HomeMy WebLinkAboutB_PolicyPlan_IntroGeorgetown
1996
CENTUR "!t AN Georgetown POLICYPLAN
CITY OF GEORGETOWN, TEXAS
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Adopted by the
Georgetown City Council
March 8, 1988
Revised September 24, 1996
CENTURYPLAN
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Georgetown
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POLICY PUN
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TEXAS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
March 8, 1988 Adoption
MAYOR
Jim Colben
CITY COUNCIL
Joan King - Mayor Pro Tem
*Luther Laubach - From 1987
*Marvin Lackey
Barbara Pearce - From 1987
William H. Connor - To 1987
William C. Shell - To 1987
Eb C. Girvin - Mayor Pro Tem - To 1987
CITY MANAGER
Robert Gaylor
-Ex-officio members of all Century Plan Task Groups
CENTURY PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE
Jim Colbert, Chair* Tim Kennedy, Co -Chair
W.T. Johnston, Co- Chair ** Jeanne Mosier, Co -Chair
Marvin Lackey*
Pat Crowley Karen Gilbert **
Luther Laubach*
Rex Titsworth
Patty Eason ** Phil Baker
F.L. Tom **
Wayne Meadows **
Ron Gahagan Henry Vasquez **
Armistead Davis **
CENTURY PLAN TASK GROUP MEMBERS
TASK GROUP ONE
Phil Baker, Chair
W.T. Johnston ** F.L. Torn **
Gene Bernd
Kay Cordi
Mark Dixon Claude Hays
Jack Hunnicutt
Ethel Moore
Paula Oliver Glen Schmidt
Dale Shuddin
Rae Wheeler
Ben Whisler
TASK GROUP TWO
Tim Kennedy, Chair
Ron Gahagan, Chair
Henry Vasquez **
Bob Allen
Larry Bingham Karen Dormois
RobinHallett
Don Hennings
Jon Hittman Toby Lierman
Gwen Morrison
Daniel Vasquez
Red Youngman
11
POLICYPL.LV
CRNTORYPLAN
Georgetown
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
September 24, 1996 Revision
MAYOR
Leo Wood
CITY COUNCIL
Ferd Tom - Mayor Pro Tern
George Arroyos
Lee Bain
Charles Burson
Shelly Davis
Susan Hoyt
Dick Vincent
CITY MANAGER
Bob Hart
CITY STAFF
Edward J. Barry, AICP - Director of Development Services
Clyde von Rosenberg, AICP - Chief of Long Range Planning
Susan Morgan, CPA - Director of Finance and Administration
Kenneth Bloom - Planning Intem
POLICYPLAN
M
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CRNTURYPLAN
Georgetown
TEXAS
TASK GROUP THREE
Jeanne Mosier, Chair
Karen Gilbert** Renee Carey Patsy Bracamontez
Art Carroll
Kathy Corbett Eugenia Harrell Walt Herbert
Nancy Raper
Cliff Saxon Fred Stevener Lois Vasquez
David Voelter
TASK GROUP FOUR
Pat Crowley, Chair
Patty Eason ** Jose Alejo Barbara Brightwell
Scherry Chapman
Jim Donovan Tex Kassen Jeannine Fairborn
Joann Ford
Jerry Graham Delia Gutierrez Rosemary Crossfield
Birdie Shanklin
TASK GROUP FIVE
Rex Titsworth, Chair
Wayne Meadows ** Larry Bullock Armistead Davis **
Ed Olson
Vern Harris Paul Williams Norm Peterson
Gary Pickett .
Bill Smith Emma Thornton Ruth Thrash
Many Tyree
Linda Flory- McCalla
CITY STAFF
Edward J. Barry, AICP- Director of Development Services
Randall A. Gaither, Chief -Long Range Planning
Hildy L. Kingma, AICP - Senior Planner
Eric W. Winter, AICP- Senior Planner
Tammy Hughey, Secretary
*Council persons
* *Planning and Zoning Commissioners
POLICY PLAN
Georgetown
PoucrPiav
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER
PACE
I
INTRODUCTION
I.
