Comprehensive plan unveiling schedule outlined

VILLAGE OF FAYETTEVILLE – Fayetteville’s comprehensive plan steering committee met last week to discuss a schedule of how to roll out the drafts of their plan update.
Environmental Design & Research Planning Practice Leader Sam Gordon said at the Aug. 16 meeting that the future land use section and the implementation plan identifying all the goals, strategies and courses of action in one place were the last pieces to assemble for the 91-page document, but he said the plan has overall neared closer to being unveiled outside of the committee membership and consultants.
Though he said requests to have the municipality’s other boards and commissions weigh in could provide an opportunity to see what’s missing once those parts are included, Gordon said that the steering committee should be comfortable with the updated plan before circulating it, referring to the group in his presence as the “first line of defense.”
Manlius Deputy Town Supervisor Sara Bollinger, a member of the steering group, said she would like to have the other officials look the document over beforehand and share input before the finalization of the draft, but fellow member and Village Trustee Michael Small said that could require another overhaul that would set the process back.
Small added that the committee members should be entrusted with achieving the proper wording and making the proper edits since they were appointed by the village’s board of trustees in the first place to helm the process.
Gordon said that no matter when that step takes place, the other boards and commissions should be given at most a month to evaluate the draft. At the end of that time, the steering committee would ask for one consolidated set of comments per group.
The steering committee would then make additions and changes as decided before the presentation of a draft for review by the general public, the holding of a public hearing and the eventual adoption if approved by the village board.
At its meeting last week, the committee also talked about how to approach the acknowledgements page and cover page for the document. Since any edits can affect the layout of the plan, Gordon said the table of contents will be the last order of business.
The members also talked about capturing and incorporating photos emblematic to Fayetteville, such as pictures of the main streets and communal events like the Memorial Day Parade.
The committee plans to share a draft with other village representatives after its Sept. 19 meeting and create a public review draft by November. Gordon said the updating process should draw to a close around December or January.