What do we do with the Plan?
A comprehensive plan should be iterative; each plan should build and expand on past plans and existing development. Plan preparation should build on multiple rounds of community input through stakeholders and public engagement to identify and refine the community vision and preferred recommendations. After stakeholder review, the draft plan will be presented to the Bainbridge Planning Commission for recommendation and to the Bainbridge City Council for official approval and preliminary adoption after a Public Hearing. The approved draft is then forwarded to the Regional Commission for review, and the Regional Commission sends the draft to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for compliance review and comment. The regional and state reviews will provide a report within40 days that may identify that the Minimum Standards and Procedures are “incompliance” or that revisions or clarifications are needed.
Once the plan is determined to be “in compliance,” the City Council should officially adopt the plan in alignment with the State requirements, publicly announce the availability of the plan, and identify where a complete copy may be reviewed. Georgia DCA will usually post a completed copy of the plan on the State’s Comprehensive planning website. After adoption, the plan will serve as a guide for the anticipated future development of Bainbridge. The “implementation section” will be particularly important in putting the plan into action and bringing community visioning to reality.
Needs and Opportunities
The use of multiple approaches to preparing a comprehensive plan document helps to define needs and opportunities that affect the city as a whole and supports the use of specific implementation strategies. The planning process for the City of Bainbridge incorporates recent planning studies including the Shotwell and Scott Streets Planning Study, the Citywide Housing Needs study, adopted Downtown and Industrial Development plans, and regional transportation plans to address how the city has proceeded with realizing long-term planning goals for the future. As an example, a preliminary capital improvements element will be considered to help monitor investments and determine if the city may want to consider impact fees in the future.