Warwickcompplan.com to help update comprehensive plan

The city has recently begun an update of its Comprehensive Plan, required by state law to help shape the city's policies and actions relating to future development and its impacts. Part of this 18-month process will include soliciting input from residents and business owners. If you own property in the city of Warwick, or are looking to locate here, I urge you to become involved. A project website,www.warwickcompplan.com, has been developed for the new comprehensive plan, called 21st Century Warwick: City of Livable Neighborhoods, and will be the central information source for the planning process. The site also offers one an ability to register to follow the planning process on Facebook and Twitter. 21st Century Warwick: City of Livable Neighborhoods will be a 20-year policy and strategic framework for decision making about the physical development of the city of Warwick. Its overall vision will take into consideration Warwick's unique qualities, including our culture and heritage, and establish a set of goals, policies and actions necessary to achieve those goals. The plan will also focus on specific topic areas, or "elements", including natural resources, history and culture, open space and recreation, housing and neighborhoods, economic development, transportation and circulation, services and facilities, and land use. A new element, resilience, will be added and will focus on adaptation to increased hazards from flooding and other potential impacts of climate change. A series of public workshops, scheduled in each city council ward, will begin this month and run through July. At these meetings, residents, business owners and other interested persons will discuss the specific elements of the plan as they relate to their neighborhoods. Following those workshops, a series of topical workshops in September/October will focus on issues such as the environment and open space, transportation, or economic development, and citywide forums will be scheduled for late fall 2011 and spring 2012. The project website includes a calendar of project events and meetings, a library of documents and resources, and ways to contact the planning team. Interested persons can sign up on the website for automatic notifications about events and other new information. The web site will also host a series of online surveys and the public will be able to comment on draft documents. An advisory committee has been established to serve as a sounding board for the planning team and will meet approximately once every other month throughout the planning process. A consultant team led by Goody Clancy and Associates of Boston has been selected to work with the city on the plan update. For more information, please contact the Warwick Planning Department, 401.738.2000, ext. 6289, or visit www.warwickcompplan.com. Scott Avedisian is the mayor of Warwick.