Comprehensive Plan Update_Community Engagement PlanTHE CITY OF
Dui
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Community Engagement Plan for Comprehensive Plan Update
DATE: January 27, 2014
Dubuque
band
AI- America City
11111r
2007 • 2012 • 2013
Planning Services Manager Laura Carstens is recommending approval of Community
Engagement Plan for the update of the 2008 Comprehensive Plan. While this is called
an update because a Comprehensive Plan already exists, this is meant to be more than
just an update to the plan originally adopted in 1995 (this replaced the 1936 plan) and
then updated in 2002 and 2008. This process is intended to provide a road map for the
next 20 years for Dubuque, with updates every 5 to 7 years.
Chapter 36 of the City Code defines the Comprehensive Plan as: "The community's
principle tool to guide its future development, public policies and decision making."
Comprehensive planning reflects a consensus of community values in a series of goals,
which set the direction for the future of the city and for improving the quality of life in
Dubuque. The Comprehensive Plan looks at the city as a whole and the surrounding
region. It examines the past and present conditions of the community to determine the
direction for future growth and development.
By City Code, the Long Range Planning Advisory Commission has the responsibility to
coordinate and supervise the preparation and maintenance of the Comprehensive Plan.
The Commission was actively involved in the community vision process, "Vision 2000 ",
conducted in 1990 -1992. Under their direction, Dubuque's first Comprehensive Plan
since 1936 was adopted by the City Council in two phases in 1994 and 1995. The Plan
was then updated in 2000 -2002 and again in 2006 -2008. The last two updates were
marketed as "Map Your Future" as the Commission focused updating the Future Land
Use Map and the goals and objectives of the Plan's 14 Elements.
The Commission has worked on a new framework for the Dubuque Comprehensive
Plan, in preparation for the next update. The Plan now is centered on the three pillars
of sustainability, and incorporates the elements of the Iowa Smart Planning legislation.
Planning Staff has developed an initial marketing strategy for the Engagement Process,
titled "Imagine Dubuque ".
Phase One: Community Assessment (9 months)
The Engagement Process begins with a Community Assessment Phase. The goal in
the Assessment Phase is to reach out to traditional stakeholders and to segments of the
Dubuque population that have not been well represented in past Plan updates. This first
phase seeks to engage residents through a variety of formats and interactive input
opportunities using multiple technological and physical venues.
Phase Two: Initial Input (6 months)
Phase Two is focused on a vision for the city; past updates have not included a
visioning component. The hope is that this effort will result in a Plan that is a diverse
and comprehensive representation of the Dubuque community. This phase is centered
on the three pillars of Sustainable Dubuque for outreach through several open houses
to solicit public input and ideas for the vision of the city. Planning Staff will develop
presentation materials to illustrate and explain the vision, goals and objectives of the
Plan and for residents to provide their comments.
Phase Three: Promotion and Engagement (6 months)
The third phase is concentrated on Promotion and Engagement with respect to a draft
Plan. The Promotion and Engagement Phase will allow time for the City to unveil the
first draft of the Comprehensive Plan to the community.
Phase Four: Finalize the Plan (6 months)
Public participation and input is essential throughout the process, including the Final
Phase, so the city will utilize an informal, inclusive public workshop to engage the
community, before holding the formal public hearings required by City Code. The
workshop will be advertised to the public and invitations will be sent. At the workshop,
the Final Plan will be presented. The Plan will also be posted online for comments.
Staff will make final presentations at public hearings to the Long Range Planning
Advisory Commission, and then the City Council for adoption.
The Estimated Budget for the Community Engagement Plan is $23,300. The Planning
Services Department has $10,000 budgeted for community engagement and promotion
related to the Comprehensive Plan. The Department also has $10,300 available from
savings due to staff vacancies in the first quarter of FY 2014. Efficiencies and additional
resources will both be pursued.
The Long Range Planning Advisory Commission recommends approval of the
Community Engagement Plan, with two additional opportunities for their involvement: 1)
a representative on the Technical Team, and 2) a representative at the Leadership
Team presentations.
Planning Services Manager Laura Carstens recommends approval of the Community
Engagement Plan, with the additional roles requested by the Commission, and with the
marketing strategy of "Imagine Dubuque ".
