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Photo courtesy of Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham.
The Regional Planning Commission of GreaterBirmingham met with Chelsea residents to get their input on the city’s new comprehensive plan.
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Map courtesy of Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham.
Chelsea residents get information at the Aug. 20 PlanChelsea meeting — presented by the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham — at Chelsea City Hall. The Regional Planning Commission met with Chelsea residents to get their input on the city’s new comprehensive plan.
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Photo courtesy of Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham.
Lindsey Puckett of the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham addresses the audience at the Plan Chelsea meeting on Aug. 20.
Chelsea residents have the opportunity to give their ideas and input for the future as the city works with the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham to come up with a new comprehensive plan.
PlanChelsea is a cooperative effort between the commission and the city of Chelsea. The goal of the community-driven process is to develop a unifying vision for the city’s future that allows citizens to shape the vision and make recommendations. It relies on a community input process of what residents envision an economically, socially and environmentally healthy Chelsea should look like in the next 10 to 15 years.
“This is about a yearlong project,” said Samuel Parsons, community planner with the Regional Planning Commission. “It started at the beginning of summer, and our goal is to wrap it up and get it adopted before next summer.”
The last comprehensive plan for Chelsea was done in 2007, although they are recommended every five to 10 years. Parsons said it is particularly important for Chelsea because it is the long standing fastest-growing community in the region and the Chelsea of 12 years ago doesn’t look like the Chelsea today.
During the course of the planning process, residents, business owners and landowners can participate by sharing their vision for growth. Input for the comprehensive plan can be shared in three ways: fill out a survey, describe Chelsea’s issues and opportunities, and map ideas.
The surveys ask three questions: What is the state of our community today? What kind of community do you want in the future? How can we make that vision happen?
“Chelsea is a city of 13,000, and our target is to have 400 to 500 total surveys taken, not including other forms of input,” Parsons said. “The survey is the bedrock of the public involvement process, and while that 2.5% sounds like a minuscule number, that’s where we get the most concerned and engaged citizens.”
The goal of the preliminary public involvement phase was to set goals, actions and strategies. The online survey closed in early October, and the commission will spend the next seven months taking the information received and forming goals, strategies and actions.
The first of three public meetings was held Aug. 20. The second will take place in January or February to go over recommendations and the future land use plan. The third meeting will take place in April and feature a public hearing with the commission.
Parsons said it is critical that everyone gives their input, adding the final plan is only as good as the input they receive and that the public input is the only one that matters.
“We will filter our input as planners and not contribute any ideas ourselves,” he said. “At the end of the day, we are contractors and do our best to refrain from interjecting our own opinions. We are public servants in service of the city.”
Parsons said one issue they want to address is access to parks. Even though Chelsea has a robust parks and recreation program, only 9.2% of residents live within walking distance to a park. Land development is another topic, as less than one third of land within the current city limits still remains undeveloped.
“Chelsea is very much a blank slate on which to draw,” Parsons said. “The city is very proactive in wanting to make sure they use their available land in the wisest manner and be most responsive to the citizens’ needs.”
The final comprehensive plan will recommend goals, strategies and actions for land use, transportation, economic development, public services, and natural and cultural resources. It will also serve as a guide for public officials by establishing policies and priorities, and provide the framework for evaluating development proposals.
It will express the community’s vision and priorities, and show where and how development should occur.
Presentations from the introduction of the plan from the Aug. 20 public meeting, as well as demographic highlights from the Sept. 11 Chelsea Business Alliance meeting, are both available on the website.
Paper copies of the survey are located at City Hall, the Chelsea Community Center and the Chelsea Public Library and can be picked up and dropped off there.
To participate, go to planchelsea.com and visit the public input page to take the online survey, sign up to receive email updates and attend public meetings to share ideas and concerns.
