CPPC 03-08-04 Meeting AgendaCOUNTY of FREDERICK
Department of Planning and Development
540/665-5651
FAX: 540/665-6395
MEMORANDUM
TO: Comprehensive Plans and Programs Subcommittee
FROM: Christopher M. Mohn, AICP, Deputy Planning Director
DATE: March 1, 2004
RE: March Meeting and Agenda
The Frederick County Comprehensive Plans and Programs Subcommittee (CPPS) will be meeting
on Monday, March S, 2004, at 7:30 p.m. in the first floor conference room of the County
Administration Building, 107 North Kent Street, Winchester, Virginia. The CPPS will discuss the
following agenda items:
AGENDA
1) Rural Areas Study. Discussion concerning public involvement process and preparation for
April visioning work sessions.
2) Other
Please contact our department if you are unable to attend this meeting. Thank you.
Access to the County Administration Building for night meetings that do not occur in the Board
Room will be limited to the back door of the four-story wing. I would encourage committee
members to park in the countyparking lot located behind the new addition or in the Joint Judicial
Centerparking lot and follow the sidewalks to the back door of the four-story wing. The door will
be locked, therefore, please wait for staff to open the door.
Attachments
107 North Kent Street • Winchester, Virginia 22601-5000
File Copy
ITEM #1
Rural Areas Study
Discussion: Public Participation Program
Public participation is acknowledged as the key to a successful planning process. It is recognized
that a plan's long-term relevance and legitimacy will depend largely on the degree to which the
public and impacted stake holders are involved in the plan -making process. Indeed, the effectiveness
of a plan will arguably be diminished should it fail to be a reflection of the community it is intended
to serve. Public and stake holder involvement will be the foundation of the rural areas study.
The public participation program for the Rural Areas Study is set to begin in earnest during the
month of March. Stakeholder meetings are scheduled throughout the month and a series of five
public visioning work sessions are slated to follow in mid-April. These input sessions are scheduled
as follows:
Stakeholder Meetings:
1.
2
3
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5
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Tuesday, February 24, 7:30 PM
@ Valley Farm Credit
Thursday, February 26, 11:00 AM
@ Planning Department
Thursday, March 11, 5:30 PM
@ Jimmy's Restaurant
Monday, March 15, 6:00 PM*
@ Middletown Town Hall
Tuesday, March 16, 11:30 AM
@ County Board Room
Monday, March 22, 4:30 PM*
@ Association Headquarters
Tuesday, March 23, 7:00 PM
@ Blue Ridge Schwinn
Thursday, April 1, 11:30 AM
@ County 1St Floor Conference Rm.
* Denotes tentative time and location.
Frederick County Farm Bureau
Virginia Farm Bureau
Top of Virginia Builders Association
Town of Middletown
Land Design and Engineering Community
Frederick County Fruit Grower's Association
Winchester Wheelmen
Community Consensus Coalition (CCC)
Note: As of the date of agenda publication, planning staff is awaiting confirmation of meeting dates
with the following stakeholders: Town of Stephens City, Frederick County Public Schools, Virginia
Department of Transportation, Battlefield Cluster Group.
Public Visioning Work Sessions:
Monday, April 12, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
2. Tuesday, April 13, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
3. Thursday, April 15, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
4. Tuesday, April 20, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
5. Thursday, April 22, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Overview of Farm Bureau Meeting
@ Frederick County Middle School
@ Indian Hollow Elementary School
@ Armel Elementary School
@ Stonewall Elementary School
@ Middletown Elementary School
As outlined above, the first stakeholder meeting was held on Tuesday, February 24 with the
Frederick County Farm Bureau. This meeting was well attended and the discussion was constructive
and informative. Numerous issues associated with the future of agriculture in Frederick County were
articulated, involving an array of topics that included: tax structure/relief for bona fide farm
operations, purchase of development rights (PDR), land use compatibility, direct marketing of farm
products, public education regarding the value and realities of local agriculture, and the density and
design of new rural residential development.
It is noted that Supervisors Dove (Gainesboro) and Van Osten (Back Creek) attended the Farm
Bureau meeting, as did Planning Commissioners DeHaven (Stonewall), Light (Stonewall), and
Unger (Back Creek). The CPPS was represented by Commissioners DeHaven and Light.
A report summarizing this stakeholder meeting will be distributed at the March 8 CPPS meeting.
Primer for March 8 Discussion
As previously reported to the committee, the public visioning work sessions will be facilitated by
Milton Herd, AICP of Herd Planning & Design, Ltd. A preliminary meeting was held between staff
and Mr. Herd to discuss the progress of the rural areas study to date and to develop a scope of work
for the visioning sessions. A proposed scope of work was prepared by Mr. Herd subsequent to this
meeting and is attached with this agenda for the committee's review.
