a minimal amount of public input due to budget constraints,? wrote township planner Brian Oppmann in the proposal.
He suggested posting draft documents, meeting schedules and other information relevant to the master plan process on a dedicated web page on the township website. This web page would be equipped with a ‘community engagement tool? that allows residents to post their ideas and comments both categorically and geographically.
‘We’re really going to do this with the latest and greatest technology,? Bell said.
An on-line survey and open house event would also be used to gather public input.
Bell reminded the board that a master plan is both a tool and a guide, but it does not predict the future.
‘I don’t own a crystal ball,? he said. ‘We do the best we can with the information we have. We try to plan, but we don’t know if some crazy person’s going to fly an airplane into a building. We don’t know what’s going to happen in five years, so we try to (create) a nice outlook (about) what we think is coming to Oxford and (try to) keep what Oxford is. We want to preserve that. That’s our mission, that’s our goal.?
Clerk Curtis Wright inquired as to whether $25,000 will be enough to cover the entire cost of the process.
‘We’re hoping it will be around $20,000, but we put $25,000 in there just to make sure that we had a buffer,? Bell replied.
As far as the time frame for this process is concerned, Bell said, ‘We’d like to have it done this year.?
But then he explained that probably won’t happen because state law requires neighboring communities, utilities and the county be given 63 days to submit comments once the draft plan is completed. ‘I doubt we will get it done by the end of this year,? Bell said.