Work starts on comprehensive plan

Work is set to begin soon on the city’s comprehensive plan, a document designed to guide the city into 2040.

In March, the City Council agreed to enter a $157,030 contract with consulting firm Gould Evans.

Chris Suneson, director of Community Development Services, said that he’s currently working on getting information to the firm.

“We’re in the information-and-analysis portion of the process,” he said. “We’re taking a snapshot of where we’ve been and where we are now.”

Suneson said the city has been recruiting volunteers for a citizen advisory committee, which, under the current timeline, is expected to meet for the first time at the end of July.

“We need a broad spectrum of folks in that to represent the broad spectrum of our population,” he said.

In addition to residents, he said, the board should include one planning commissioner and one City Council member.

The timeline, he said, also calls for some advertising for the process.

Public input, he said, is going to be important, so there are going to be public involvement meetings, typically near the end of the month.

Anything produced during this process, he said, will be available to the public on a dedicated section of the city’s website, bellavistaar.gov.

To make a plan that works, he said, the city needs to make sure it knows what people want. Surveys and other input, he said, are going to be essential.

While not every idea will be able to get somewhere, he said, the city will be interested in as much input as feasible.

“We definitely want to see the many different visions for Bella Vista that the residents have,” he said, “so that we can come together in a consensus way.”

“We’re in the information-andanalysis portion of the process. We’re taking a snapshot of where we’ve been and where we are now.” Chris Suneson Director, Community Development Services