Friday, May. 16, 2008

Olathe staff plans for city’s future

With its growth expected to continue at a steady clip, Olathe has begun to prepare for its future.

City Manager Michael Wilkes told city councilmembers and Olathe school board members at their annual joint meeting this week that the city had authorized an update to its comprehensive plan, which was adopted in 1997.

The updated plan would give city leaders a guide to the future, said Steve Franks, the city’s development services director. He said it would provide a general view of where Olathe wants to be in the next 10 to 20 years.

“The world has changed in 10 years,” Franks said. “We have different needs.”

EDAW, the San Francisco consultant hired to update the plan, will examine land-use plans, the locations of residential and commercial developments and the public safety and education facilities needed to serve growth areas.

Councilmembers Bob Montgomery and Marge Vogt, who sat on the comprehensive plan advisory committee, stressed that elements of the plan that still reflected the goals of the community would be applied to the updated version.

“We’re not throwing anything out,” Montgomery said.

The council also recently authorized financial adviser Springsted Inc. of St. Paul, Minn., to conduct a build-out study. That study, Franks said, would assist in the preparation of the comprehensive plan.

Ben Hart, the city’s strategic financial management director, said the study would give city leaders a better picture of what the future entails based on current growth trends. He said the study would include the financial aspects of growth and how the city would sustain its services.

The study would look 40 to 50 years into Olathe’s future when the population is expected to be 350,000 at full build-out. Infrastructure needs, costs and staffing to maintain service levels would be included in the study. It also would examine the locations of residential and commercial developments and projected property and sales tax revenue.

“It will be used in conjunction with the comprehensive plan to make decisions about future growth,” Hart said. “I think the two of them together will be actually great tools for council’s use.”

Franks said one the more attractive aspects of the comprehensive plan, which should take about a year to complete, would be its accessibility to residents. He said the city wanted the plan to be available on the city’s Web site and interactive for residents, who will be part of the planning process.

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