Scope of the Century Plan
2
How the Century Plan Works
3
II
PRINCIPLES AND ASSUMPTIONS
7
Principles
8
Assumptions
10
III
POLICYAREAS
13
Economic Development
16
Education
18
Environmental and Resource Conservation
19
Facilities and Services
20
Finance
22
Governmental Affairs
23
Growth and Physical Development
24
Health and Human Services
25
Historic Preservation
26
Housing
27
Recreation and Cultural Affairs
28
Transportation
29
Urban Design
30
Utilities and Energy
31
IV
ADMINISTRATION
33
Article I. General Administration
35
Article H. Implementation
38
Article III. Revision Process
44
Article IV. Amendment Process
47
Article V. Modifications to Chapter 4
51
Article VI. Definitions
51
V
APPENDICES
55
1. Section 1.08 of City Charter
56
2. Resolution Number 870239.019
59
3. State Statutes
61
4. Overview of Process
62
5. Georgetown Century Plan Base Studies
70
6. References
72
7. Ordinance Number 96140
73
8. Ordinance Number 880097
76
Georgetown
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CENTURY PLAN
G eorgetown
rxns
Ell INTRODUCTION
POLICY PLAN
Georgetown residents share a basic concern that the high quality of life
currently found in this community should be maintained and enhanced. There is also a
general understanding that in order to develop and maintain a pleasant, attractive,
dynamic, and healthy community it is important to plan ahead. This comprehensive
plan, officially entitled the Century Plan (Plan), represents a first -time effort on the
part of the City to document and formalize the process by which Georgetown will strive
to enhance its quality of life. In April 1986, the residents of the City of Georgetown
approved an Amendment to the City Charter mandating the preparation and adoption
of a comprehensive planning process to become "a continuous and ongoing
governmental function. " It also requires that all future development; both public and
private, conform to the adopted comprehensive plan, The Century Plan provides the
guidelines and structure for maintaining the public welfare, ensuring the reasonable
use and protection of land and other natural resources, facilitating the provision of
facilities and services, and protecting natural resources. The City Council and other
local policy- makers, private developers, residents of the community, and City staff will
use this document as the framework for assessing community needs and desires and
setting the course of action to implement its policy recommendations.
PLAN
Georgetown
POLICY PLAN
SCOPE OF THE CENTURY PLAN
The process developed for preparation and adoption of the Century Plan
required that a Policy Plan be adopted by the City Council by April 1988. The Policy
Plan is the central element of the Century Plan in that it contains the overriding policy
recommendations and administrative structure of the Plan. These have been adopted by
ordinance and are legally binding. The City's policies are implemented through the
adoption and use of a governance model. The governance model is an advanced
approach to Council operations which provides for Council to set policies through the
use of Ends statements. These Ends are expressed through the Council's Mission
Statement and through Policy Ends statements and Focus Ends statements. The
Mission Statement is considered the broadest of all Ends, an overall statement of
purpose. Policy Ends statements, which are shown in bold in Chapter Three, are
expressions of the desired results for the community and are written broadly enough to
be relatively permanent, express the community's values, and have the consensus of the
general public. Focus Ends statements are also included in the policy Plan in order to
clarify and define the Policy Ends and to establish the framework of the Functional
Plans. These statements, which are shown in regular print in Chapter Three, are more
specific than Policy Ends and provide clarification and further definition. Preparation
and adoption of the Policy Plan and the individual Functional Plans is the responsibility
of the City Council, the Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Century Plan Task
Groups, with staff support from the Planning Department and Director of each City
Division. Preparation and approval of the Functional Plans, which address specific
elements in greater detail, will occur subsequent to preparation and adoption of the
Policy Plan.
This introductory chapter of the Policy Plan provides a general background for
the Plan. The remaining chapters describe the principles and assumptions; the Ends
statements and the administrative structure which will be used to guide Georgetown's
growth and development to the year 2010.
PRINCIPLES AND ASSUMPTIONS, the second chapter, describes the
foundation of values and conditions on which the Policy Plan was based. There are
some beliefs which have come to be so fundamental in the history and culture of the
United States, that even without our open acknowledgment, they influence our
determination of needs and desires for the future of the community. Similarly, there
are certain socio- economic conditions and trends that are widely accepted to be fact.
