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Ray Storch says a county agency's efforts to gather
residents' ideas to improve the area are a great start.
The 62-year-old Miami Township resident just isn't
sure the efforts will produce results. "I have my doubts," Storch
said.
Political jurisdictions protecting their own
interests, and not considering the impact of their decisions on
the entire region, is the biggest challenge facing the plan,
Storch said.
The development of a long-range, comprehensive
master plan for the county is the goal of the Hamilton County
Regional Planning Commission's Community Comprehensive Master Plan
and Strategies (COMPASS).
Officials with Community COMPASS recently conducted
11 community and youth meetings to gather county residents' ideas
for improving the county.
More than 2,800 ideas were expressed by county
residents at those community meetings.
Community COMPASS members have compiled those ideas
into 12 categories and goals, and the challenges facing those
goals.
More than 1,000 Hamilton County residents are
expected to attend the meeting.
During the countywide town meeting residents will
discuss and vote, using wireless polling keypads, on prioritizing
the goals culled from the community meetings.
Four critical issues - the fragmentation of
political jurisdictions, race and equity, balancing development
with preservation of natural resources and creating a globally
competitive and diverse economy - were developed from the
meetings, said Steve Johns, a senior planner with the Hamilton
County Regional Planning Commission.
County Commissioner Todd Portune said, "These
categories are the issues that are the top concerns for county
residents, issues such as housing, mobility, education and
economic development."
Storch said improving race relations is one of the
ideas he expressed at a community meeting at Oak Hills High School
in October.
"Race relations are critical," Storch said. "The
image that we project to the rest of the world is not real good at
this time."
Storch said he also told Community COMPASS members
that divisiveness on Cincinnati City Council was one of the areas
that prevents the entire county from improving.
"They're the black hole that brings the entire
region down," Storch said.
Whether Storch's ideas and the other ideas of
county residents will result in any county improvements is
unclear, Storch said.
County commissioners, who are expected to receive
the results of the Community COMPASS project in August, are
committed to following through with the plan.
County Commissioner John Dowlin said, "We learned
what the people, our residents, want and how they feel. The other
commissioners and I are committed to seeing COMPASS through to the
end."
Green Township resident Clare Johnson, a member of
the Community Relations Advisory Panel of Community COMPASS, is
taking a wait-and-see approach to the project.
Johnson, who plans to attend the countywide town
meeting, said preserving greenspace and controlling development
are her top concerns for the county.
The direction of the majority of the three-member
county commission now is pro-development, Johnson said.
And that is exactly the opposite of what most
west-side residents said they wanted at the community forum
conducted at Oak Hills High School, she said.
Most people in attendance at that forum said they
wanted "managed growth" and not the "sprawl" of development that
comes with new sewers, she said.
"I would hope that they listen to what people want
because they live here," Johnson said.
County Commissioner Tom Neyer said, "The countywide
town meeting is an exciting event that offers individuals another
opportunity to help shape the direction our community is heading.
"Yet, in order for the meeting to be a success, we
need residents to participate and have their voices heard."
For more information on attending the countywide
town meeting or the Community COMPASS project call 946-4505 or
visit the group's Web site at www.communitycompass.org.
Published: Jan. 2, 2002
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