Somerset planning and zoning opens public survey for comprehensive plan, schedules June 3 community meetings

The City of Somerset Planning & Zoning commission opened discussion on a draft community survey for the city’s comprehensive plan during its April 22, 2025 regular meeting and agreed on a public engagement timeline and meeting dates.

Commission members approved the meeting agenda and minutes by voice vote before the substantive discussion. Speaker 2 led the review of the draft survey, saying the latest version reflected edits discussed at the previous meeting, including added or adjusted questions and formatting fixes.

"Questions 2 and 3 were added and adjusted based off of our last discussion," Speaker 2 said while walking the commission through the draft. On a schools question, Speaker 2 explained they had added "Piedmont Valley" (noting it was not "Piedmont Elementary") and left an "other" option to capture private schools and homeschool respondents.

Speaker 2 described revisions to a key prompt (question 21) that asks residents where they would like to see growth and development. "This is some of the suggestion I have for potentially an open end question," Speaker 2 said, adding that previous deployments produced mixed responses but that an open-ended item provides a starting point for analysis.

On outreach and timing, Speaker 2 proposed holding two community meetings on Tuesday, June 3, from 1 to 2 p.m. and 6 to 7 p.m., pending final paperwork. "June 3, which is a Tuesday, for our community meetings. The times, we are 1 to 2 and 6 to 7," Speaker 2 said. The commission indicated those times avoided school conflicts.

The commission agreed on a survey publication window intended to capture both in-person and online responses. "I was potentially looking from May 19 to June 16," Speaker 2 said, describing an online SurveyMonkey deployment that would close the morning of June 17 so staff could collect printed responses from community meetings.

Members discussed distribution logistics for printed surveys and flyers. Speaker 2 said City Hall would be the primary drop-off point and that they would contact local businesses (named in the discussion as "Fancies Coffee" and a business referred to as "Neighbors") and nearby libraries about collecting printed responses. Speaker 2 also said they would create a flyer and make printed surveys available at meetings and via email to stakeholders.

The commission moved and seconded to open and later to close discussion on the survey; both motions were approved by voice vote. Speaker 2 then moved to adjourn; the motion passed and the meeting ended at approximately 6:08 p.m.

Next steps: staff will finalize paperwork and outreach materials, publish the online survey during the agreed window, and hold the June 3 community meetings. The commission noted it likely will not meet on May 13 unless a plat or other agenda item is submitted.