2
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
Mic ael C. Van Milligan
MCVM:sv
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Teri Goodmann, Assistant City Manager
Laura Carstens, Planning Services Manager
Kelly Larson, Human Rights Director
David Johnson, Assistant Planner
Eric Van Buskirk, Planning Technician
Nikola Pavelic, Community Engagement Coordinator
3
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
DATE:
Dubuque
Au- amflasia
2007 • 2012 • 2013
MEMORANDUM
Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
Laura Carstens, Planning Services Manager
Engagement Plan for Comprehensive Plan Update
January 23, 2014
INTRODUCTION
This memorandum transmits the recommended Community Engagement Plan for the update of
the 2008 Comprehensive Plan, for review and approval by the City Council.
BACKGROUND
Chapter 36 of the City Code defines the Comprehensive Plan as: "The community's principle
tool to guide its future development, public policies and decision making." Comprehensive
planning reflects a consensus of community values in a series of goals, which set the direction
for the future of the city and for improving the quality of life in Dubuque. Our Comprehensive
Plan looks at the city as a whole and the surrounding region. It examines the past and present
conditions of the community to determine the direction for future growth and development.
By City Code, the Long Range Planning Advisory Commission has the responsibility to
coordinate and supervise the preparation and maintenance of the Comprehensive Plan. The
Commission was actively involved in the community vision process, "Vision 2000 ", conducted in
1990 -1992. Under their direction, Dubuque's first Comprehensive Plan since 1936 was adopted
in two phases in 1994 and 1995. The Plan was then updated in 2000 -2002 and again in 2006-
2008. The last two updates were marketed as "Map Your Future" as the Commission focused
updating the Future Land Use Map and the goals and objectives of the Plan's 14 Elements.
The Commission has worked on a new framework for the Dubuque Comprehensive Plan, in
preparation for the next update. The Plan now is centered on the three pillars of sustainability,
and incorporates the elements of the Iowa Smart Planning legislation.
DISCUSSION
The Community Engagement Plan will be a framework to better involve Dubuque residents that
have traditionally been under - represented in past updates of the Comprehensive Plan. The
enclosed Community Engagement Plan is set forth in three sections: Involved Parties, a phased
Engagement Process, and an estimated Budget.
The Involved Parties include the Planning Staff, a Technical Team of City staff and community
partners, and the City's Leadership Team. The Technical Team is a group of about ten to twelve
City employees and community partners who are interested in directly contributing to the
development of the comprehensive plan through focused input, guidance and sharing of
expertise. These individuals are knowledgeable about the environmental integrity, economic
Community Engagement Plan for Comprehensive Plan Update
prosperity, and social /cultural vibrancy needs of the community and are working at the ground -
level to positively impact the community. The intent is for the Technical Team to represent the
three pillars of Sustainable Dubuque as well as public, private and non - profit sectors.
The Engagement Process illustrates and summarizes the tasks needed to solicit public input in
an innovative and diverse way, reaching out to stakeholders, residents, and business owners
through a variety of media and interaction types. This is done with online engagement as well
as print media and face -to -face interaction.
Planning Staff has developed an initial marketing strategy for the Engagement Process, which
we propose be "Imagine Dubuque ". A flyer is enclosed.
Phase One: Community Assessment (9 months)
The Engagement Process begins with a Community Assessment Phase. Our goal in the
Assessment Phase is to reach out to traditional stakeholders and to segments of the Dubuque
population that have not been well represented in past Plan updates. This first phase seeks to
engage residents through a variety of formats and interactive input opportunities using multiple
technological and physical venues.
Planning Staff will conduct an existing conditions assessment of the city, and collect initial public
comments through interactive outreach to the general public. Additionally, staff will interview
key community stakeholders and partnerships identified through the engagement planning
process and previous planning efforts. Staff will develop an awareness campaign addressing
the importance of the Comprehensive Plan for the community. Staff also will develop a
community survey that residents can access both in print and web format to provide initial input.
Public outreach will utilize a SCOR(e) [Strength, Challenge, Opportunity, and Roadblock
Evaluation] available to participants online through MindMixer and the City Website. MindMixer
provides communities with online engagement tools that allow them to have more productive,
collaborative conversations. SCOR(e) is a group brainstorming activity based on the traditional
SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) Analysis where participants photograph
buildings, streets, neighborhoods, parks, or anything relating the community's environmental,
social, and economic conditions and group these things into one of the four categories.
Participants will be invited to photograph and post their comments on MindMixer or submit their
evaluation directly to staff. Photos and submissions can then be used in the Plan, and
participants may receive photo credits as a prize. This helps to show how even a small
contribution to the planning process can have a visible impact on the Plan's development.
Planning Staff will develop an engagement kit to provide education on comprehensive
planning and fun ways of providing input. The educational component will include a
history of comprehensive planning in Dubuque and why comprehensive planning is
important for residents. Staff hopes to utilize some ideas from the Envision 2010
community visioning process for innovative engagement activities for the kit.
