Temple Terrace planners outline comprehensive plan update, call for wide public engagement

The City of Temple Terrace received a presentation from Planning Commission staff on a comprehensive plan update that staff said will be text‑focused, begin public engagement planning in 2025 and move into substantive drafting in 2026.

Planning Commission staff member Yanika Mills told the council the comprehensive plan is a 20‑year roadmap that last underwent a meaningful update in 2016 and now contains 12 sections, 28 goals, 155 objectives and 576 policies spread over roughly 270 pages. Melissa Dickens, division director for strategic planning, said the visioning phase will guide all subsequent policy drafting and called for broad community input, including virtual and in‑person meetings and a public engagement plan developed with the University of South Florida’s Master of Urban and Regional Planning program.

The presentation said the update is governed by state statute Chapter 163 and that staff expects to focus first on strengthening and streamlining plan text rather than immediately pursuing map (future land use) changes. Sean College, chief of planning and operations, said population and employment projections help shape policy direction; staff cited 2015–2024 growth figures (population +7%, employment +37%) and presented longer‑term projections they described as “estimates” to 2045 (population +26%, employment +22%), which staff said are subject to periodic revision.

Council members pressed staff on the mechanics and timing of land‑use changes. Mills and College said map amendments are adopted documents and can be amended through a formal process; major updates typically emphasize policy and text while discrete map changes can be pursued separately and are allowed through periodic amendment cycles. College said map amendments could be addressed proactively but are distinct from the text update.

Several council members asked how the update would align with neighboring jurisdictions and prior regional work. Staff and Planning Commission representatives said they will review adjacent jurisdictions’ plans and corridor studies and seek coordination with the cities of Tampa and Hillsborough County—specifically naming the Fowler Avenue Vision Study and the recent annexations affecting employment figures—as part of the background and outreach work. Dickens said staff can provide short explanatory materials (including a suggested video) so respondents to surveys understand regional trends before offering input.

On outreach, staff said they will publish project pages, run both virtual and in‑person events, partner with community stakeholders (neighborhood groups, developers, subject matter experts), make raw survey results available online, categorize public comments into themes for staff summaries, and return summary recommendations to council and the Planning Commission for review before drafting the goals, objectives and policies.

Mills and Dickens told the council the initial visioning and public engagement planning work is expected in 2025 with more detailed drafting and formal plan amendment processes in 2026; staff characterized the overall timing as variable depending on the number of engagement iterations and technical reviews required. They asked council to expect iterative workshops and to help direct outreach to community groups. Mills and Dickens also offered to coordinate early with Tampa and Hillsborough County planners so Temple Terrace policy choices reflect regional realities.

Council members said they want the city to be included early in any regional conversations and asked staff to share relevant studies (for example, the Fowler Avenue Vision Study) as background to inform community engagement. Staff agreed to pursue those materials and to bring a public‑engagement schedule and the draft vision back to council in future workshops.

The council did not take formal action on the plan update at the meeting; staff left the council with a request for guidance on outreach priorities and an offer to return with proposed engagement materials and a draft schedule.