Commission advances comprehensive plan rewrite; members debate structure and vision-first approach

The Onancock Planning Commission spent the bulk of the meeting reviewing the 2021 Comprehensive Plan goals and actions and debating how to organize the update. Chairperson Greer asked Cindy to walk the commission through each section and the track-change notes that mark items completed, in progress, or needing attention. Cindy summarized the approach: "I basically just took the the goals in each section and copied and pasted them into a document and then Fletcher and I met to review them and try to determine which had been accomplished or were in progress or perhaps the status of all the ones that we could identify." Commissioners split on structure: some urged preserving the older plan organization to maintain legal clarity, while others argued for a more readable, vision-driven arrangement with chapter-integrated background.

Members agreed on a practical drafting approach: chapter authors will prepare draft text independently (noting that too many simultaneous track-change edits create confusion), Chairperson Greer and Casey will produce a revised table of contents and a clean draft within two weeks, and staff will assemble maps and base files (Bill Nelson expected to finish a base map "this week"). The commission also set work leads for housing, maps and the B2 amendment, and agreed to forward the B2 amendment to town council when the draft is complete.