GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The City of Grand Rapids will hold three public workshops next week to discuss a Community Master Plan that is being developed.
The master plan will provide a long-term framework of where the city would like various developments, parks and other spaces to be built. Right now, it is only in the development stage as a draft plan. This is the final round of the community workshops. They will include a self-paced review of the draft recommendations from 5 to 6 p.m., followed by small group discussions from 6 to 7 p.m. Each meeting will provide an opportunity to give feedback in an interactive setting.
Residents will be able to review a draft of the master plan as part of the "Bridge to Our Future" project. Layla Aslani is the planning project manager for the City of Grand Rapids Planning Department.
"So, this is a 20-year vision for how our city will grow and develop in the future," she told WOOD Radio. "And this is done with community input. So, next week we're having our fourth round of engagement, and it's a culmination of over a year of work."
Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalyn Bliss said in a news release that she's "eager to hear feedback from community members, stakeholders, and ultimately, the Planning Commission.”
The first workshop will be at GRPS University on Tuesday. The second one will be at Ottawa Hills High School on Wednesday. And the third workshop will take place at Sibley Elementary School on Thursday. All of them will run from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., with dinner being provided.
"So, we'll be discussing things like great neighborhoods, balanced mobility and vital business district," Aslani said. "We're talking about where we can put more housing. How do people want to get around the city? What needs do they have, and how can our future land use align with that?"
City planners hope a final master plan can be adopted by October.
But for now, it is in the development stages. After next week's public-input sessions, city planners will incorporate edits to the draft plan. The reworked draft will go to the city Planning Commission and, then, to the city commission before being released to the public for a 63-day comment period. More public comment from citizens and other stakeholders will be received at that time.
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