The first of several Community Conversations will be held on Wednesday. The Comprehensive Plan is a long-range policy guiding document.
Fredericksburg residents have their first chance to contribute to the city’s updated Comprehensive Plan this Wednesday evening.
It’s the first of several “community conversations” meant to gather input into the plan, which is a policy guiding document that helps plan for the future.
“[The comprehensive plan] sets the vision for citywide assets and systems,” consultants John Bachmann from Stantec and Anne Darby from Summit Design and Engineering Services told City Council at a work session on June 11.
The city’s assets include its economy, its environment, and its historic resources, Bachmann and Darby said, while systems include its public facilities, housing, and transportation.
Virginia Code requires local planning commissions to prepare and recommend a comprehensive plan for the local governing body to adopt. According to Code, comprehensive plans “may include, but need not be limited to” the designation of areas for public and private development, historic areas and areas of “urban renewal,” and locations of community service facilities such parks, schools, community centers, waterworks, etc.
Once a comprehensive plan has been adopted, Virginia Code states that no street, park, public building or utility facility can be constructed unless the planning commission has found the project to be “substantially in accord” with the comprehensive plan.
Bachmann and Darby said last month that the city’s comprehensive plan helps staff and City Council allocate funding and prioritize projects. The plan does not, however, provide detailed guidance on zoning or building code or other “complex topics,” they said.
City Council in 2017 approved the first of 10 Small Area Plans, which provide “specific guidance for the development, redevelopment, and public facilities” found in each small area, according to the city’s website. Five of these plans—for areas 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7—have been approved and plans for areas 5 and 10 are in development.
The updated Comprehensive Plan will be “unique” because it will need to “weave together” the work of the small area plans into a “citywide vision for addressing the quality of the built environment as well as economic, historical, and environmental issues,” the consultants said.
Demographics Update
At the June 11 work session, which was a joint meeting between City Council and the Planning Commission, the consultants provided an overview of the city’s updated demographics—data that will comprise Chapter 2 of the Comprehensive Plan.
According to the June 11 presentation, the city’s population is growing at a rate of 1-2% per year, along the same pace as King George and Caroline counties, but far below the explosive growth rate projected for Spotsylvania and Stafford counties.
The fastest-growing age group is 20-39 years, which is associated with an increase in families with young children in the city. However, these families may struggle to find housing in Fredericksburg, where median rental and mortgage costs are higher, and the homeownership rate is lower, than in the surrounding counties.
City Council is scheduled to discuss these demographic changes at a work session on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
The first Community Conversation on the Comprehensive Plan update will be held on Wednesday, June 26, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the School Board offices at the Walker-Grant Center, 210 Ferdinand Street.
The consultants are planning a total of 11 community engagement sessions through the fall, including pop-up events at the Fourth of July Heritage Festival on July 4 and the Fredericksburg Farmer’s Market on July 13 and neighborhood meetings in Mayfield and in the Fall Hill Avenue corridor on dates to be determined.
The city’s Comprehensive Plan website has more information, including a survey that community members can take. Residents can also receive updates on the plan by signing up for the Community Planning and Building newsflash.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Email Adele
