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Grand Island committee hires consultants for natural resources inventory; zoning reform and recreation plan proceed
Summary
Long Range Planning members said the town has hired consultants for a natural resources inventory as phase one of an open space plan, the Recreation Master Plan consultant contract is pending, and Clark Patterson is conducting inventory analysis for a zoning code rewrite that committee members expect to be a multiyear effort.
Grand IslandLong Range Planning Committee members reported progress on a Natural Resources Inventory, a Recreation Master Plan and zoning reform work that will feed into updated town policy and code.
Open space: Committee member Kristen said the open space planning committee hired two cooperating consultants, one led by Robin Drake (an island resident with a background that includes work with Waterkeeper) and a second business called Prospect Hill. The immediate task is a Natural Resources Inventory (phase one) that will aggregate existing data, identify gaps, and produce accessible, updateable data for the town.
Kristen said paperwork was complete and “we have our kickoff meeting on the 28 eighth with them” and that the inventory phase is expected to take about a year. The inventory will inform a phase two open space plan and support grant-seeking and longer-term planning.
Recreation Master Plan and contracts: Committee members said the Recreation Master Plan consultant (LaBella) has been selected and the committee was waiting for the town board to sign the final contract so that work can proceed.
Zoning reform: Members said Clark Patterson is performing the inventory analysis for a comprehensive code rewrite. The zoning reform work is proceeding with outreach to a broad set of stakeholders: engineers, billing staff, the chairs of the Planning and Zoning Boards, local developers and contractors. The committee described the zoning project as complex and long-term; committee members indicated they view it as a three-year effort rather than a quick rewrite. One member said the town base code dates to 1936 and has been heavily patched, and a methodical inventory and public feedback process is necessary before drafting new code.
Committee members also discussed form-based coding and better visuals in the codebook to make the rules easier for residents and applicants to understand. Several members said the goal is to modernize town code while ensuring it implements the towncomprehensive plan.
What wasn’t decided: no final plan or code changes were adopted; the items are in study and outreach phases and depend on final contract execution and subsequent consultant deliverables.
