Title
Oregon City Comprehensive Plan Update and Draft Public Involvement Plan for Community Vision OC 2040
Body
RECOMMENDED ACTION (Motion):
No action required.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City of Oregon City is launching OC2040, a citywide effort to update the Oregon City Comprehensive Plan that will guide land use decisions over the next 20 years. The first step in the process is to create a Community Vision that reflects what community members love and want to preserve about Oregon City, and what they would like to see change by 2040. Staff will provide an overview of the process and the community engagement identified to create the Community Vision. Though the community will be involved in each step of the project, the targeted efforts of gathering the vision of community members will span six months from May - October of 2020. The process will be followed by assembling the feedback into a Community Vision from October - January.
BACKGROUND:
Project Overview
The City of Oregon City is launching OC2040, a citywide effort to update the Oregon City Comprehensive Plan that will guide land use decisions over the next 20 years. The first step in the process is to create a community vision that reflects what community members love and want to preserve about Oregon City, and what they would like to see change by 2040. The Comprehensive Plan will consist of broad goals and policies to implement the vision and guide future growth and development.
Oregon City has seen significant changes in its population since the current Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 2004. Furthermore, previous outreach measures were not successful in soliciting input from those not already connected to local government. Traditional outreach methods coupled with long and complicated documents failed to engage a wider range of community members who really need to be heard.
OC2040 will employ a new approach that ensures all community members are given the opportunity to participate in a collective vision for the future that reflects our values and equitably supports all. Our approach will take care to assure marginalized community members have a voice. Outreach efforts will empower the community with information and facilitate careful listening to a diverse array of community members. We will work together to create a Comprehensive Plan that reflects the entire community, encourages participation in future decisions, and inspires future leaders.
The purpose of this document is to identify the community engagement which will shape the Community Vision. The community input is anticipated to be collected from May - October of 2020. The process will be followed by the creation and adoption of the Community Vision October - January.
Community Engagement Objectives
The City is committed to engaging the community early and often throughout the process using a variety of means. The intent is to lift up the voices of all community members, including underrepresented populations such as communities of color, living in subsidized housing, homeless to understand how to better support them. The community engagement process is designed to meet the following objectives:
- Design and implement a robust and equitable community outreach program.
- Inform the community with timely, transparent, and accurate information.
- Engage a representative cross-section of Oregon City residents, businesses and partners.
- Consult the community in the identification, refinement, and prioritization of policy updates.
- Ensure community members understand how decisions are made, their concerns are heard, and they know how their feedback influenced decisions.
- Work with partners to conduct outreach in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner, using methods and locations that are safe and familiar.
- Employ accessible and appropriate tools and technologies to inform and engage the community.
Key Messages
The following statements characterize the project and communicate the information people need to know. These messages will be updated and augmented throughout the course of the project and used across platforms.
- Oregon City is launching OC2040, a citywide effort to update the Oregon City Comprehensive Plan.
- Oregon City has seen many changes since the last comprehensive plan was adopted in 2004.
- The Comprehensive Plan will guide growth and development in our community over the next 20 years. It establishes goals and policies for future housing, economy, community, infrastructure, government and ecosystems in Oregon City.
- City leaders use the Plan to manage expected population and employment growth, coordinate public investments and make decisions about new development, existing neighborhoods, transportation, and a variety of other topics.
- Oregon state law requires that all cities and counties adopt Comprehensive Plans that are consistent with statewide planning goals.
- There will be multiple opportunities to participate in the comprehensive planning process in the coming months.
- Community members can provide comments or ask questions at any time by visiting www.OC2040.com.