Grove in 2045
Much like Jules Verne looked to the future, the City of Grove is working on a vision of what the city will be like 25 years into the future. For the past eight months, a group hired to put that vision into a working document has been seeking citizen input.
Doug Moore, a Community Development Manager for IBTS (Institute for Building Technology and Safety), a company that works with cities throughout Oklahoma, has been spearheading that program. Moore recently spoke to the Grove Rotary Club to explain the project.
The state and federal governments require all cities to produce a Comprehensive Plan in order to qualify for some state and federal grants. The plan is designed to provide the city a blueprint for action. It first determines community goals by getting input from citizens, business leaders and government officials to define the city's goals and then provide a list of implementation strategies.
According to Moore, the plan is developed in five stages beginning with citizen input. Last July, the company had a booth at the Fourth of July celebration where surveys were taken seeking input. Since then there was a Visioning Open House in October and a second Open House seeking citizen input in December on the night of the Christmas Parade.
Several committees are also in place including a Technical Advisory Committee, a Citizen Advisory Committee as well as coordination with the city's Planning Commission and City Council.
The process includes seeking opinions for Grove area residents as well as people who live in the city. You can participate in the visioning process by taking an online survey. The web address for that survey is http://bit.ly/grove-survey2.
To date, the survey has identified the area's top strengths as the Lake, the People, the Schools and the Location. The top likes include Shopping, Activities, Lots of Variety.
The key areas of focus for the plan are land use, community character, livability, connectivity, conservation and vitality, The plan will include potential; zoning changes and direction for city council actions.
There will be future open houses and workshops in which area residents can participate. You can keep up on the plan's progress by going to the city's web site https://www.cityofgroveok.gov.
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