DEPARTMENT: Department of Planning & Community Development
DEPARTMENT HEAD: John Dugan, AICP
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
A briefing on the SA Tomorrow Increased Public Engagement.
SUMMARY:
Intensive public outreach will take place from now until the adoption of the plan. This will include public meetings, social media campaigns, and media events.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The completion of the SA Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan, Multi-modal Plan, and Sustainability Plan is scheduled for June 2016. Significant engagement and stakeholder meetings are scheduled to take place from now until the completion of the plan.
ISSUE:
Public Outreach
A series of neighborhood workshops took place from March 1 through 3, 2016 in various locations throughout San Antonio. The purpose of these meetings was to collect feedback on the development types that could potentially accommodate the predicted growth in San Antonio. The meetings included an open house for the public to view the development types and ask questions, a presentation on each development type, and periodic Q&A sessions with staff, consultants, and VIA. There were approximately 200 attendees, food was provided.
SA Tomorrow has launched a series of Op-Ed pieces, the first from Mayor Taylor in the Express News. The next SA Tomorrow Op-Ed will be authored by Councilman Nirenberg and will be placed in the San Antonio Business Journal. The third Op-ed will be authored by Brian Hurtak, Chair of Leadership Organization of Professionals, to provide readers with a young professional’s perspective
The community-wide Comprehensive Plan survey was released on March 11, 2016 via social media and direct e-mail blasts. The Department of Planning and Community Development also worked with Council Offices to send out in their newsletters and e-blasts. Both the Rivard Report and the Express News ran articles on March 17, 2016 to promote SA Tomorrow and the survey. The survey will remain up until the first week in April and, to date, the survey has garnered over 970 responses.
The Instagram Campaign was launched on March 17 2016. The Instagram Campaign aims to engage Instagram users by asking them to share examples of places, people, and events that make San Antonio special; pieces they hope to retain and replicate as the City plans for future growth. It is anticipated that one or more of the photos may be showcased in the Comprehensive Plan itself and other social media platforms. In addition the department has started a Nextdoor account to engage neighborhood through San Antonio and keep them informed.
The Department of Planning and Community Development staff has made a concise effort to reach the community at large public events. The department has currently compiled a list of churches throughout the City and will be reaching out in early April. Planning staff was also in attendance at the Siclovia events on April 3rd, interacting with over 300 attendees and informing them of the ongoing survey. The department has also received 487 comment cards from various comment boxes placed in city facilities (Libraries, Parks & Recreation, and Senior Center facilities).This information will be consolidated and presented to the PEWGs and City Council.
Plan Element Working Group : Implementation Meetings
Plan Element Working Group members met on March 23 and 24, 2016 to discuss the implementation of the comprehensive plan, specifically indicators, targets, and action items. Working group members were asked to keep, remove, or revise existing indicators and targets based on SA2020 as well as create new indicators and targets that may be missing. Once indicators and targets were chosen the working group members were then asked to draft strategic action steps that would lead to accomplishing the set targets. The working group members were asked to look specifically at a five year time frame, so that benchmarks can be taken to track progress and adjust the targets as necessary. These draft innovative policies were then reviewed by the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee on March 30, 2016.
ALTERNATIVES:
N/A
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this briefing.
RECOMMENDATION:
This is a briefing for informational purposes only.