The March 8 meeting will be an opportunity for the committee, staff, and Mr. Herd to discuss the
outcomes desired from the visioning sessions as well as the scope of work proposed to achieve these
objectives. Moreover, the role of the committee in both the visioning and stakeholder work sessions
will be clarified.
Rural Areas Study
Highlights of the Proposed Scope of Work:
Public Visioning Sessions
Excerpted from Proposed Scope of Work
Submitted by
Milton Herd, AICP, Herd Planning & Design, Ltd.
Principal Objectives for the Initial Round of Public Input Sessions
1. Give every citizen in the County an opportunity to:
■ Learn about the planning process;
■ Voice their own concerns, opinions and ideas about the future of the rural areas;
■ Hear their fellow citizens' concerns, opinions and ideas about the future of the rural
areas.
2. Give County officials and the Comprehensive Plans and Programs Subcommittee (CPPS) a
better understanding of the concerns, opinions and ideas that citizens have about the future of
the rural areas.
3. Set a tone of openness and inclusiveness for the rural areas planning process.
4. Use the input to begin formulating new policies for the rural areas for inclusion in the
County's Comprehensive Policy Plan.
Proposed Process for the Sessions
Each general public input session is expected to attract between 20 and 100 people, and will run
from 7:00 until 9:00 pm on a week night, at elementary and middle schools throughout the County.
The proposed agenda and procedure for each meeting is as follows:
6:00 pm Staff and Consultant support „team arrives to set up
■ Set-up directional signs, projector, sign -in sheets, sign -in table, handout packets, easels,
maps, etc.
■ School staff should arrange chairs in advance and open building at 6:00 pm sharp.
7:00 pm Welcome and Introductions (meeting should open at 7:00 pm sharp - 7:05 at the latest)
■ A Senior County Official (Board member, CPPS member, or other) will open the meeting
and welcome the public.
■ County officials, staff and consultant will be introduced.
■ Staff and/or consultant will give a brief PowerPoint presentation that will summarize the
following items:
➢ Agenda, process and ground rules for tonight's meeting (ground rules are
critical);
➢ Purpose, schedule and scope of the project;
➢ Roles of participants;
➢ Key data sets that will help frame the issues, including population trends
and forecasts, factors causing growth in the region, current County
planning policies, some general planning issues that are the genesis of this
project, some "working assumptions" about the future, highlights of some
emerging planning tools, etc.
7:30 pm Visioning Exercise
Consultant will very briefly explain what "visioning" is and how it relates to a Comprehensive
Plan. A brief worksheet with a few key questions intended to provoke the individual thought
process will be provided to each participant.
The worksheet will ask people to jot down a few phrases they would use to describe two key sets
of ideas:
■ Their preferred future of the rural areas of the County 50 years from now (thinking of
"what kind of rural areas we should leave to our grandchildren").
■ The major barriers or roadblocks to us achieving that preferred future.
After everyone has had about 10 minutes to fill out their worksheets, we will ask all participants
to "count off' to form groups of about eight people (depending on how many total people are
attending).
Participants will then break into their groups and brainstorm a list of ideas for the first question
(preferred vision of the future). A recorder for each group will record the input on flip chart
sheets on easels at each table. Once a solid list of ideas has been recorded, a "nominal group"
technique will be used to rank the group's preferences for the various ideas. This process will
then be repeated for the second question (barriers to success).
8:30 pm Share Results
The breakout groups will reconvene and report their results back to the whole group. Each group
will be given only four or five minutes to report — they will be asked to give a summary of main
points. This procedure will easily allow for at least five groups to report back, which will
accommodate a total group of 40 people (5 breakout groups of 8 people each). For meetings
with more than 40 citizens in attendance, we will either ask in advance for the group's
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permission to extend the meeting an extra 20 minutes or further shorten the presentation time for
each group to three minutes.
The individual work sheets will be collected from participants before they leave — these will
provide a complete record of all input. The flip chart sheets from each group will be collected
and compiled into a summary report.
9:00 pm Adjourn
Thank folks for attending; remind them of upcoming meetings;
Make sure they've signed in and provided contact data, including e-mail address;
Give them a "take away" question sheet with some probing questions to stimulate their
thinking about potential policies, in a format that's easy from them to return.
Intended Products of the Sessions
■ Good will and enthusiasm among citizen participants;
■ Useful ideas about what citizens hope for the future and what problems they foresee;
■ Valuable learning among everyone in attendance;
■ A solid written record of the input received;
• Contact data for interested citizens, for future follow-up.
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