Phase Two: Initial Input (6 months)
Phase Two is focused on a vision for the city; past updates have not included a visioning
component. Our hope is that this effort will result in a Plan that is a diverse and comprehensive
representation of the Dubuque community. This phase is centered on the three pillars of
Sustainable Dubuque for outreach through several open houses to solicit public input and ideas
2
Community Engagement Plan for Comprehensive Plan Update
for the vision of the city. Planning Staff will develop presentation materials to illustrate and
explain the vision, goals and objectives of the Plan and for residents to provide their comments.
Phase Three: Promotion and Engagement (6 months)
The third phase is concentrated on Promotion and Engagement with respect to a draft Plan. The
Promotion and Engagement Phase will allow time for the City to unveil the first draft of the
Comprehensive Plan to the community. Planning Staff will finalize a Draft Plan that will be
posted online at the City's Website for download along with a comment survey to be submitted
to Planning Staff. An executive summary of the draft Comprehensive Plan will be circulated in
the community through a variety of venues and formats for input.
Phase Four: Finalize the Plan (6 months)
Public participation and input is essential throughout the process, including the Final Phase, so
we will utilize an informal, inclusive public workshop to engage the community, before holding
the formal public hearings required by City Code. The workshop will be advertised to the public
and invitations will be sent. At the workshop, the Final Plan will be presented. The Plan will
also be posted online for comments. Staff will make final presentations at public hearings to
Long Range Planning Advisory Commission, and then City Council for adoption.
The Estimated Budget for the Community Engagement Plan is $23,300. Details are shown in
the enclosed Plan. The Planning Services Department has $10,000 budget for community
engagement and promotion related to the Comprehensive Plan. The Department also has
$10,300 available from savings due to staff vacancies in the first quarter of FY 2014.
After meeting with Community Foundation staff regarding the Envision 2010 and Galena
2020 visioning projects, City Staff received great ideas about small group brainstorming.
The budget for these visioning activities was around $70,000 -- most of which went to
marketing and advertising.
The City conducted the 2000 and 2010 Census Complete Count campaigns with a
$10,000 budget for marketing, promotion and advertising. We feel we can conduct a
similar marketing strategy for the Community Engagement Plan for $10,000.
RECOMMENDATION
The Long Range Planning Advisory Commission recommends approval of the Community
Engagement Plan, with two additional opportunities for their involvement: 1) a representative on
the Technical Team, and 2) a representative at the Leadership Team presentations.
Planning Staff recommends approval of the Community Engagement Plan, with the additional
roles requested by the Commission, and with the marketing strategy of `Imagine Dubuque ".
REQUESTED ACTION
The requested action is for the City Council to approve the above recommendations for the
Community Engagement Plan for the 2008 Comprehensive Plan Update.
Enclosures
cc: David Johnson, Assistant Planner
Eric Van Buskirk, Planning Technician
FIUSERS\LCARSTEMWP1Comp Plan Update 2013\Memo MVM comm engagemt plan rec.doc
3
D R A F T
Community Engagement Plan
Comprehensive Plan Update
The Community Engagement Plan is the culmination of coordinated work between the Planning Services and
the Human Rights departments to improve the quality and quantity of public input into the City of Dubuque
Comprehensive Plan. This process involved reaching out to community organizations, stakeholders, minority
groups, neighborhood associations, and students to better understand how Planning Staff can reach out and
solicit input on community issues in a relevant and meaningful way. The lessons learned through this
process have been invaluable to staff in the development of this engagement plan.
Involved Parties
Nanning Staff
Dave Johnson, Assistant Planner, and Eric Van Buskirk, Planning Technician, will be the primary staff
members involved in writing and designing the new Comprehensive Plan. Laura Carstens, Planning Services
Manager will be involved in management of staff and helping to coordinate as necessary with other
departments, stakeholders, partnerships and community organizations. The entire Planning Staff will
provide support in some capacity as needed, particularly with public open houses and meetings.
Technical Team
The Technical Team is a group of about ten to twelve City employees and community partners who are
interested in directly contributing to the development of the comprehensive plan through focused input,
guidance and sharing of expertise. These individuals are knowledgeable about the environmental integrity,
economic prosperity, and social /cultural vibrancy needs of the community and are working at the ground -
level to positively impact the community. Members will be invited to regular meetings and workshops to
look over written and visual materials, provide ideas and direction on local policies, issues and trends, and
help guide the technical draft of the document. During the initial input phase, this shouldn't be more than
one meeting per month. Additionally, these team members could provide additional engagement resources,
opportunities, and expertise.
