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June 7, 2007
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June 7, 2007 |
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Editorial Weigh in on Comprehensive Plan As with many aspects of Yellow Springs history, past village leaders approached land use planning with innovative, activist strategies. In 1967, when Village Council members created the Comprehensive Plan, they had models — but they didn’t have many. Council had few models because most municipalities didn’t question the prevailing American trends of suburbanization, unrestricted growth and the paving of farmland. But Yellow Springs leaders did question these trends. They recognized that only careful planning would protect the village’s unique qualities of a small size, a diverse population, an independent school system, open space and a lively downtown. We have those leaders to thank for the fact that, 40 years later, the village still largely holds these qualities. The Comprehensive Plan was a visionary document for land use planning. Its creators also intended the plan as a reflection of community values. This intention is evident in the plan’s introduction, which states that the plan “outlines the community’s desires regarding issues such as atmosphere or community character, quality of life and growth rate.” Later in the introduction, the plan describes its approach as “one that recognizes the community’s responsibility to reach consensus about how physical and social resources are valued, managed and used.” The plan has undergone several revisions since its inception, and often with significant community input. In 1973, 400 villagers were polled to identify land use priorities; in 1990, villagers weighed in during more than 50 neighborhood forums. These events revealed that villagers continued to value smallness, diversity, independent schools, open space and a vibrant downtown, and also held related concerns, including how to protect diversity, how to determine an ideal size for the village, how to maintain a viable school system and how to encourage business expansion without “threatening other community assets.” Of course, villagers still wrestle with these questions. The recent Fogg farm annexation debate made clear that many villagers care deeply about land use issues, and will take the time and energy to learn and engage with others. Many who participated in that debate saw the need for a community-wide dialogue on broader issues of land use planning. That dialogue would be more constructive if it did not take place, as did the Fogg debate, under the gun. A good place to start that dialogue would be the current revision of the Comprehensive Plan, which is taking place during meetings of the Village Planning Commission. The planners have worked through much of the plan’s background material, and are now ready to address the substantive section regarding the plan’s goals. (Villagers may access the plan at the library or Village offices, or online at www.yso.com, click on Fogg annexation.) Currently, the planners address the Comprehensive Plan revision when they have time, after they discuss specific land use requests. It’s easy to understand why specific requests come first, but that meeting format forces those who come to address the Comprehensive Plan to wait, sometimes for hours. The planners would do well to find a format that encourages community participation. At a Council meeting last month, Judith Hempfling suggested that Council and Planning Commission hold a special meeting to involve the community in the Comprehensive Plan revision. At Council’s most recent meeting, Kathryn Van Der Heiden spoke of the need for a Council-sponsored forum on issues of growth. These suggestions seem encouraging signs that village leaders will soon engage the community in this necessary dialogue. The time is right, the people are ready and there is no more critical issue for Yellow Springs in 2007. In the meantime, the planners meet at 7 p.m. the second Monday of each month at the Bryan Center; their next meeting is Monday, June 11. In the spirit of those visionary leaders who created the Comprehensive Plan as a reflection of community values, it would be good to be there.
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