Final public hearing on city comprehensive plan Tuesday
Published 6:10 pm Friday, July 31, 2015
Tuesday, the Bainbridge City Council will hold a final public hearing for the 2015 update to the city’s Comprehensive Plan.
The public hearing will take place as part of the council’s regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall Tuesday, Aug. 4.
The 20-year plan, which was developed in 2010, receives an update every five years to help the city reevaluate short-term goals, as well as long-term goals.
The city hosted a series of public workshops in order to get input from citizens on what their visions were for the community. That input mostly came from city staff and steering committee members, as no more than half dozen citizens attended any of the workshops, but the city also utilized online surveys to garner input.
The document outlines various economic and public infrastructure needs and a list of goals to address those needs.
It also includes a list of ongoing and upcoming projects for the city to consider over the next five years such as Boat Basin playground expansion and working with the Department of Transportation to develop better truck routes through the city. There are also long-term work projects that “are not priorities in the next five year,” according to the plan draft. Some of those items include conducting a river corridor protection plan, Shotwell Street mall are redevelopment study and creating a parks and recreation master plan.
The draft includes current and projected demographic data for Bainbridge and Decatur County from Geographic information system company Esri.
The draft of the plan is available for viewing online and at City Call. The plan must be submitted to the Southwest Georgia Regional Commission for review, then to Georgia Department of Community Affairs for review. The Bainbridge City Council will vote to adopt the approved plan at least 60 days after submittal to SWGRC for review.
Local governments are required by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to develop and periodically update Comprehensive Plans.