Consultant outlines master plan update, urges neighborhood planning and redevelopment authority

Andrew Newpil, project manager with consulting firm Oscar Robinson, briefed the Shreveport City Council on July 22 on the city—s master plan update and recommended actions to move the plan from vision into implementation.

Newpil said the update began in February 2024 and that the consulting team is now working on an "80% draft" with recommended priorities and a timeline that would include a full plan for review in September, a Metropolitan Planning Commission public hearing in November and council consideration for adoption in December. "We—re hoping this month to complete our draft of the plan," he told the council.

The consultant said the update builds on the 2010 Great Expectations master plan but shifts emphasis from a purely citywide vision to neighborhood-level execution because the city has lost population and faces higher…