Master Plan Input Proves Residents Want to Be Heard

SEA ISLE CITY – Sea Isle City Planning Board invited residents, property owners and merchants to a master plan workshop Oct. 24 at the Welcome Center Community Lodge. The board asked them to provide input to contribute to a recent survey conducted by the city. That survey, recently concluded, received written comments from 3,633 individuals and generated a document that runs more than 1,000 pages.
Using the extensive data and information gathered through the survey and workshop the planning board will focus efforts on formulating recommendations for the city’s government leadership.
This process will begin in mid-November when additional public meetings will be organized to gather further recommendations and alternatives through public discussion.
At the workshop, a summary 21-page document with survey results was available.
Residents seemed appreciative of the opportunity to be included as the municipality moves forward with its future development and planning. “It’s so important to have resident input,” said George Miller, reflecting the sentiment of the crowd and the collaborative atmosphere. “We’re all really happy to have this opportunity to make our views known and share our concerns and recommendations.”
The topics to be addressed by the master plan are important and numerous and will affect most if not all aspects of living and doing business in the city. These include traffic, parking, economic and commercial development, zoning, parks and recreation, housing density and size, and storm management.
In a statement, Mayor Leonard Desiderio noted, “This is a community-wide project and we are actively seeking the public’s comments since we strive for an open, all-inclusive government.”
In the past, general practice among city administrations and planners would leave debate and discussion of those issues and the direction to take them to planning experts and consultants.
Now, as in the city, the trend is to include residents’ insights on all the issues which can be especially valuable for storm resiliency since those who live there know what areas are prone to flooding for example.
The last time the municipality updated its municipal master plan was in 2007 and this new plan will take about 14 months to complete. The city’s first master plan was prepared by Norman Day Associates and adopted in 1988. Subsequent Master Plan Reexamination Reports were adopted in 1994, 2002 and then in 2007.
The state requires municipalities to craft master plans that include guidelines for land use and that promote the general welfare of a community and serve as a road map to guide decisions on development and zoning.
Every municipality is free to do its master plans as often or as infrequently as needed, with some putting together new plans only every 10 years. At the shore where weather and rapid expansion can strongly influence how a municipality is affected, and a balance must be found between year-round residents, second home owners and visitors,  these plans might be required more often as is the case in SIC.
The three-hour workshop, called Workshop No. 1, to highlight that the opportunity for the public to share concerns will be ongoing, was guided by George Savastanos, business manager and other city officials.
The Welcome Center was replete with citizens making comments in breakout “focus stations” and then subsequently for general discussion and possible eventual inclusion in the final master plan as part of the reexamination process.
The workshop identified five planning areas which formed the basis for the brainstorming which occurred at the focus stations:
Zoning, commercial density, size of residential structures.
Parking, bicycle traffic, traffic circulation.
Parks and recreation, former school site, old fire house, marina site.
Economic development.
Storm planning and infrastructure.
Throughout the workshop it was emphasized that comments will also be accepted in writing that are submitted to the city and at subsequent public workshops and meetings designed to gather community ideas.
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.