The intent is for the Technical Team to represent the three pillars of Sustainable Dubuque as well as public,
private and non - profit sectors. City Staff from Neighborhood Services, Transit, Housing, Recreation, Human
Rights and Public Information will be involved. Other city staff and community partners may be recruited as
needed.
Leadership Team
As is the case with all major City undertakings, the Leadership Team will be provided with information and
have opportunities to contribute to the Comprehensive Plan throughout the process. This will ensure that
City and department missions and philosophies are reflected in the goals and objectives of the
Comprehensive Plan.
Engagement Process
Below is an outline of the engagement process proposed by Planning Staff for the Comprehensive Plan
update. The Engagement Process illustrates and summarizes the tasks needed to solicit public input in an
innovative and diverse way, reaching out to stakeholders, residents, and business owners through a variety
11Page
D R A F T
of media and interaction types. This is done with online engagement as well as print media and face -to -face
interaction. The proposal builds on previous engagement work done with the hope of finding ways of
soliciting input from community members traditionally under - represented in the planning process.
Phase One: Community Assessment Phase (Nine Months)
The Community Assessment Phase of the engagement plan allows Planning Staff to conduct an existing
conditions assessment of the city, and collect initial public comments through interactive outreach to the
general public. Additionally, staff will interview key community stakeholders and partnerships identified
through the engagement planning process and previous planning efforts. Our intent is to gather focused
input from these groups. This information will be incorporated into an initial draft of the document, as
developed by Planning Staff and the Technical Team. This phase will take roughly 9 months and primarily
involve Planning Staff and the Technical Team, with additional help from the Public Information Office to
help develop print outreach material in line with City policy and to advise on the use of web and social media.
Planning Staff will internally, and with assistance from the Public Information Office and Human Rights Staff,
develop an awareness campaign addressing the importance of the Comprehensive Plan for the community.
Planning Staff also will develop a community survey that residents can access both in print and web format
to provide initial input. These materials will be provided online, and staff will explore the possibility of
mailing out the survey to residents, either as a stand -alone item or in the City Utility Bills.
Throughout the engagement process, Planning and Human Rights Staff will track demographic information
of participants to assess effectiveness at reaching traditionally underrepresented populations. This
information can be used to show where engagement is successful and where additional resources may be
needed.
Outreach to the general public will utilize a SCOR(e) [Strength, Challenge, Opportunity, and
Roadblock Evaluation} available to participants online through MindMixer and the City Website.
MindMixer provides communities with online engagement tools that allow them to have more
productive, collaborative conversations. SCOR(e) is a group brainstorming activity based on the
traditional SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) Analysis where participants
photograph buildings, streets, neighborhoods, parks, or anything relating the City's environmental,
social, and economic conditions and group these things into one of the four said categories. This
process helps to identify successes and looks for possible issues and opportunities that the
community needs to address in the future. Participants are invited to photograph and post their
comments on MindMixer or submit their evaluation directly to city staff through email. Photos and
submissions can then be used in the plan, and participants may receive photo credits as a prize. This
helps to show how even a small contribution to the planning process can have a visible impact on the
plan's overall development. The SCOR(e) can also be done as a workshop with the Technical Team,
stakeholders, and /or the Long Range Planning Advisory Commission.
Staff would like to purchase a number of disposable cameras that could be used by residents who do
not have access to a digital camera. Residents would need to contact staff to receive a camera, and
then return the developed photos, or return the camera for staff to develop the photos.
City Staff will develop an engagement kit designed to provide education on comprehensive planning
and fun ways of providing input to staff. The educational component will include a history of
comprehensive planning in Dubuque as well as why comprehensive planning is important for the
21 P a 9e
D R A F T
residents of Dubuque. It will be designed to allow for individual comments or comments from larger
groups. There will be a SCOR(e) conducted as well as other activities. Staff hopes to utilize some
ideas from the Envision 2010 process. Staff is continuing to develop ideas for innovative
engagement activities for the kit.
Phase Two: Initial Input Phase (6 Months)
The Initial Input Phase is where Planning Staff organizes several open houses to solicit public input and ideas
for the vision of the city. Planning Staff will develop presentation materials to illustrate and explain the
vision, goals and objectives of the plan and to provide their comments to the City. The meeting format is
less formally structured but will still comply with the Iowa Open Meeting Law. Participants will be greeted
and sign in to track participation, providing their contact information for Planning Staff to personally follow
up after the meetings. The open house will have a variety of engagement and input opportunities for
participants to provide comments and interact with Planning Staff, Long Range Planning Advisory
Commission members and possibly the Technical Team. Potential activities could include an individual
SCOR(e), Neighborhood Building Activities, Photo Preference Surveys, or "Mental Mapping" Exercises.
