In Fayetteville, we held a long public input process and
established long-range goals for how we wanted our city to operate.
The Council unanimously endorsed the 2025 Plan, and the parts of the
Downtown Master Plan that have already been completed have
transformed Dickson St and our ever-beautiful square. We know what
kind of development we want to happen here, but we haven't been
creating the progressive and forward-thinking policies that are
needed to encourage it.
There are two sides to the ecological development coin: political
will and developer willingness. Unfortunately, when progressive
projects have become before the council, the approval process has
been delayed by questions that should have been answered before the
project left staff offices. This has created a confused community,
and no one is sure that Fayetteville supports the changes the 2025
vision implies.
I will be your due diligence leader on projects, and propose
solutions to anticipated problems in developments early in the
process. I will propose resolutions to eliminate interdepartmental
inconsistencies in codes and ordinances. We need to use our time in
Council efficiently, and asking the right questions at the right time
is the first step.
The other side of the coin is developer willingness, and the tone
of conversation surrounding sustainable development has put them off.
I propose and will help create a developer orientation workshop, to
guide developers towards low-impact techniques and sustainable
design. Offering technical training and including them in our
planning process will go a long ways to greasing the wheels for our
town's sustainability.
