Representatives of McKenna Associates said a semifinal draft of the new Three Rivers Master Plan will go before a public hearing later this month. At Tuesday’s regular City Commission meeting, Paul Lippens of the Northville consulting firm said changes have been incorporated into the document following a 63-day public comment period that began in early June. There are only a few steps remaining before the document becomes official.
A public hearing for the document will take place during a regular meeting of the Three Rivers Planning Commission on October 26 at 6 p.m. The meeting will occur virtually via the Zoom online platform unless pandemic restrictions change before then. The hearing will include a short public comment period before Planning Commission members discuss the draft. If they are satisfied with it, the Planning Commission will recommend it for adoption and forward it to the City Commission for a final vote of approval. In the meantime, the current draft will be available for viewing at wearetr.com.
Entitled We Are TR: Imagine 2040, the document lays out goals and priorities for the city, as well as a vision for land use, zoning, transportation, and infrastructure. It includes possible funding sources. The document is non-binding, which means it is not regulatory, but it provides the city with a cohesive roadmap for development and growth.
Work on the document began in 2018. A steering committee comprised of representatives of several Three Rivers organizations and city agencies worked with McKenna staff to draft the document, with input from the city commission and staff, the planning commission, a public focus group, and other sectors of the public through targeted events.
Best practices and city policy call for the document to be updated every five years. However, the current update process has been more comprehensive due to a program called Redevelopment Ready Communities (RRC). A program of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, RRC provides incentives and support to improve and streamline policies and procedures that pertain to planning and economic development in a way that makes them more user-friendly.
At the June meeting that kicked off the public comment period, Lippens noted that community input overwhelmingly emphasized the importance of the rivers and their connection to downtown. Some of the highlights include proposed completion and growth of interconnected trails for bicyclists and better pedestrian infrastructure, improvement of the city’s main gateways, improvement and expansion of housing options, and continued development of the downtown through public art, business development, better infrastructure, and more usable regulations.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Lippens said, “we did receive comments” during the public review period. He said the comments were generally very supportive, but there were a few things to address and incorporate into the draft that will go for recommendation before the Planning Commission.
Some comments pertained to equity in the document’s development process, he said. In response, McKenna staff added information regarding the city’s efforts at building equity into planning. Lippens said an outreach event took place on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, incorporating “a parade” afterward.
He said that was intentional because it was likely a more diverse crowd would show up. Lippens said there is a possibility that event could be repeated in 2021 to kick off implementation of the adopted Master Plan. The Solidarity in Diversity: Martin Luther King Celebration, which includes the march Lippens referred to, is held annually and organized by the Three Rivers Area Faith Community.
Other comments pertained to details about how the plan will be implemented with respect to RRC program recommendations. A chapter in the document contains a table showing options for implementation, and Lippens said additional information has been incorporated into that table. “We wanted to have a plan that was geared toward implementation,” Lippens said, and feedback was “consistent with input from the steering committee.”
Other additions came from comments at the county level and from the Planning Commission itself. County-level comments called for more information on where flood plains are located in the city. The document now includes information on how to find Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) maps online and includes some brief descriptive text with snapshots of those maps. In response to Planning Commission feedback on shaping the West Michigan Avenue corridor, there is now additional text in the future land use section pertaining to a zoning overlay there.
Lippens thanked the Planning Commission for “providing comments and really investing in the process.” He said, “we’re really excited about the plan. We think that this plan will be the tool that the city wants to move forward and to create a planning framework that can be used to implement all of the things the city has planned.” Lippens said he is excited to be at the point of scheduling a public hearing. At that hearing, he said, Planning Commission members will be “taking comments from residents, business owners, or anyone who wants to attend.”
Dave Vago is a writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.
