Wednesday, June 13, 2007

NOTICE! Announcement regarding the Master Plan and Comprehensive Plan


THE CITY OF LAKE WORTH PLANNING & ZONING BOARD HAS ANNOUNCED THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF MONTHLY SPECIAL WORKSHOP MEETINGS AT WHICH THE BOARD WILL REVIEW THE PROPOSED NEW COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR THE CITY OF LAKE WORTH. THE PROPOSED NEW COMP PLAN IMPLEMENTS THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE STRATEGIC MASTER PLAN, ON WHICH THE CITY HAS BEEN WORKING FOR NEARLY TWO YEARS.
TO REVIEW THE STRATEGIC MASTER PLAN, PLEASE CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK:
TO REVIEW THE PROPOSED NEW COMPREHENSIVE PLAN PLEASE CLICK THE FOLLOWING:

CLICK HERE

THE FIRST OF MONTHLY SPECIAL WORKSHOP MEETING OF THE PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD WILL BE HELD BEGINNING AT 6 PM ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2007 AT THE LW GOLF COURSE CLUBHOUSE. NO PUBLIC COMMENT WILL BE TAKEN AT THAT TIME. YOU MAY OBSERVE THE PROCEEDINGS. THE P&Z BOARD HAS, HOWEVER, INVITED WRITTEN COMMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED IN ADVANCE OF THE MEETING. YOUR WRITTEN COMMENTS WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE BOARD PACKAGE FOR THE INITIAL WORKSHOP IF THEY ARE RECEIVED BY CITY STAFF NO LATER THAN 12 NOON ON FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2007. E-MAIL YOUR COMMENTS TO P&Z DIRECTOR SHARON JACKSON AT sjackson@LakeWorth.org WITH E-MAIL COPY TO BOARD SECRETARY SANDI DUBOSE AT sdubose@LakeWorth.org. YOU MAY ALSO FAX COMMENTS TO MS. JACKSON AT 561-586-1786.
PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT CONSULTANTS FOR THE CITY ARE NOW PREPARING A COMPLETELY NEW ZONING CODE ("LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS" OR "LDRs") THAT WILL IMPLEMENT THESE CHANGES IN THE COMP PLAN. THE DRAFT LDRs ARE NOT YET AVAILABLE, BUT A DRAFT WILL ALSO BE ADDED TO THIS REVIEW PROCESS IN THE COMING WEEKS.
YOU ARE STRONGLY URGED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCESS. THE NEW COMP PLAN WILL ESTABLISH THE FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPMENT IN THE CITY FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT DECADE. THERE ARE BOTH GOOD AND PROBLEMATIC ELEMENTS TO THE DRAFT. IF YOU OWN LAND WITHIN THE CITY, YOU ARE STRONGLY URGED TO LOOK AT THE PROPOSED NEW FUTURE LAND USE MAP. LARGE AREAS OF THE CITY ARE BEING REDESIGNATED AND WILL EVENTUALLY BE REZONED. THE PROPOSED NEW FUTURE LAND USE MAP IS INCLUDED IN THE "E.A.R. BASED AMENDMENTS", CITED ABOVE. THERE ARE ALSO MANY LIMITS BEING PLACED ON BUILDING HEIGHT, THE NUMBER OF RESIDENTIAL UNITS PERMITTED ON A PARCEL OF LAND AND MANY OTHER INCENTIVES/DISINCENTIVES FOR DEVELOPMENT. ONLY YOU CAN DETERMINE HOW THESE CHANGES MAY AFFECT YOU, IF AT ALL.
THE NEW COMP PLAN WILL HAVE A MUCH WIDER AFFECT ON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. NOW IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO AFFECT THE OUTCOME OF THIS PROCESS.
WE RECOGNIZE THAT A GREAT DEAL OF EFFORT IS NEEDED TO READ, DIGEST AND COMMENT ON THESE IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS. THIS IS A ONCE-IN-A-DECADE ACTIVITY! WHILE TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE, PLEASE DO NOT PASS UP THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE.
WE EXPECT THE P&Z BOARD'S REVIEW PROCESS TO EXTEND OVER THE NEXT 5-6 MONTHS, AFTER WHICH OUR ATTENTION WILL SHIFT TO ADOPTION OF NEW LAWS BY THE CITY COMMISSION. WE EXPECT THAT THIS NEW FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPMENT WILL BE IN PLACE BY THE END OF THE YEAR.
PLEASE CONTACT ME AT WESBLACKMAN@GMAIL.COM WITH QUESTIONS OR MORE INFORMATION