Scott Vreeland writes: How can we incorporate the kind of community planning process that happens in neighborhoods currently on NRP projects into the whole city budget and agency expenditures?
My response: One example of a successful program like this is Arlington Virginia's neighborhood conservation program, which is very similar to our NRP and has been around since 1964. It works like this: 1. The neighborhood organization is responsible for preparing the Neighborhood Conservation Plan. Technical, clerical and design assistance is available to the neighborhood for all steps of plan preparation through the NC Program staff. 2. The neighborhood submits its Plan to the Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Council (which has neighborhood representatives) and the Planning Commission, which review the Plan and make recommendations to the County Board. The County Board then considers acceptance of the Plan. 3. An accepted Neighborhood Conservation Plan qualifies the neighborhood to seek Neighborhood Conservation Program funds for specific projects. Every six months, the NCAC recommends projects for funding to the County Board, which reflect neighborhood priorities. THUS, the neighborhood controls the plan, but the advisory committee allocates the funds as available. (In Arlington, the program is funded by dedicated GO bonds approved by referendum.) More info on Arlington Virginia's Office of Neighborhood Services and its Neighborhood Conservation program can be found at (http://www.co.arlington.va.us/cphd/ons/index.htm). As I've previously posted, Arlington's Office of Community Planning, Housing and Development (of which Neighborhood Services is a part) closely resembles Minneapolis' new planning department and -- by perusing Arlington's web site -- you can get some idea of how Minneapolis' new department could function and how NRP could be a (functional yet independent) part of it. John Rocker JCR Realty Advisors Calhoun _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
