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Pioneering a Sustainable Future
Two Workshops seek Public Input on Auburn’s Comprehensive Plan
The future of Auburn will be the focus of two community workshops, which will allow all members of the Auburn community to help create a vision for the City’s future. These workshops are the first public outreach efforts for Auburn’s Comprehensive Plan Project. The first workshop will be held in the Irene A. Bisgrove Community Theater on the Auburn campus of Cayuga Community College on Saturday, November 15, 2008 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., and the second will be at the Auburn Public Theater in Downtown Auburn on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The Auburn Public Theater is located at 108 Genesee Street with its entrance on Exchange Street. Both workshops will feature similar activities, so community members are encouraged to attend at least one of these workshops to provide their much-needed input.
“Our city faces many challenges, however, there are also opportunities for us,” according to Auburn Mayor Michael Quill. “As we continue to move forward, the comprehensive plan will help us create a vision for Auburn’s future and then bring together all of our work to develop the strategies we need to achieve our vision.” Most importantly, Quill explained, the comprehensive plan will ensure that land use policies boost, rather than block, Auburn’s ongoing revitalization as a vibrant and sustainable urban center.
“The comprehensive plan will impact residents, businesses, and property owners across the city. That’s why everyone should participate in the upcoming public meetings,” said Gwen Webber-McLeod, co-chair of the 12-person committee overseeing the drafting of the comprehensive plan. Following this workshop, the Auburn Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee will refine the vision and explore ways to meet the community's goals for the future. “This is not the last time we will have public input," Webber-McLeod said. "However, this is an important opportunity for community members to shape the future of Auburn."
Comprehensive plans establish guidelines for the future growth of a community. Elected officials, city staff, volunteer board members, developers, and the public will use the Comprehensive Plan as a policy guide when making decisions about the development of Auburn. Among other topics, the City’s Comprehensive Plan will cover land use and sustainable development policies for housing and neighborhoods, downtown and other commercial areas, as well as transportation and parks and recreation.
“Not only are these public meetings important to crafting the plan, they will also be interesting and engaging,” explained Karin Moscov, the other co-chair of the committee. She explained that the workshops would not be typical public meetings with people simply speaking at a podium. Instead, a team of planners from Saratoga Associates, the comprehensive plan consultant, will conduct a series of interactive exercises designed to help people visualize and discuss the future of Auburn.
Saratoga Associates will continue to work with the City and the community, through next fall, to draft the plan. Saratoga Associates is a planning, landscape architecture, architecture and engineering firm based in Saratoga Springs, New York and with offices in New York City and Syracuse.
To sign up for the meetings or find our more about the process please contact: City of Auburn Office of Planning & Economic Development (315) 255-4115.
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