The recent coming together of ordinary citizens from West Utica and East Utica to debate the location of a Stewart's Shop is both a symptom of the Utica Master Plan's unfinished nature and a demonstration of what is needed to complete the job. The Master Plan should have already informed prospective developers of what is wanted or not wanted in each neighborhood. The citizens' meeting demonstrates that the public still needs and desires to be engaged with planning on a site-specific level.
The Master Plan calls for a Citizens' Committee that as yet does not exist. There is now this group of citizens ready willing and able to get involved. Give them maps . . . give them some professional guidance (like that in the recent Rust-to-Green planning meetings for Genesee Street), and have them map their vision for their neighborhoods.
The Utica Master Plan needs a Proposed Land Use Map for each neighborhood.
2 comments:
Did you honestly think that the master plan would mean anything?
When I saw that Saratoga Associates got the contract I expected the plan to be well thought out ... But when the public relations firm that was also hired (no doubt managed by city hall insiders) dominated the final product ... And when the RFP was not followed ... The taxpayers did not get a real plan. The 1950 plan was the last real professional plan, in my opinion.
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