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Fort Thomas residents press for clearer public input as planning commission prepares comprehensive plan review
Summary
Residents at a Fort Thomas City Council meeting urged the planning commission and city administration to break the comprehensive plan review into smaller pieces, publish the original 2018 supporting research online and coordinate a public survey so community feedback can meaningfully shape goals and objectives.
Sharon McKnight, a Fort Thomas resident, told the City Council the planning commission's upcoming review of the city's comprehensive plan'including more than 25 goals and objectives across six chapters'felt like too much to cover in a single meeting.
"That feels like a lot to cover in just 1 meeting," McKnight said, noting the planning commission's Sept. 17 agenda lists goals and objectives across land use, transportation, parks, utilities and regional partnerships. She urged the commission to publish the 2018 comprehensive plan and the original research that informed it so residents can review materials in advance.
Why it matters: Fort Thomas's comprehensive plan guides future land-use and zoning decisions. Residents and several council members said thorough, understandable outreach and better sequencing of review and a community survey are needed so public input can influence the plan before council action.
At the meeting several residents and council members debated process and sequencing. Tiffany Bieber said citizens deserved to see "the original research that was used for 02/2018" posted on the city website so reviewers are starting from a shared record. Sharon McKnight and others asked that the planning commission present chapters in smaller, digestible sections and attach the relevant pages of the current plan to each agenda item.
City Administrator Matt (identified in the meeting as city administrator) told attendees staff would try to combine the survey work and the planning commission schedule and said the city would aim to have much of the review complete so council could discuss goals and objectives in November. "We can we can try to have that done before November," Matt said.
Several speakers sought clarity on who selects items for the commission to review. Kevin (a planning staff member identified only by first name in the meeting) said the items came from the existing 2018 comprehensive plan and that planning commission members had been given feedback over recent months. Tim (identified as handling the legal end of zoning work) was noted as available for legal questions about the process.
Some commenters asked for an outside facilitator to coordinate public engagement. Council members and the mayor said the planning commission should continue its review and then present recommended goals and objectives to council, where elected officials would have an opportunity to add or change language before final adoption.
Speakers emphasized that the comprehensive plan is used as guidance in future rezoning and map amendment decisions and urged a transparent, well-documented process. The council and staff said they intend to run a public survey alongside commission review, and council members pledged additional joint meetings with the planning commission as needed.
The planning commission item remained on the commission's agenda; residents asked that supporting documents and the 2018 research be posted online and that future commission meetings break the plan into smaller sections to facilitate meaningful public comment.
