Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly attributed a quote from Carrboro Town Council Member Jacquelyn Gist to Susan Romaine. It has since been updated.
The Carrboro Town Council heard an update from community partners as it gets closer to finishing its new comprehensive plan. The plan aims to promote racial equity and climate action through public engagement.
The new plan, Carrboro Connects, set a vision for the long-term growth and development of the town. The plan is centered on several major themes including land use, affordable housing, transportation and economic sustainability.
Scott Goldstein is the plan’s project manager from the neighborhood consulting firm Teska Associates. He told the Carrboro Town Council the goal was to create an inclusive process that was accessible to the community.
“Through interviews and focus groups and going out, and meeting with organizations, all of you have come to different meetings, we’ve tried to use a variety of ways to get out to the community,” Goldstein said.
Goldstein and the town have engaged citizens of Carrboro through pop-up events, the creation of a task force and community workshops. Throughout the process, more than 1,300 people have participated in the comprehensive plan, according to Teska.
Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle told 97.9 The Hill she appreciated the way the community participated in the process because of the diversity they brought to the table.
“We have learned that we have to constantly reinvent the ways we reach everyone in town,” Lavelle said. “There was a lot of good information there and good suggestions on how to reach all of our populations, especially the folks in our community that don’t speak English.”
During the creation of the comprehensive plan, Carrboro hosted events with El Centro, a Latino community group, and the Refugee Community Partnership, which helps non-English speaking refugees through community organizing.
Carrboro Town Council member and mayoral candidate Damon Seils said while reaching out to these communities was important, what really matters is turning the input of marginalized communities into action.
“We’re sort of now in this circling-back-around part of the process,” Seils said. “We did all of this engagement in the beginning, went through all this process around developing content, now we’re circling back around saying ‘OK community, here’s what you told us, here’s what we heard from you, here’s what we heard, here’s what we think we should do with what we heard.’”
Other Carrboro Town Council members also praised the community-oriented process of the comprehensive plan. Jacquelyn Gist said she believes the plan reflected the town’s values.
“I fell like reaching out and finding people who haven’t been at the table before is part of the DNA of this,” said Gist. “I don’t think, when all is said and done, that anybody can say this isn’t reflective of our whole community.”
The town council meeting concluded by passing a resolution thanking the Comprehensive Plan Task Force for their work in incorporating community voices.
After a preliminary review of the plan by the task force and advisory boards, The next public hearing on the plan is set for November 16.
Lead photo via Town of Carrboro
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees. You can support local journalism and our mission to serve the community. Contribute today – every single dollar matters.
