Greenwood’s draft comprehensive plan to be presented Wednesday

After months of work, a draft of Greenwood’s new comprehensive plan is complete and ready for public viewing.

For nearly a year, officials have been 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 of the city’s southeast corner.

Over the course of this effort, city staff and consultants from HWC Engineering, who is helping the city create the new plan, have met with stakeholders, local businesses, high schoolers and residents to discuss the plan. They’ve also held public workshops and meetings to gather feedback, along with hosting online surveys and other ways to gather feedback.

All of these efforts have led to the creation of a draft of the new plan, a “visioning document” the public can now comment on.

“It is a document where the community got together, provided input and we’re able to, in a way, build a consensus about what the future of Greenwood will look like,” said Gabe Nelson, planning director.

This document will help decision-makers and staff with implementing ordinances or with amending rezoning ordinances, for example.

“It does not, itself, change land use but it helps inform our decision makers,” Nelson said.

The 279-page draft goes into detail about future land use, infrastructure, proposed areas for development and redevelopment across the city and more. From the city perspective, officials are most excited about the five focus areas for development and redevelopment in the future — Old Town, the Greenwood Park Mall, Airport Parkway between Main Street and County Line Road, Main Street both east and west of Interstate 65 and Worthsville Road east of Interstate 65, Nelson said.

Among the future plans are commercial properties, unique housing options and trail improvements, he said. Future roadway improvements are also identified, including roundabouts, two new interstate overpasses and road extensions, plans show.

The draft plan also includes information on the implementation of the plan, supporting information, and reports on existing conditions and community engagement, said Adam Peaper, a project manager for HWC Engineering.

One resident reached out to the Daily Journal with concerns about a proposed extension of Stop 18 Road through Freedom Park, which is identified in the plan. There are no active plans for this extension to take place anytime soon, Nelson said.

“A lot of people seem to think that it’s like being built right away. We don’t actually have like a plan or anything for it right now,” he said.

A road extension through Freedom Park has been identified as far back as 2007, as it is in the current comprehensive plan, Peaper said. Additionally, the extensions’ classification would be lowered to accommodate for less traffic than what it is currently planned as in the 2007 plan, he said.

Long-term planning identifies the park as moving from a neighborhood park to a community park with more community amenities, which would necessitate an extension down the line to improve access. While the extension continues to be included in the comprehensive plan, it is nothing more than a “line on a piece of paper” at this time, Nelson said.

A component of the comprehensive plan is having a thoroughfare plan, which looks at the road infrastructure throughout the city and how traffic should flow. For Greenwood’s plan, they coordinated with the county and surrounding communities to make sure Greenwood’s plan would fit with theirs, Nelson said.

They also looked at adding more east-west connectivity, something the public frequently tells the city they need more of, he said. An example of this is east of Interstate 65, where more east-west roads are planned.

“We’re laying the framework of that road system out east to ensure that people are going to have the road infrastructure that they need,” Nelson said. “If it was just developed reactively, based on developers coming in there, there would not really be any order to our road system.”

The plan also creates a legal justification for the city to tie infrastructure requirements to new developments, Peaper said. If a developer wants to propose a project in an area where the city has identified a future east-west road, then they can require the developer to build it, Nelson said.

The public can view the plan online at PlanGreenwood.com. They can take a survey about the plan online too, or give feedback in person at a public presentation set for Wednesday night at the Greenwood Public Library.

Both Nelson and Peaper are eager to hear from the public about the draft plan. This is the goal of Wednesday’s meeting and the online survey, as officials want to make sure they’re on the right track with the plan.

“As we work towards what we would call the adoption draft, we want to make sure, again, that the plan, vision and goals reflect the interests and desires of Greenwood residents. We’re looking for confirmation of that,” Peaper said. “Where there may need to be additional changes or additions or amendments, we are certainly interested in hearing those now so that we can get those addressed before the adoption process.”

For Nelson, it’s important to hear from residents about the plan because it is “the community’s plan.”

“It’s not created in a vacuum,” Nelson said.

In addition to confirmation they are on the right track, Nelson hopes people taking part will be able to feel a sense of ownership of the plan. This way, they can help work with city officials, council members and neighbors to help implement the plan, since it goes beyond just adoption, he said.

“The more people that are involved with it and take ownership of the plan, the better job we’ll be able to do when we try to implement the plan,” Nelson said.

IF YOU GO

Comprehensive Plan Draft Public Presentation

What: City planners and consultant HWC Engineering will present a draft of Greenwood’s new comprehensive plan to the public. City officials need the public’s assistance in reviewing the plan and providing feedback on it before the final draft is created.

When: 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Community rooms A and B, Greenwood Public Library, 310 S. Meridian St.

More information: The draft plan and a survey can be found at PlanGreenwood.com.