Community open house planned as Greenwood Comprehensive Plan update continues

Greenwood’s comprehensive planning process is moving forward, with hundreds of responses already gathered and a community open house planned.

The city is in the process of creating a new comprehensive plan, documents that will guide development and growth in the city for the next 10 to 20 years. The full plan was last updated in 2007, and while there have been some smaller updates since then, it does not account for all of the growth the city has seen over the last 20 years.

The updated plan addresses the city’s “Four Pillars” — public safety, infrastructure, economic development and quality of life. It will also prioritize the eastern corridor of the city’s sustained expansion, reinvestment in long-established areas and look at the future for the city’s southwest corner.

Adam Peaper, a project manager for HWC Engineering, which is the firm the city is paying to help develop the plan, recently updated the city council and the Advisory Plan Commission on how the plan update has gone so far. The city has held a community workshop with over 100 participants, held more than 11 stakeholder meetings, met with high school students and attended community events like the Greenwood Farmers Market, Peaper told the plan commission Monday.

During the September community workshop, concerns officials heard from residents were traffic, intersection congestion, quality of life projects, bicycle and pedestrian trail networks and encouraging smaller-scale retail and local businesses, he said. Placemaking, the process of creating quality places for people to live, work and play, was another concern.

A website, PlanGreenwood.com, was also launched, featuring plan information, an online survey and an interactive map for people to leave their suggestions. A community survey received 253 responses, a high school survey received 51 responses and the city received over 300 comments on the interactive map. There were also over 2,000 likes and dislikes left on existing comments on the map, with markers concentrated near the mall and downtown, according to Peaper’s presentation.

“So overall in the city community survey, everyone generally saw Greenwood in a very favorable light,” he said. “Really positive responses across most of the organizing themes.”

Key themes

Several key themes have already appeared in the feedback. One of which is promoting reinvestment and redevelopment, with Old Town, Indy South Greenwood Airport, the Greenwood Park Mall and commercial corridors listed as areas for this, the presentation showed.

Using new growth areas to diversity employment and housing is also a theme. Mixed-density housing and better commercial center integration using interchanges as opportunities were suggested based on feedback. Protecting open spaces and incorporating them into future developments was also viewed favorably, according to Peaper’s presentation.

A new land use map has been drafted, and it will be presented at a February community open house. The map offers guidance on what types of developments should go where.

For the map, planners worked to refine mixed-use areas and determine where future housing areas will be. They also worked to determine where future commercial centers could be, specifically on the city’s east, southwest and southeast sides.

“Understanding that as we look at potential growth to the east, needing some commercial development opportunities to serve those existing and future residents and help prevent some of that traffic flow that needs to get west of (Interstate) 65,” Peaper said.

Infrastructure, economy

Community feedback also addresses the city’s “Four Pillars,” with several suggestions already becoming apparent.

For infrastructure, using sewer service as a growth management tool was suggested, as was working with the Indiana Department of Transportation to improve state-controlled roads. These suggestions include adding safe pedestrian crossings on U.S. 31 and State Road 135 and doing streetscape work, like landscaping and signage, along the roadways.

“Certainly a recurring theme through this process to date has been concerns about pedestrian crossings on both [U.S.] 31 and [State Road 135], especially along Main Street. So we’ll be digging into that,” Peaper said.

Another suggestion was to use new development to make additional roadway connections. This would be by dedicating right-of-way, connecting to existing stub streets, creating stub streets for the future and prioritizing through-streets or cul-de-sacs.

A thoroughfare plan will also be created to examine the city’s entire transportation network. Priorities include east-west connectivity, balancing pedestrian and bicycle facilities with vehicular access, converting traffic signal intersections to roundabouts where feasible and managing access along thoroughfares, according to Peaper’s presentation.

For economic development, attracting higher-paying jobs is a top suggestion with the fields of innovation and advancing manufacturing suggested. Integrating office space into mixed-use and industrial projects was another.

Supporting and growing local businesses is also a priority, with planners suggesting using communication to highlight successes and to work with Aspire Johnson County, the county-wide chamber of commerce, and other economic development partners. It was also suggested that the city work to reduce its potential barriers to small business startups and investment, according to Peaper’s presentation.

“We’ve heard a lot about the importance of the Old Town area to the community,” Peaper said. “I’ll get into that with the quality of life recommendations, but not everything needs to be big or national chains on some of your larger arterial (roads).”

Peaper also discussed ensuring the Greenwood Park Mall stays vibrant and safe. City officials should plan for new development and redevelopment at the mall — particularly in excess parking areas and the vacant space formerly occupied by Sears, his presentation showed.

Parks, public safety

Quality of Life is another pillar of the city, and growing the city’s park system tops the list. Planners suggest officials invest more in neighborhood parks and continue to maintain a parks master plan.

“The city has an incredible park system, continues to make parks investments, but starting to return a focus to investing in the smaller neighborhood parks that are closer to some of the residential concentrations and maybe more easily accessible and more benefit those neighborhoods across the city, given all the substantial increases in investments in the downtown area,” Peaper said.

One new park has been suggested through the update process. This would be built on a city-owned parcel of land on the south side of County Line Road, east of Madison Avenue, according to his presentation.

Expanding the city’s trail network was also suggested.

Feedback also suggested the city work to continue developing Old Town into an “arts, culture and entertainment destination,” Peaper said. This includes making festivals, programming and public art easier and incentivizing the redevelopment of certain properties, he said.

Greenwood officials should also work to maintain established neighborhoods as the “building blocks of the community.” One way they could do this is by promoting beautification and maintenance efforts, according to his presentation.

Public safety was the last of the pillars addressed by Peaper. Expanding police and fire services in line with growth tops the list of suggestions.

Officials should plan for a sixth fire station, ensure equipment keeps up with trends and better attract and retain staff, according to Peaper’s presentation.

Ensuring building, zoning, fire and other public safety codes are understood and respected is also suggested. Code enforcement should work to target recurring issues and officials should review and amend violation consequences to make them stronger deterrents, Peaper said.

Improving city communications with residents and businesses is another theme. The city could do this by hiring a communications liaison and determining how residents want to be engaged.

“That’s not to necessarily suggest a deficiency right now, but just more communication generally being favored is better,” Peaper said.

Planners also suggested the city work with Johnson County on emergency management planning, and use recent events to update the county’s emergency management plan.

What’s next

Interim reports about the city’s existing conditions and how community engagement has been are being finalized and will be posted on PlanGreenwood.com once completed. Additionally, officials plan to have workshops on key focus areas, like the mall, North Madison Avenue and downtown, Peaper said.

A “Big Ideas” Community Open House is planned for Feb. 29 at the Greenwood Public Library. The goal of the public open house is to determine if officials are moving in the right direction with the feedback, he said.

Those who are unable to attend the meeting can provide feedback online, Peaper said.

Once this phase ends, a more formal community presentation will take place in either late April or early May, Peaper said. The planning process remains ongoing in the meantime.

IF YOU GO

Big Ideas Community Open House

When: 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Feb. 29

Where: Greenwood Public Library, Community Rooms A & B, 310 S. Meridian St.

More information: PlanGreenwood.com

Unable to attend?: A summary video will be posted online, and residents can provide input by doing a Big Ideas Survey at PlanGreenwood.com. The survey opens March 1.