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Saturday, October 28, 2006 - As the PlaceMakers design team heads into the charrette's final stretch, it's becoming increasingly apparent how the emerging recommendations would not have been possible without Post Falls' many years of comprehensive planning and visioning.
"This is not a new initiative," said senior Post Falls planner Collin Coles. "We're simply bringing all of our past efforts - the City Center, Highway 41, and Comprehensive plans - to fruition so implementation becomes realistic."
"By integrating your past work, the ideas begin to reinforce each other," adds PlaceMaker Susan Henderson. "It's the difference between having a wonderful town overall, and just having a pocket here or pocket there."
For example, the City Center plan, and the contributions of the Urban Renewal Agency, reflect considerable input, ideas and support on the part of residents. But despite that support, the responsibility for implementation falls largely on landowners and developers, and the city's current zoning does nothing to encourage them. If anything, it remains easier to build typical strip development than to fulfill the vision of the city.
That's key to the SmartCode effort: Providing both a regulatory framework and an incentive for the marketplace to build what Post Falls wants.
And that's just the beginning.
Think of the many other, seemingly isolated, efforts that have taken place around the city. The recently redone comprehensive plan. New street tree and coverage standards being developed by the urban forester and forestry commission. City engineers' ongoing efforts to refine our streets. Investments in mapping and our GIS capabilities. The Council's focus on prairie transitions from community to community, as well as investments in parks and land preservation. Even those who want to reinvest in and redevelop parts of the city but could benefit from guidance and incentive.
They're all pieces of a larger puzzle. Think of the SmartCode - and your involvement - as the tool for putting them all together.
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 Take the Visual Preference Survey.
Spend Saturday in the studio.
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Planning
