Community Dialogue Project
Project Update - Fall 2007
|
Over the late spring and summer, the Community Dialogue Project has developed from a general concept into a full-fledged effort to find consensus regarding ways to ensure that the vision articulated in the county’s comprehensive plan is codified in its implementing ordinances and regulations.
Accomplishments
Specifically, the project has accomplished the following:
Advisory committee – An advisory committee (dubbed the “Consensus Committee”) has been established to manage and direct the project, to ensure that all views and geographic areas are represented in the project, and to coordinate community-wide workshops seeking input from the public.
Institute for Environmental Negotiation – To ensure that its meetings are conducted respectfully, with input from all of its members, and to keep them focused, the Consensus Committee’s meetings are facilitated by a professional facilitator from UVa’s Institute for Environmental Negotiation.
Goals and desired end product – The Consensus Committee has identified the goals and desired end product for the project.
Shenandoah County’s towns – In addition to seeking involvement by county officials and staff, the Committee has invited all six towns to participate in the project by placing representatives on the committee. Several of the towns have done so and others are considering it.
Project plan – A project plan has been identified. The Committee is reviewing in detail the county’s guiding land use documents—particularly the comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance. In the coming months, through a series of community-wide workshops, the committee will seek input and ideas from residents throughout the county. Using this information, the Committee will develop a set of specific, actionable recommendations for implementing the vision of the comprehensive plan and will then go back to the community to see what it thinks about these recommendations. Project planners hope that by involving the county and the towns in the project—as well as stakeholders throughout the county—the final recommendations will be consistent with the interests and expectations of all of the county’s governments and will be received favorably by them.
Immediate Next Steps: Fall 2007 Public Workshops
Please join us for these sessions--the public is highly encouraged to attend and there will be opportunities for questions and answers in each workshop.
Workshop #1 -- October 22, 2007 (7:00pm to 9:00pm)
Emmanuel Episcopal Church (Woodstock)
Review comprehensive plan, the county’s current zoning ordinance, and a build-out analysis looking at the implications of current policies.
Workshop #2 -- October 30, 2007 (7:00pm to 9:00pm)
Central High School Cafeteria (Woodstock)
Continuation of the county-sponsored workshop in May 2007 led by Dr. Mike Chandler (Professor Emeritus, Virginia Tech) discussing the county’s comprehensive plan and its zoning ordinance; review inconsistencies between the two documents and begin to review possible options for eliminating those inconsistencies.
Workshop #3 -- November 28, 2007 (6:00pm to 9:00pm)
Central High School Cafeteria (Woodstock)
Continue discussion from Meeting #2, looking at options and planning tools available for eliminating the mismatch between the comprehensive plan and the zoning ordinance.
Early 2008
Through January and February, the Committee expects to use the information gathered at the Fall workshops to develop a set of draft recommendations.
In early spring, the Committee will seek input on the draft recommendations from the community and local governments. By late spring or early summer, having incorporated stakeholder comments, the Committee hopes to be able to publish its final set of recommendations.
|
|