Planning for the General Plan

Our General Plan Advisory Committee last month was attended by more than a dozen people. In addition, City Council candidate and Traffic and Parking Commissioner Sonny Morper and Community Services Commissioner Loretta Herrin were there as part of the public meeting.

The group talked about their general impressions of what they wanted to see in the City in the next 20 years. Here’s an abstract –

• More late night opportunities
• Finer dining opportunities
• Re-development in the run-down business sections
• More places for entrepreneurs to develop
• Better opportunities for nonprofits
• Better opportunities for school-aged children
• More housing options (work-force, affordable)

There was general consensus that people were happy with Lake Forest. We manage to grow while still keeping a small town community orientation. Crime is low and businesses are thriving.

NEW WAY OF THINKING

While I was sitting there I had an epithany. I thought of all the changes we see happening every day –

• Retail – this space is radically changing, and with the thought of Amazon drones delivering packages in a few years, can we really be projecting how we want retail 2040 to look.
• Parking – it’s such a big problem now, but with Uber and Lft will we be entering a point when people will own fewer and fewer cars?
• Senior living – seniors are getting younger and younger and staying healthier and healthier. What will this population look like in 20 years?
• Commerce – the business makeup of many cities is changing rapidly. What was once a desired outcome is now seen as problemmatic. How do we anticipate future needs?
• The workplace – As telecommuting increases, what does this suggest to the way we develop our future city. Will the internet highway be more important than the auto highway?

These rapid and transformative changes mean that a blueprint for the next 20 years will undoubtedly be obsolete. If that’s true, what should a General Plan be?

I’m thinking that a General Plan for 2040 needs to be more guidelines and principles rather than a colored map. Here are some questions I think are pertinent –

• Given the fact that a piece of land has varying revenue and expense implications for a City, what are the likely outcomes of zoning residential, commercial, office, and retail?
• For a city of our projected size (100,000), what is the proper mix of residential, commercial, office, and retail along with open space and parks.
• For every 10,000 people, how much park acreage and open space should we provide, and does this vary depending on the age demographics?
• Looking at the business sector, are we best served by concentrating on some basic sectors or should we be looking at a wide diversity? What sectors will best be suited to attract over the next 20 years?

The next meeting will be Oct 4 at 6:30 pm at the City Hall.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest where he serves as Mayor. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a town hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be Oct 18 at 7 pm at the Lake 1 Clubhouse (Ridge Route).