Public hearing held on comprehensive plan in LaFayette
BY JOHN BRICE
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — Representatives from the East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission held a public hearing for the draft presentation of the LaFayette Comprehensive Plan at the Alfa building on Tuesday, May 26. Planning and Development Director Eric Wright informed the attendees on the purpose of the hearing.
"We are going to go through a little bit of a process of how we have gotten to where we are," he said. "[We will also review] some of the highlights of the plan overall. This is a chance to get feedback in that public hearing context where we will take down notes and get your feedback. You can talk as long as you like, that is kind of how a public hearing works. It is our goal for us to come out of this process and roll into adoption by the Planning Commission and then adoption by the City Council, and we get to walk through a little bit of that process."
Wright said the funding for the planning process came from the Community Block Development Grant funding.
"A lot of communities don't have access to this funding," he said. "Your regional planning commission, your friends here at EARPDC, we actually wrote a grant on your behalf to pay for this plan. It paid for this plan through H.U.D., Housing and Urban Development has block grant funding for every state."
Wright explained how the EARPDC worked to help maintain funding for the LaFayette Comprehensive Plan project and the importance in using A.D.E.C.A. funds.
"That funding comes through A.D.E.C.A., Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs out of Montgomery," he said. "There is a competitive pool of dollars there and we were able to win those dollars for you all to pay for this. Another good thing about this community development process is that it helps build the credibility and reputation and some momentum with the funding agency, A.D.E.C.A., to go for future grant funding. What they love to see once you do a plan or you develop a profile of a project that you want to do, often through grant funding, that makes it more likely that you will be able to go get implementation funding."
After the public hearing concluded, Wright shared information on the overall planning process.
"Having a public hearing is part of the state statute to adopt a comprehensive plan," he said. "What it does is it gives us an opportunity to make sure that we collect feedback from anyone who has an interest in the plan. So, we have heard the public, that is what we were doing tonight. What that does is that rolls us into the adoption phase. From that point, we are able to roll into a conversation with the Planning Committee where they can choose to adopt the plan. They are the official governing body over the comprehensive plan for the city of LaFayette. Once they adopt, it becomes the official plan of LaFayette."
