The update to the 1996 Land Use Plan was directed by Council at their December 16, 2010 regular meeting. On May 2, 2011, Council appropriated a portion of the required funds for this project. With that direction, staff began developing a two-phase approach and released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Phase I in October of 2011.

At the January 2012 Council retreat, staff recommended that the forthcoming Land Use Plan update utilize a two-phase approach. The first phase consisted of development of a “Charter”, which included Council input and expectations for the community plan. During the retreat, staff gave three presentations to Council regarding the Land Use Plan update. The first presentation provided information about the current Land Use Plan along with key trends from a community profile. The second presentation focused on effective planning and community participation approaches that have been used by similar communities. The third presentation consisted of group discussions, which focused on strengths and weaknesses of Cary’s existing Land Use Plan, and then identify specified issues and future challenges that should be addressed during the update of the Land Use Plan.

At the May 24, 2012 Council work session, staff presented the draft recommendations for the scope, process, timeline, and community engagement and outreach program for the update of Cary’s Land Use/Comprehensive Plan. Staff’s presentation at the work session provided a “check-in” with Council, provided the recommendations of the draft Project Charter, and included Phase II project scope, framework and organization of the new plan and associated outreach and engagement.

A second work session was conducted on July 31, 2012, at which staff presented the final version of the Charter and sought feedback, concurrence and direction from Council to move forward with Phase II of the project – the actual preparation of the new Community Plan for the Town of Cary – now called Imagine Cary.

RELATED LINKS

2012 Council/Staff Retreat

· Minutes

· Presentation (Part 1)

· Presentation (Part 2, Trends & Best Practices)

· Presentation: (Part 3, Engaging the Community)

May 24, 2012 Council Work Session

· Minutes

· Presentation

· Draft Charter (Part 1)

· Draft Charter (Part2)

July 31, 2012 Council Work Session

· Minutes

· Presentation