The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency is in the process of creating a new comprehensive plan for the county, but not before listening to the community.
This summer, RPA representatives have been at festivals, Riverbend and the mall soliciting feedback on what residents want the future of Hamilton County to look like. Additionally, the agency has held several workshops over the past few weeks to gain even more insight into what's most important to area residents. These considerations will help update the existing plan and direct policy moving forward, said John Bridger, the agency's executive director.
"We don't want to start from ground zero, but we do want to take a fresh look," Bridger said, explaining that the last comprehensive plan was completed in 2006. "That was before iPhones and Enterprise South."
Some of the biggest trends he's seen are requests for more sidewalks and walkable, bikeable communities that make it easy for people to get around. There's also been a push from people to see attractive landscaping, Bridger said.
RPA staff hopes to complete the first draft of the comprehensive plan in October. The plan itself will have to be voted in by elected officials and approved by the community before it can be implemented, he said. After that, the RPA will work on re-evaluating the community-specific area plans.