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Home My WebLink AboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 05/09/2017 - CITY PLAN OUTREACH STRATEGYDATE: STAFF: May 9, 2017 Ryan Mounce, City Planner Aaron Iverson, Senior Transportation Planner Timothy Wilder, Service Development Manager WORK SESSION ITEM City Council SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION City Plan Outreach Strategy. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this item is to update Council on early preparations, public engagement strategies, and focus areas for the upcoming City Plan update. GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED 1. What feedback does Council have regarding the proposed City Plan public engagement strategy? 2. Does Council have direction on the type and frequency of involvement with Boards and Commissions and Council itself? 3. Are there additional key topics Council views as important focus areas to explore throughout the City Plan update? BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION Preparations are underway to update three important community plans in 2017-2018: the City’s Comprehensive Plan, the Transportation Master Plan, and the Transit Master Plan. For this update staff will combine all three plans into one effort branded under the umbrella of “City Plan.” Each plan was last updated 6-8 years ago, and the upcoming update provides an opportunity to respond to and anticipate changing conditions, reengage the community to develop a shared vision, and better align with evolving community goals. City Plan will include a number of topics and themes, ranging from broad elements such as the community’s land use, transportation, and transit frameworks, to more specific questions and issues such as growth and attainable housing, protection of natural resources, climate action goals, community character, and more. A consultant team will be utilized throughout the update process for technical assistance, to help facilitate larger community events, and to extend the professional capacity of staff. Earlier this spring, a team comprising staff from multiple departments across the organization, stakeholders from Colorado State University (CSU), and community members with experience on boards and commissions helped identify a preferred consultant team. Discussions on the final scope, engagement strategy, and work planning are in process with the consultant team, and a final contract is expected to be signed later this spring. Schedule and Phases The City Plan process is anticipated to last 18-20 months, with consideration of adoption by Council in late 2018 or early 2019. A goal for the overall timeline is to have components of a new or updated vision, policies, and strategies available to help inform the next Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO) cycle. The overall process will span six phases, including:  Phase One: Project Initiation (current phase) Finalize the project scope, work plan, engagement plan, schedule, branding, etc. May 9, 2017 Page 2  Phase Two: Fort Collins 2017 - Where are we now? Where are we headed? Convene a communitywide dialogue about existing conditions, issues, needs, and priorities. Explore where our current plans, policies and strategies will take the community.  Phase Three: Community Visioning Develop and confirm a shared community vision for the future of Fort Collins.  Phase Four: Scenario Development Discuss and test several possible scenarios for the future and how our community vision could be achieved.  Phase Five: Draft Policy and Plan Development Finalize a preferred scenario and develop draft policies and strategies based on community input.  Phase Six: Plan Adoption Share the draft plan with community. Present the final plan with updated community comments with stakeholders, boards and commissions, and ultimately City Council for consideration of adoption. The attached draft project schedule visualizes the approximate timeline of the different project phases. (Attachment 1) PROJECT BRANDING This planning effort will combine and brand all three plans together using the “City Plan” name. Engagement with the community and partners is a critical element of the update process and is captured with the new tagline, “Planning Our Future. Together.” The single plan will still contain all the land-use, transportation, and transit elements traditionally found in each individual plan, but will now be simplified under one name and process for stakeholders to rally behind. Staff is also interested in exploring the use of an “ePlan” for City Plan. An ePlan would supplement traditional printed copies, providing an easy to use online version that would be interactive with visual graphics and searchable or cross-referenced text or sections. This would also provide for quicker updates if future amendments are adopted. In the coming weeks, the project team will continue to work with Communications & Public Involvement (CPIO) staff to finalize an overall style guide and how to integrate City Plan graphics and content into the City’s new online engagement platform, Our City, and the Your | My | Our City campaign. Outreach Strategy and Options Due to population growth and people arriving and departing from the community, one third to one half of current residents were not present to help shape the original City Plan vision in 1997. Developing an updated, shared community vision will entail reaching out to all corners of the community and ensuring representation from all community stakeholders throughout the process. The