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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTriangle Plan -PB Cover memo 2-4-2020 MEMORANDUM TO: PLANNING BOARD FROM: CHRIS SAUNDERS RE: TRIANGLE COMMUNITY PLAN WORKSESSION DATE: FEBRUARY 4, 2020 Action: Review the draft Triangle Plan and provide comments to the City Commission for the City Commission’s February 10th work session. No vote to approve is required. Questions: Do you see points of material conflict between the existing or draft growth policy and the triangle plan? Do you have suggested wording to resolve identified conflicts? Differences of wording advancing similar priorities is not a material conflict. Background: The City of Bozeman collaborates with our regional partners to advance shared priorities and better serve the public. The Strategic Plan and several editions of the growth policy have emphasized regional cooperation. The draft of the updated growth policy now in development continues this emphasis. The current growth policy, Bozeman Community Plan, adopted in 2009, includes a chapter titled Regional Coordination and Cooperation. The intent statement for the chapter says in part: “A failure to coordinate and cooperate with other governmental entities will limit the effectiveness of the Bozeman Community Plan. It is Bozeman’s intent to pursue cooperation and coordination through many venues and opportunities.” Goals from the chapter include: “Goal RCC-1: Coordinate policies and actions between public entities to increase effectiveness and efficiency of implementation of the Bozeman Community Plan. Rationale: Contradictory county and municipal policies will cause uncertainty and confusion. Lack of coordination increases conflict and resulting expense to all parties. The growth policy presents the City’s vision. Working with other affected parties is the most effective means to ensure that the vision is carried out as intended. Bozeman and Gallatin County have numerous points of agreement in policy. Working together meets our obligations to our citizens.” “Goal RCC-2: Utilize inter-local agreements and similar mechanisms to establish formal coordination mechanisms so intent, scope, and functions are well defined to advance cooperation. Rationale: Elected and appointed officials change membership over time. Having a formal inter-local agreement ensures continuity and consistency of policy over time. Development of agreements facilitates discussion of issues so that pitfalls can be avoided and success is more likely.” The City advanced RCC-2 when the Planning Coordinating Committee (PCC) was created by a memorandum of agreement between the City of Bozeman, City of Belgrade, and Gallatin County in 2016. The memorandum of agreement states: “Establishment of Planning Coordinating Committee. A Planning Coordinating Committee (PCC) is hereby established to provide a forum for planning-related coordination in the Triangle between Bozeman, Belgrade, and the County. The Planning Coordinating Committee shall be advisory in nature only, without any authority over planning-related decisions in any of the participating jurisdictions.” The PCC is comprised of one member of the staff, planning board, and governing body of each of the three participating governments. The PCC has advanced planning related coordination by working with various community partners and the public in preparing the Triangle Community Plan. On January 21st, the PCC released the draft of the Triangle Community Plan for review by the three member entities. This review is to identify areas where the members may have concerns or disagreement so that those can be resolved before a formal review/acceptance/adoption process begins. The Triangle Community Plan is NOT a growth policy. Each of the three participating governments have a fully formed growth policy. Two of the three are being updated at this time. Therefore, the Triangle Community Plan is more focused and does not include trend analysis, background data, or other elements required for a growth policy. For a short summary of the plan history see page 7. For a short summary of participation, see page 8. The vision and guiding values of the plan are on page 11. A description of key issues begins on page 12. A map of the area of the plan. The purpose of the Triangle Community Plan is to provide shared goals and policies between the three jurisdictions that will be applied within the plan area. The Triangle Community Plan DOES NOT have a land use map nor does it attempt to assign any specific land use or zoning designation to parcels of land. The overall growth policies of the three jurisdictions assign expected uses. Chapter 4 addresses goals and policies. The policies and goals support activities that may change over time. Some policies may be appropriate so long as the property remains in the unincorporated areas but may become inapplicable after the property is annexed. Many of the policies suggest directions for regulatory development or other coordination actions. Section 5 of the plan discussion adoption and implementation. The City will not adopt the document itself as we do not have a shared planning board with Gallatin County. We do reference the document within the draft of the updated growth policy being developed. Similar to many other plans related to land use, the Triangle Community Plan will be one element the City considers in developing its regulations. The City Commission will eventually be asked to accept the document. Recommendation: Staff finds that the general wording and goals of the Triangle Community Plan are consistent with the existing and developing draft of the Bozeman Community Plan. Many of the policies are consistent with and advance for consideration by other jurisdictions standards already established in Bozeman’s regulations.