There would also be educational materials on terminology, the history of comprehensive planning in
Dubuque, and the importance of the Comprehensive Plan to the future of the city.
Each open house will center on the three sustainability pillars. The Technical Team will advise Planning Staff
on possible activities that could be done to solicit input on each component of the plan. Additional open
houses could also be done as needed or desired.
After each open house, Planning Staff will incorporate comments and input into the Draft Document. Staff
will also follow up with participants thanking them for their involvement and comments, and invite them
personally to future events as they occur.
Phase Three: Promotion and Engagement Phase (6 Months)
The Promotion and Engagement Phase will allow time for the City to unveil the first draft of the
Comprehensive Plan to the community. Planning staff will finalize a Draft of the Comprehensive Plan. This
draft will be posted online at the City's Website for download along with a comment survey that is
submitted to Planning Staff.
Additionally, staff will create an abbreviated executive summary of the plan that is easily distributed as
marketing and promotion at community and civic events. It will include the vision, goals and objectives and
graphics as needed, as well as a survey for residents to fill out and return to Planning Staff with their
comments.
Planning Staff will attend civic events and hand out the Comprehensive Plan executive summary, and engage
with the public to gather more feedback about the Draft Comprehensive Plan document. These summaries
will also be left at important public gathering places, such as the Library, City Departments and other
identified places for residents to pick up a copy if they would like. Planning Staff will incorporate comments
and input as they are received into the draft, as well as continue to monitor effectiveness of outreach
efforts.
Phase Four: Finalize Plan Phase (6 Months)
3 I P a g e
D R A F T
The Finalize Plan Phase is the approval stage with Leadership Team, City Manager's Office, Long Range
Planning Advisory Commission, and finally City Council. Planning Staff will incorporate comments from all
phases into the document and revise accordingly with support from the Technical Team and Long Range
Planning Advisory Commission. Planning Staff will meet with Leadership Team and the City Manager for final
review and make necessary revisions.
Planning Staff will hold a final public workshop personally inviting participants who have provided
metric cards. The workshop will be advertised to the public. At the workshop, the Final Plan will be
presented. The Plan will also be posted online for comments. Staff will make final presentations at
public hearings to Long Range Planning Advisory Commission, and then City Council for adoption.
Estimated Budget: $23,300
• Marketing, promotion and advertising: $io,000
• 300 Engagement Kits: $5400
o Cameras: (purchase and development) $3300
o Printing Marketing /Education Component: $1200
o Container: $900
• SCOR(e) Print Survey $1400
o Distribution with City Utility Bill: $1400
• Engagement Workshops: $4000
o Three Pillar Workshops (Three during Initial Input Phase): $3000
o Final Comments Workshop: $l000
• Final Document Printing $2500
O 100 Copies of the Complete Plan: $15oo
O 200 Executive: $l000
F: \USERS \LCARSTEN \WP \Comp Plan Update 2013 \Engagement Plan Draft 012314.docx
4 I P a g e
Imagine
DUBtJUE
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Find us on:
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(select 'Comprehensive Plan Update News &Information')
- WHAT IS COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING?
Serves as a roadmap for the cornrriunity's future. The community
determines the course and destination..
Serves as a guide for the community's physical, social and
economic development
Examines past and present conditions of the community to
determine the direction for future growth and development.
Reflects a consensus of community values and goals.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Communities plan for the same reasons you might plan a
vacation, a trip to the grocery store, 'a home improvement
_project or your household budget. Planning creates orderly,
efficient and cost effective steps toward achieving a goal or set
of goals.
It promotes the qualities which make Dubuque a desirable
place to live, work and play.
Ensures the efficient distribution of community resources and
services.
Dubuque has been developing comprehensive plans since 1929
HOW Do I GET INVOLVED? -
The City of Dubuque will begin updating the 2008 Dubuque
Comprehensive Plan in 2014 and your participation is critical. A
good Comprehensive Plan reflects the values of the community
which makes public participation and input essential to the
process. It's important that the comprehensive plan include the
input of all residents.
Imagine Dubuque and be a part of shaping its future. Follow
us 6n Facebook and Twitter, reach out to us on MindMixer, and
subscribe to news and info through the City's Notify Me page.