City’s Public Engagement Spectrum (Attachment 2) provides guidance for the most appropriate levels of engagement and techniques that may be employed during projects. Overall, staff has identified the “collaborate” level as the most effective approach to public engagement for the City Plan update. Staff is committed to engaging a diverse range of stakeholders throughout the planning process, including focused efforts to interact with individuals, groups, or organizations that have not been traditionally engaged in prior updates. Staff has begun forming an engagement strategy and associated activities, events, and tools that could be used to develop the final public engagement plan and provide a framework for meaningful interaction and co-creation throughout the process. The strategy includes four key components, designed to provide a comprehensive level of feedback, interaction, and collaboration throughout the process. The four key components include: May 9, 2017 Page 3 1. Project Champions Project champions will be the most visible faces and managers of the project. Project champions will be composed of many different groups and individuals, including City project management staff, partner organizations, business groups, community organizations, and heavily involved community members as ‘resident ambassadors.’ These individuals and groups will work together to help plan activities, staff events, provide their knowledge and expertise, and talk with friends, neighbors, and colleagues about the project. Resident ambassadors are specifically envisioned as a group of committed citizens who would be involved throughout the process, with their roles evolving as the process moves forward. Ambassadors are individuals representing varied neighborhoods and backgrounds who are excited to engage with others about what the future of the community could look like. Early in the process, ambassadors can help gather input from their social, organizational, religious, or recreational networks and provide that input back to the project management team. Ambassadors can help reach a broader community audience by providing information and listening opportunities at more informal times and locations than traditional City-initiated events, such as HOA meetings, after church, or at gatherings with friends. As ambassadors interact with the community, they gain their own experience and knowledge of community priorities and vision, and could then participate as members of working or technical groups as the process advances to represent diverse viewpoints in support of evaluating scenarios, drafting policies, or preparing other plan content. 2. Broad Community Input Broad community input encompasses the assortment of events, tools, and activities planned throughout the plan update process. These tools and events will range from traditional workshops, charrettes, and questionnaires, to newer outreach tools piloted in recent efforts such as the Downtown Plan, with additional emphasis on smaller intercept events at times and locations where community members are already present, such as the library, grocery stores or festivals. Other activities like community tours, a statistically-valid community values survey, or partnering with CSU’s Center for Public Deliberation for small-group discussions will help provide opportunities for detailed feedback in smaller settings. A focus for broad community input will be examining the frequency, location, and timing of events. Everyone should have the opportunity to participate, and the stereotypical evening workshop may exclude those who work at night, have limited child care options, or prefer smaller or informal activities. A wide range of events and tools will ultimately be used to help engage with the community. 3. Targeted Stakeholder Input For more detailed or targeted input, tapping the extensive knowledge and experience of City staff, partner organizations, and community members will be essential. Staff envisions bringing these co-creators together under the umbrella of working or technical groups, likely based on specific topic areas or issues. These groups could be comprised equally of City staff, community members, and subject experts or leaders from community businesses, non-profits, or other organizations. Similar to a Budgeting for Outcomes team, the group brings together valuable experience and perspective from across the City organization, the community, or as a local expert in a related field or organization to help evaluate potential scenarios or draft plan content. While the number and organization of the groups for targeted input are not final, staff envisions one group to be focused solely on engagement. This group would help plan and monitor activities and input being received to ensure we’re meeting goals to reach all members of the community, and if not, to advise the project management team about how to adjust our engagement strategies. 