May 8, 2007

From the Mayor’s Desk

Strategic planning should guide city’s future

By Mayor Dan Furtado
Special to the Times

Planning the city’s future growth and development should be guided by a strategic plan with input by the community and commitment of its elected officials.

Every city in California is required to have a General Plan that provides guidelines for growth and development. In other words, The General Plan is a “comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the city.” It must contain chapters that address the following elements: Land Use, Circulation, Open Space, Conservation, Safety, Noise, and Housing.

Campbell’s current General Plan was adopted in 2001. Usually, these plans are reviewed and updated every ten years or so. After its adoption, changes and updates to the zoning code are made. We have been following this process over the last several years.

Recently, for example, we began to consider how East Campbell Avenue, from the railroad tracks to the Pruneyard, should develop in the future. This process has included use of consultants with long-range planning expertise, at least three community meetings, study sessions by both the Planning Commission and the City Council, and, finally, up to this point, a formal hearing and recommendation to the City Council by the Commission.

This is the approach that works best by including all stakeholders in establishing priorities. We recently completed a comprehensive needs assessment on the future of our library using this process.

Likewise, we need to adopt a careful and strategic approach as we examine how our museum and city history should be preserved in our town. This is why I believe, as I mentioned in last month’s article, the fire house museum and property we own on the exact site where the city was first established after incorporation in 1952, should remain where it is. We should then examine through a strategic process how we might expand and enhance the story of our city’s significant heritage, perhaps in the context of also planning for a new library. The current effort to consider physically moving the firehouse museum to make way for development is a very short-sided approach and a waste of money that should be spent much more effectively on efforts the community supports.