You’re Invited! Shape the Future of Holly Springs
Feb. 28-March 4
Holly Springs Cultural Center
www.reVisionHSNC.com
Perhaps that’s what makes re:Vision Holly Springs so exciting: the entire community is invited to be involved in updating the Future Land Use & Community Character section of the town’s comprehensive plan, the policy that guides decisions on how the town will grow, look and feel in the future.
Everyone’s voice matters, and public engagement is a vital part of re:Vision Holly Springs. Anyone interested in the future of Holly Springs is invited to take part in PlanapaloozaTM, a series of interactive discussions Feb. 28-March 4 at Holly Springs Cultural Center off Ballentine Street. There, the community’s ideas will be expressed in illustrations and plans drawn on the spot by project consultants.
“We are very excited about this re:Visioning process,” said Gina Clapp, director of the town’s Planning & Zoning Department, which is leading the initiative. “It only happens every ten years or so and is so important to the town’s future growth and development. This document will guide property owners, developers, staff and elected officials in making decisions on how and where the Town should grow in the future. This is the community’s opportunity to voice their opinion and have a say in setting the framework for these decisions.”
“The workshops are an important opportunity for residents and businesses to participate and have thoughtful exchange about the future of Holly Springs,” said J. Scott Chase, Holly Springs assistant town manager. “The plan will help guide and be the basis for land use and development decision-making. In addition, it also provides a framework for strategic planning and capital investment to protect and enhance the town’s quality of life.”
“We’re encouraging everyone to tell friends and neighbors about these opportunities to help shape the future of Holly Springs,” said Melissa Sigmund, principal planner with Holly Springs Planning & Zoning.
For more information about the schedule and overall initiative, visit www.reVisionHSNC.com.
Your Voice Matters
Make a difference in the future of Holly Springs by attending PlanapaloozaTM interactive discussions Feb. 28-March 4 at Holly Springs Cultural Center off West Ballentine Street. The events will cover a variety of focus areas and topics determined by the community during an earlier meeting.
“PlanapaloozaTM provides a great opportunity for our community’s voices to be heard,” Sigmund said. “The purpose of these discussions is to understand the ideas and visions for our community.”
“We are very excited about the five-day PlanapaloozaTM event that will give our residents face-to-face interaction with the staff and consultant team that is preparing the re:Vision update,” Clapp said. “We encourage our residents and business owners to take part in this community engagement so your voices can be heard.”
Matt Noonkester, founding principal at City Explained, Inc., leads the consultant team hired by the town to support the planning process. He describes the multi-day event as “an intense, participatory design and visioning process” and notes that the PlanapaloozaTM term was created by Town Planning and Urban Design Collaborative, LLC, a member of his consulting team.
“You will work directly with your neighbors and a multidisciplinary consultant team to provide input on your vision for the community’s future,” Noonkester said. “It is the single biggest opportunity to work on this project in the community and with the community.”
Meetings scheduled for the event will focus on land use, transportation, local businesses and the economy, neighborhood and home choices, public spaces and residents’ quality-of-life, and the town’s preferred character, brand, and style of development for the future.
Experts representing transportation, land use, community design, and economic development – all will be in attendance and working with the community to create a shared vision for the future.
During PlanapaloozaTM, in addition to providing input about big-picture topics, participants can focus on critical areas of town identified by the community as needing more attention, such as the area near the future NC-540 interchange.
“The interchange makes planning even more critical because it is the only interchange within our jurisdiction,” Sigmund said. “This is an opportunity area. The plan could provide guidance to developers so there’s greater certainty over how that area and other areas identified by the community could look.”
In an effort to maximize community convenience to attend, PlanapaloozaTM will be an ongoing event over several days and the weekend.
“We’re trying to provide the greatest number of opportunities for folks from all different walks of life to come out,” Sigmund said. “We want it to be an engaging and exciting opportunity to envision the future.”
A key component will be the real-time illustrations of the community’s vision. Consultants will be drawing plans and illustrations to depict the community’s visions for the future, helping ensure that the ideas expressed by community members are depicted clearly.
“It’s a great way to literally see your ideas put into illustration by professionals who are creating the images, and some of those images are going to be in the final plan document,” Sigmund said.
“The illustrations will allow staff, elected officials and residents to see and confirm if these ideas are what we want Holly Springs to look like,” Clapp added.
What re:Vision Holly Springs Means for the Community
Through re:Vision Holly Springs, the community has the opportunity to proactively lay the framework for future growth and development while retaining and enhancing its unique character.
The town is seeking community feedback on topics including:
Future Land Use
Future residential densities and housing types, including single-family housing, townhomes and apartments/condominiums
Future locations of neighborhood & regional shopping areas
Future locations of office and business parks
Community Character
What makes Holly Springs unique?
What do you want people to notice when they arrive in Holly Springs?
Priority areas for tree preservation and open spaces
“Asking somebody to think 20 years into the future is a challenge because that’s far away,” Noonkester said. “Our job is to bring that story into the now in terms of how every decision you make from this point forward reinforces that 20-year vision.”
Another Way to Get Involved
Visit reVisionHSNC.com for information on all re:Vision Holly Springs events and activities.
“The website is another way to connect with people who may not be able join us in person,” Sigmund said. “It’s another way of interacting in the planning process and keeping updated as the plan moves forward.”
What’s Next
Work will continue through fall 2019 on re:Vision Holly Springs. Following PlanapaloozaTM, the consultant will develop the plan, checking in with staff and appointed community members to ensure community concerns are understood and effectively addressed.
Once the community vision is formed, the plan will be presented to the Planning Board and Town Council for consideration this fall.
Recommendations from the officially adopted plan will be used to guide the types and look of future land uses, private development, new infrastructure and public investment.
After the Future Land Use & Community Character section of the plan is updated, the town anticipates updating each component of the comprehensive plan during the next five years.
“Getting the vision part right first is very important,” Noonkester said. “The land use and community character elements of the comprehensive plan set the tone for the type, location, pattern and intensity of development that the community would like to see moving forward. All the other comprehensive plan elements – like transportation, parks and recreation, infrastructure and utilities, etc. – are there to supply and support that vision.”
