The process of creating a comprehensive plan for Chesterfield County has slowed to a crawl and the Planning Commission's deadline for sending a final plan to the Board of Supervisors is in jeopardy, but the document as a whole is the better for it, key players say.
"This is an important document, and we've had a lot of folks in the community offering good comments on it," Planning Director Kirk Turner said. "At the pace we're going, I don't think (hitting the deadline) is going to happen. But the important thing is open dialogue."
The commission, which is supposed to deliver a final plan to the Board of Supervisors by July 19, next meets on Thursday. It has a four-hour work session that afternoon, during which it is scheduled to discuss the transportation section of the plan.
It has been working on the 200-plus-page plan since early this year, when a citizen committee and a team of consultants finished work on a preliminary version.
The plan combines elements of 22 existing area and land-use plans into a single document that would be used to guide policy decisions in the county. The county has not had a single guiding plan in more than two decades.
In January, the county held six community meetings about the plan. Each of the five magisterial districts had one except for the sprawling Matoaca District, which had two. Comments from those sessions were compiled and combined with the plan, which was delivered to the Planning Commission.
The commission then scheduled a number of four-hour work sessions so it could fine-tune the plan, with the idea of crafting something it could deliver to the Board of Supervisors this summer.
"It's not moving along as quickly I'd like," said Matoaca District Commissioner F. Wayne Bass, who is this year's chairman.
He said the document is better than it was at first, but rearranging things, plus occasionally lengthy discussion among board members, had led to a more contemplative approach.
"I think we've made some progress," he said. "It's just taking a while."
The Thursday work session, scheduled for the public meeting room in the county's public administration building, is open for public viewing but not participation.
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