Shelby moves ahead with plans to update comprehensive land use plan

For the first time in over a decade, the city of Shelby is preparing to update its comprehensive land use plan.

City Council recently voted to approve the negotiation of a contract with Stewart Architecture to begin the process.

City Manager Rick Howell said staff solicited proposals from qualified firms and will be negotiating contracts with Stewart.

"I will say this is probably one of the most important documents that you can adopt," Howell told council members.

He said the last time it was updated was in 2009 and with the changes and development Shelby has experienced it's long overdue. He said the land use plan guides many of the decisions council makes regarding zoning and other issues.

Howell said the public will be involved in the process, and there will be many opportunities for input and feedback.

"Participation by the public in the development of the land use plan are imperative for it to be successful and for it to be plan that reflects what development patterns are," he said. "I can't emphasis enough, this process you're about to embark on is probably one of the most important things you'll do on council."

Justin Longino, assistant city manager, said once council approved the selection of the architect, they will kick off the process by conducting meetings with staff and the firm to gather initial information, discuss expectations and begin the community engagement process with the potential for surveys, workshops, meetings, interviews and walking tours.

Longino said that will probably take around eight months, after which a draft plan will be created followed by a workshop with city staff to discuss strategic goals, resources and implementation steps.

Once the plan is reviewed by council and possibly the planning board, that feedback will be used to tweak it before the final draft is brought before council for a vote.

Longino said the selected firm, Stewart, is an experienced planning and landscaping architecture firm with prior experience with comprehensive, community and downtown plans.

"We received eight proposals, all from very qualified firms," he said. We reviewed them and rated them independently by several groups."

He said they whittled it down to Stewart as the best option.

"We looked at firm experience, methodology, price and their proposed process," Longino said.

Reach reporter Rebecca Sitzes at rsitzes@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Shelby moves ahead with plans to update comprehensive land use plan