Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Comprehensive Planning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Consultants report broad participation in Imagine Pender 2050; residents emphasize managed growth, flooding and housing
Summary
Clarion Associates told the Pender County Planning Board that more than 1,400 surveys and nearly 180 in-person attendees informed early public engagement for the county's Imagine Pender 2050 comprehensive-plan update. Top priorities included coordinating growth with infrastructure, protecting farmland and addressing stormwater and housing needs.
Leanne King, project manager with Clarion Associates, told the Pender County Planning Board on Dec. 3 that the first round of public engagement for Imagine Pender 2050 drew more than 1,400 survey responses and nearly 180 in-person attendees during a seven-week outreach period in September and October.
King said the engagement program included 10 in-person forums, tabling at 15 events and a parallel online process open from Sept. 17 to Oct. 29. Clarion and county staff used three evaluation objectives to measure the outreach: participant satisfaction with engagement, representativeness relative to the county's demographics, and increased participation compared with the county's last comprehensive-plan process in 2018 (Pender 2.0). King said respondents reported high satisfaction and signaled they would participate in future events.
The consultant summarized the top policy priorities that emerged: coordinating growth with infrastructure and utilities, farmland and environmental protection, stormwater and flood mitigation, investments in parks and public amenities, attainable housing (described by Clarion as a range of choices and price points), economic development to diversify the tax base, enhanced civic engagement and improved access to health and emergency services.
"When we talk about attainable housing . . . we are talking about providing a variety of choices at different price points that can be affordable to different households," King said. She added that communities Clarion works with typically consider workforce housing in a price range of roughly 80% to 120% of area median income, although she said Pender County has not yet adopted a local affordable-housing definition.
King and staff presented several policy concepts for the planning board's consideration, including a tiered-growth map to align future development with planned infrastructure (an approach illustrated by Mooresville, N.C.), a farmland-protection program (examples cited from Iredell County), character-based design guidance distinct from land-use categories, strengthened floodplain and stormwater standards, and incentives or tools to encourage a wider range of housing types.
Board members and Clarion staff discussed next steps: Clarion will work with the county project team and a steering committee to draft alternatives for the future land-use map and policy language during the next phase. The consultant said a public review draft would be released in spring 2025 ahead of the formal adoption process later in the project schedule.
King noted Clarion is preparing a full engagement report, including verbatim comments and demographic analyses, that staff expects to post on the project website within about a week.
Why it matters: The engagement results will inform the county's comprehensive plan update and possible future amendments to the unified development ordinance; policy priorities the board endorses will guide where growth is encouraged and where protections or higher standards might be applied.
What's next: Clarion and county staff will develop land-use alternatives and draft plan language for steering-committee review, with a public release of the draft plan anticipated in spring 2025.