4. Council/Leadership Input and Oversight Staff will provide frequent updates and seek input from Council and leadership, including project oversight and direction. As with prior City Plan updates, staff anticipates the use of work sessions and memos as key May 9, 2017 Page 4 elements to help inform and receive direction from City Council and leadership along with regular project updates to the Executive Leadership Team or a dedicated oversight group. Staff is interested in using the traditional work session format at key points throughout the update process, envisioning 5-6 work sessions prior to consideration of adoption. During the 2011 City Plan update, 11 Council work sessions were conducted, which represented a large amount of resources that could potentially be directed toward other forms of Council and leadership involvement. Potential ideas could include: o Council or Geographic-Based Events Similar to Council listening sessions, project staff can organize and coordinate specific City Plan meetings, activities, or events catering to a specific geographic area of the community, such as council districts. Councilmembers could choose to actively participate or listen/observe. Such activities could help ensure we’re meeting with stakeholders from all areas of the community, and provide an organizing element for issues and opportunities that may be unique to specific geographic areas of the community. o Interviews or Focus Groups At key points throughout the process, interviews or focus groups with Council and leadership could be conducted to gain feedback and insight about experience from prior updates, key issues and priorities, visioning, and more. o Project Management Summaries Ongoing reports, newsletters, or summaries of project happenings, feedback heard at recent events, and upcoming ways to be involved. The summaries could be modeled in a fashion similar to the City Manager’s Monthly Report and would provide regular, ongoing updates on project status. o Board and Commission Input Input from boards and commissions will also be important throughout the update process. In addition to meetings with boards and commissions at key points throughout the process, a working group composed of board and commission members and potentially Councilmembers could help collect and distribute information while coordinating discussion about ideas, tradeoffs, and recommendations across the multidisciplinary subject’s boards and commissions collectively represent. Such an arrangement may also mean fewer resources dedicated to meetings one-on-one with each board or commission. Next Steps Upcoming goals for the process include finalizing the project scope, timeline, engagement plan, and branding, with some of the first official tasks of the City Plan update beginning in June. Feedback and direction from Council, leadership, and ongoing conversations with all project stakeholders will help inform these final revisions over the coming weeks. This summer, one of the first tasks for the update will be to convene a community dialogue about current conditions and key issues, opportunities, and priorities for the community. A draft list of broader themes are presented below, and have been drafted based on responses in the prior Citizen Survey, the Community Issues Forum held April 27, and ongoing conversations with community members and staff. The list will continue to be refined and staff will capture any additional topics and themes discussed at work session or in ongoing conversations as part of Council work session follow-up. Preliminary List of Key Topics/Themes:  Affordable/Attainable Housing  Transit Coverage & Productivity  Traffic Congestion & Mobility  Growth & Remaining Lands in the Growth Management Area  Environmental Resilience & Sustainability  Health, Social Wellbeing & Equity  Community Character & Design May 9, 2017 Page 5  Economic Vitality  Regional Collaboration & Partnerships ATTACHMENTS 1. Timeline-City Plan (PDF) 2. Public Engagment Spectrum (PDF) 3. Powerpoint Presentation (PDF) 2017 Project Initiation Consultant Selection Scope & Work Plan Finalization Community Visioning Develop and conﬁrm a shared community vision for the future of Fort Collins BFO Alignment Portions of the Plan could be adopted prior to next BFO cycle to provide guidance City Plan Preliminary Timeline & Milestones Fort Collins Now • Existing conditions • What is our trajectory? • Plan report cards: what have we accomplished? Our Vision • What are our core values? • What does it mean to be FC? • What does our future look like? Our Vision Imagined • Develop/test scenarios • What scenario achieves our vision? • What are the trade-offs? Guidance, Action, Measurement • Policies to achieve our vision • Implementation actions • Measuring progress Key Phases During Update Process: Fort Collins 2017 Existing Conditions Issues and Needs Community Priorities Scenario Development Discuss several possible scenarios for the future and how the community vision can be achieved Draft Plan Development Preferred scenario Policies & Recommendations Plan revisions Summer 2018 Spring Fall / Winter Spring Summer Fall / Winter Plan Adoption Present City Plan to Council 2019 ATTACHMENT 1 CONSIDER THIS OPTION WHEN … Routine or fairly routine matter Time and/or budget constraints Clear legal process Manageable level of controversy Fairly simple set of interests Most issues have been heard, addressed through earlier processes Parties have tried but are unable to come to resolution Active and mobilized groups with competing views Strong need for dialogue (not just input) Need for multiple types of input designed for different groups Fair amount of controversy Complex issues Intense controversy, mobilized groups with competing views Need for education and buy-in by key constituencies Long-term, far-reaching effects Multiple jurisdictions Parties willing to meet, discuss (vs. referendum, court, etc.) Recommendation likely to be followed by decision makers MAY NOT BE BEST OPTION WHEN … Unclear or competing jurisdictions Policy matters with unclear effects Strong controversy or polarized parties Public input will have no effect Need for two-way dialogue Intensive input will not