Morrisville Land Use Plan 2009

Appendices

A ppendix C. H ow T hese P lans W ere C reated , cont ’ d

Focus Groups To study individual areas in the Town, and to reach people that are often not engaged in general public forums, three focus meetings were conducted for youth, transit/bike/ped users, and the historic Church Street/Shiloh community. More detailed discussions were able to be held at these meetings, and “guest speakers” from transportation and other agencies talked about their perspectives on transit services, railroad impacts, and other is- sues. Each meeting was held in the evening during January/February 2008 and was adver- tised to the public, although the specific groups were the target audiences. One highlight of these meetings was the Youth Focus Group, which was attended by the Youth Advisory Committee for the Town of Morrisville. The small group was asked questions about their perspectives on Morrisville, drew “mental maps” of the Town to help highlight their values (see picture at right), and was interviewed for a television news segment. Plan Advisory Committee In September 2007, the Morrisville Town Council selected ten members and two alternates to serve on the Plan Advisory Committee (PAC). Members nominated themselves for consideration and were selected to represent a diverse range of viewpoints and interests. A photo of PAC members appears to the right. The role of the PAC was review and provide input to the plan- ning process in a more detailed manner than members of the general public may be able to at the public workshops. A summary of the PAC duties is as follows: 1. Plan and staff exhibits at appropriate events as a representative of the PAC, such as public workshops, presentations to the public, Planning and Zoning Board and Town Council. 2. Review and comment on related events and suggestions. 3. Act as a representative or ambassador by seeking input from friends, associates, and acquaintances in the general public. 4. Participate with the staff and consulting team to review progress, discuss com- ments and suggestions from the public and provide feedback. 5. Recommend changes and or additions to the PAC. The PAC met seven times, roughly once a month, from October 2007 through May 2008. Over the course of those meetings, all of which were open to the public, members were asked to offer their input and engage in discussion on a variety of topics, including future land uses, bicycle/pedestrian facilities, transportation priorities, and vision/goals/policies for the plans. The PAC also received and was solicited for comments on a draft version of the Land Use and Transportation Plans prior to their submittal to the Planning and Zoning Board. Minutes and materials from all of the PAC meetings are available from the Town of Morrisville Planning Department. Public Survey From January 10th through March 19th, 2008, the public was asked to participate in a sur- vey to provide input to the plans. Questions covered respondents’ bicycling and walking habits, key problematic intersections, and ideas for development types in different areas of town. The survey was conducted via hardcopy and internet, with paper copies avail- able at Town Hall, the Planning Department, and other town meetings. The internet link was placed on the Town’s website and distributed via the citizen email listserv and citizen newsletter. There were 180 survey responses. The survey instrument itself and selected survey results appear in Appendix D. Complete survey results are available by contacting the Town of Morrisville Planning Department. Plans Update Website A key tool used to communicate with the PAC and the public, the project website (http:// www.morrisvillelutp.org) developed for the Plans Update was instrumental to its success. The website both provided the public access to materials and offered opportunities for them to participate and give input to the process. The website featured a calendar of upcoming meetings and events; contact information for project staff and consultants; a project library with materials and minutes from past meetings including photos and videos, and related news articles, website links, policy documents and other materials; a com- munity gallery with the option for the public to submit their own photos; a link to the public survey; an online discussion forum for people to post and respond to questions and com- ments; an RSS feed for participants to link to an automated news feed; a Kid’s Corner

Map of important places in Morrisville, from the Youth Focus Group.

Above: Members of the PAC. Below: PAC Members discuss future land uses.

Above: The Plans Update Website. Below: Website Unique and Returning Visitors November 2007 - April 2008.

with planning-realted games; and an online RSVP function for public workshops. The website was updated at least once a week during the planning process, with the results of meetings often posted within two or three days. It was linked from the Town’s website and promoted on all Plans Update materials. The graph to the right shows the number of visitors per day to the project website over the planning period (November 2007 through April 2008). Over this period, there were 3,111 unique visitors to the site, of which 2,392 were first-time visitors, and 719 were returning visitors. Although these statistics are based only on computer “cookies” and therefore likely overstate the total number of visitors, it is nonetheless an impressive total. The website was overall a very successful means of both com- municating with and receiving input from the public.

C-2

C Public Involvement