These are assumptions that will have a significant impact on the needs and aspirations
PLAN
Georgetown
POLICY PLAN
of the Georgetown community during the planting period. To the extent possible,
these principles and assumptions are described in Chapter Two.
Chapter Three, POLICYAREAS, lists the Policy Ends and Focus Ends which
will guide decisions about Georgetown's future. This chapter is organized by fourteen
categories, each of which can be directly related to one or more of the City Charter
mandated comprehensive plan elements while also accommodating the interrelations
among these elements. As an introduction to each Policy Area, a description of its
relationship to the City Charter and other categories is provided.
The fourth chapter, ADMINISTRATION, describes the method by which the
Ends and the Functional Plans will be adopted, implemented, and modified. Because
the Century Plan is a dynamic document, it will have to be continually adjusted to
reflect changing conditions, resources, and desires. The process for making these
changes is included in Chapter Four and is printed in bold type to indicate that it has
the same legal stature as the policies in Chapter Three.
The final chapter of the Policy Plan, the APPENDIX, contains the supporting
documents to the Plan. A more detailed description of the Policy Plan, including the
background of comprehensive planning in Georgetown, the need for this Plan, and the
manner in which the Plan was initially prepared and is to be continually maintained, is
included. In addition, SECTION 1.08 of the City Charter and the major City Council
actions relating to the Century Plan are included. Finally, the nine inventory reports
upon which. the Plan is based me included by reference.
HOW THE CENTURY PLAN WORKS
City Council adoption of the Policy Plan provides the vision for the ongoing
process of comprehensive planning in Georgetown. Exhibit 1 is a schematic flow chart
which illustrates the dynamic nature of the Century Plan process. Subsequent to
approval of the Policy Plan, the Century Plan Task Groups will begin to develop the
individual Functional Plan Elements. Fifteen Functional Plans are proposed to describe
in detail the manner in which the Policy Plan will be fulfilled. The preparation and
adoption of the Functional Plans, including Land Use, Transportation, Utilities, Parks,
Environmental, Citizen Participation, Facilities and Services, Housing, Economic,
Health and Human Services, Historic Preservation, Airport, Annexation, Urban
Design, and Capital Improvements, are to be completed in subsequent years. The chart .
Georgetown
POrrcrPtax
on Exhibit 2 shows the sequence for completion of the major Century Plan elements.
As a dynamic document the Plan must continue to reflect the conditions,
resources, needs, and desires of the community. Therefore, provisions have been
made. in Chapter Four for amendments and revisions will be made to the Plan.
Similarly, based on the mandates of the Policy Plan and the individual Functional
Plans, revisions will be made to local regulations which affect land development,
including the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances and many other aspects of the City's
decision - making process.
N
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Georgetown
EXHIBIT 1
THE CENTURY PLAN PROCESS
CHARTER AMENDMENT
FORMULATE WORK-PROGRAM AND BUDGET
BASIC PREPARATION & DETAIL SCOPE OF WORK
BASE STUDY INVENTORY
DEVELOP POLICY PLAN
APPROVE POLICY PLAN
DEVELOP FUNCTIONAL PLANS
APPROVE FUNCTIONAL PLANS
POLICY PLAN
IMPLEMENT FUNCTIONAL PLANS:
1. Create capital improvements program
2. Amend zoning /subdivision ordinances
3. Annual division work program
UPDATE BASE STUDIES
AMEND POLICY PLAN
AMEND FUNCTIONAL PLANS
POLICY PLAN
CENTURYPLAN GeorgetoEYV / 6
Base Mapping
Socio-Economic
Physical Features
Land Use
Transportation
Utilities
Facilities & Services
Housing
Historic Preservation
Urban Design
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IN
EXHHiIT 2
CENTURY PLAN WORK PROGRAM
COMPLETED ELEMF,NTS
Policy Plait
Development Plan
Element
Land Use Plan
Transportation Plan
Utilities Plan
Economic Plan
Parks Plan
Facilities and
Services Plan
POLICY PLAN
YYa7D_aIKa .d• r t
Historic Preservation
Plan
Airport Plan
Urban Design Plan
Annexation Plan
Environmental Plan
Citizen Participation
Plan
Housing Plan
Health & Human
Services Plan
Capital Improvements
Program