The Town of Zionsville has kicked off the process to create an updated comprehensive plan, with the first of three community workshops scheduled July 29 to give residents a chance to weigh in.
Adam Peeper, a community planner and project manager with HWC Engineering, addressed a special joint meeting of the Zionsville Town Council and Plan Commission July 15.
The town engaged HWC Engineering in March to create the plan. The town’s current comprehensive plan was developed in 2003 prior to the inclusion of Perry and Union townships within the town’s borders.
A comprehensive plan is a nonbinding strategic plan that municipalities use to guide decisions on growth and planning, including business, residential, recreational, zoning and safety issues.
Peeper said HWC began the data collection and analysis process, developed branding, held two steering committee meetings and launched a website — uniquelyzionsville.com — before hosting what he called a “vision workshop” with the council and Plan Commission.
“We’re moving into our big community outreach and engagement push,” Peeper said. “We’ll be using (the website) to conduct online engagement with the community survey and interactive mapping tool, and then moving into in-person events.”
Officials said their main takeaway is the importance of public participation to reach a consensus of where the town will be in the next few decades.
“We need to look at it as a goal, as a plan, but not set in stone, because I think that’s probably not the best way to look at the future,” Mayor John Stehr said. “We’re going to do everything we can to spread the word to make sure everybody has access to the public portions of this. There’s a lot to balance here and a lot coming in the next few months.”
Officials also noted the importance of the plan for shaping Zionsville’s growth..
“It’s hard for any of the folks who are making decisions for our community to not have a better roadmap of what we would like to see. We’re making decisions oftentimes without context and you’re kind of evaluating proposals one at a time,” Town Council Vice President Brad Burk said. “It is a guide, it’s now how it has to be, but I hope it will be very firm.”
After the community engagement effort, HWC will meet with the steering committee to develop initial recommendations for the comprehensive plan, as well as an economic plan and a transportation plan. A series of open houses will be held prior to the creation of a draft document.
The process is expected to take 18 months to complete.
The first community workshop is at 6 p.m. July 29 in the Ascension St. Vincent Community Room at Zionsville Town Hall. Additional public workshops are scheduled for Aug. 6 at Indianapolis Executive Airport and Aug. 15 at the Perry Township Fire Station. Both workshops begin at 6 p.m.
The Uniquely Zionsville website will update residents on the comprehensive plan process. A public survey on the site is expected to go live later this month.
