The Final Draft of the Utica Master Plan (UMP) has been issued. The biggest change is the cover which adds the following words, "A NEIGHBORHOOD-BASED PROCESS TO ESTABLISH THE VISION AND GUIDE FOR UTICA'S FUTURE" That sort of sums up the whole problem with the UMP.
It's an admission that the master plan is not really a master plan, but rather a plan to make a plan in the future.
Appendices have been added to the Final Draft to explain some of the document's jargon (e.g. "dark sky principles" and "context sensitive solutions"). Some new maps have been added to show current zoning and land uses.
But overall, the UMP remains a fundamentally flawed document because it, itself, does not present a vision of the city's future, but, rather, substitutes a cumbersome, special-interest charged process in place of the vision to guide Utica's future planning decisions.
I detailed UMP's flaws here so I won't repeat them. Suffice it to say that the flaws remain.
The UMP in its current form will create more harm than good. It should not be enacted into law by the Common Council.
3 comments:
Dark Sky? Oh, no! "Light trespass" and all those potential transgressions will (no kidding) call for an entirely new unit of the UPD. (If a light source or its reflection can be seen by a neighbor you will be fined.) As an example, see this typical Dark Sky regulation for the village of Shorewood Hills in Madison, WI.
Sorry, here it is:
http://www.shorewood-hills.org/ordinances/chapter22.pdf
Just another example of wasting money on "plans" that are mainly jargon stuffed, off the shelf type feel, good sounding pages that amount to little, at best.
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