satisfy need of public to inﬂuence the decision Time and/or budget constraints Too expensive for amount of controversy No negotiating room Other groups or individuals may intercede to invalidate any forthcoming proposals Key parties unwilling to meet POTENTIAL TOOLS & TECHNIQUES Fact sheets - FAQs Public comment (via web, in writing, hearings) Newsletter Media releases and events Informal surveys Presentations to civic groups, B&Cs, HOAs, at Open Houses, etc. Workshops, charrettes Stakeholder meetings Focus groups Techniques from Inform and Consult Citizen advisory committee Participatory decision-making Consensus-building 1 City Plan Initiation & Engagement Strategy Aaron Iverson, Ryan Mounce, Timothy Wilder ATTACHMENT 3 Purpose 2 To provide Council with an update on preparations for the next City Plan and ideas regarding engagement strategy. Direction Sought From Council • What feedback does Council have regarding the proposed City Plan public engagement strategy? • Does Council have direction on the frequency and format of involvement with Boards and Commissions and Council itself? • Are there additional key topics or themes Council views as important focus areas to explore throughout the City Plan update? 3 Project Overview - Background Three Updates, One Process & Plan 4 2011 2009 2011 Project Overview - Phases 5 1 PROJECT INITIATION Finalize scope, work plan, engagement plan, branding, etc. 2 3 FORT COLLINS 2017 Existing conditions, issues, opportunities, priorities VISIONING Develop & confirm a shared community vision for the future 4 SCENARIOS Discuss & test possible scenarios to achieve the community vision 5 DRAFT PLAN & POLICIES Finalize preferred scenario & draft supporting policies & plan content 6 ADOPTION Share & confirm draft plan outcomes with the community Project Overview - Timeline • Spring 6 Engagement Strategy 7 Goals • Community as collaborators & co-creators • Intentional efforts to reach all corners of the community • Variety of events & activities tailored to different audiences & engagement levels Engagement Strategy 8 Key Engagement Elements: • Project Champions • Broad Community Input • Targeted Stakeholder Input • Leadership Input Feedback from each element reinforces & informs other elements Engagement Strategy 9 Project Champions • Visible faces of the process • Project staff & managers • Partner groups & organizations • Resident ambassadors Engagement Strategy 10 Resident Ambassadors: • Represent varied neighborhoods, backgrounds, perspectives • Roles evolve throughout the process • Tap into broader or informal community networks • Community leadership & capacity- building Engagement Strategy 11 Broad Community Input • Events & activities designed to inform, discuss, collaborate with community • Focus on different times, locations, settings to interact • Statistically valid community values survey (Fall 2017) Engagement Strategy 12 Targeted Stakeholder Input • Use local experience & knowledge • Groups focused on particular themes or topics • Ex: Engagement working group • Mix of staff, technical experts or guides, community members Engagement Strategy 13 Leadership Input • Project oversight & updates • Council engagement: • Traditional formats (work sessions, memo) • Frequency: 5-6 work sessions • Supplement with alternative activities Council / Leadership Input • Council district or geographic-based events • Reach broad community audience • Explore unique geographic issues • Opportunities to tailor Council-involvement • Interviews / Focus Groups • Project Summaries • Boards & Commissions • ‘Super Board’ Working Group 14 Engagement Strategy Community Issues Forum – Ways to Engage Engagement Criteria: High Numbers Informed Representative Interactive Efficient 15 “How would you rank the importance of the criteria?” (Weighted score - top 3 priority) Engagement Strategy Community Issues Forum – Important City Plan Topic Areas (Priority Ranking) 16 • Housing Attainability • Traffic Congestion & Mobility • Health, Social Wellbeing & Equity • Environmental Resilience & Sustainability • Community Character & Design • Growth & Buildout • Transit Coverage & Productivity • Economic Vitality • Partnerships & Regional Collaboration • Other Engagement Strategy Community Issues Forum – Engagement: breadth vs depth 41% Much more focus on depth, focus on fewer topics 35% Somewhat more focus on depth 12% No strong opinion 9% Much more focus on breadth, engage many topics 3% Somewhat more focus on breadth 17 Next Steps • Refine & finalize engagement plan, scope, schedule • Consultant contract & onboarding • Begin first project phases this summer 18 Direction Sought From Council • What feedback does Council have regarding the proposed City Plan public engagement strategy? • Does Council have direction on the frequency and format of involvement with Boards and Commissions and Council itself? • Are there additional key topics or themes Council views as important focus areas to explore throughout the City Plan update? 19 CITIZEN ROLE Citizen Role: Residents engage to be informed and to inﬂuence Citizen Role: Residents engage to advocate and to help frame issues - Residents engage to understand technical issues and how to effectively advocate - Residents engage to help deﬁne problem and ﬁnd solutions Citizen Role: Residents are collaborators - Residents engage to identify different stakeholder interests - Residents engage to make informed decisions and forge effective compromises COLLABORATE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT SPECTRUM INFORM & CONSULT INVOLVE ATTACHMENT 2