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Livonia Township Community Vision for Land Use The
Livonia Township Community Vision for Land Use project documents an
inventory and analysis of critical natural and cultural resources and
citizen values associated with these resources. The project was undertaken
by the The
goal of the project is to determine a Community Vision of the
environmental and cultural resources within Managing
change to protect the quality of life, economic vitality and environmental
health in Livonia Policy
Context In
this fast-growing region of the state, jurisdictional interests ranging
from Sherburne At
the same time, federal and state regulations are in place to protect the
water, habitat and open space resources of the township, through the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, Minnesota Department of Natural
Resources, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Minnesota Historical
Society, and Sherburne County. The
essential challenge to policy-makers responsible for land use planning in
this and other Twin Cities metropolitan ex-urban regions experiencing
change is to find a balance between the demands of growth and the desire
to minimize the impact of development on a rural and natural landscape. A
functional Comprehensive Plan, through its Zoning Ordinances, sets a
framework for managing change to achieve a sustainable tax base while
protecting community character and environmental health. In Minnesota, Counties are required to submit Comprehensive plans every ten years.
Townships and Cities residing within Counties have the option under Joint
Powers agreements to develop their own Comprehensive Plans and work with
the County for plan integration. Project
Approach The
project approach sought to integrate community input and the planning
process with the explicit goal of the production of a Community Vision for
Livonia
interest
as well as, become the “eyes and ears” of the community by learning
about their place in the world, verifying data, and conveying what they
have learned to neighbors. The project approach consisted of an integral
planning and community participation process. The planning and
participation processes as diagramed in the image below consisted of five
phases: data inventory, community value identification, value
documentation, community value prioritization, and prioritization
documentation. By approaching the project with community input foremost on
the agenda the shape the project and participation processes took similar
shape. This means that the relationship of the planning and participation
process was inseparable and synergistic. Project
& Participation Process The
five phases of the project and participation process: data inventory,
community value identification, value documentation, community value
prioritization, and prioritization documentation, included numerous
Steering Committee meetings and two Community Workshops. The Steering
Committee meetings and Community Workshops took place at Livonia Townhall
on mid-week nights. The Steering committee meetings usually consisted of a
brief overview of existing data or previous meetings products and / or
workshop preparations. The workshop programs were specific to the project
process. The following paragraphs summarize the five phases of the project
and participation process: The
data inventory included information on socioeconomic demographics and
environmental and cultural resources. The environmental cultural resources
of the township were inventoried and assessed in map form, using
Geographic Information Systems (G.I.S.) technologies. The socioeconomic
demographics were compiled, in large part, from the 2000 U.S. Census. The
data inventory was presented the Steering Committee with the intent for
group education and comment and correction. The
community value identification phase took part in Workshop One. The first
workshop sought to introduce the broader community to their place in the
world and stimulate conversation about people’s values as related to
environmental and cultural resources within the Township. The goal of
Workshop One was to provide a qualitative analysis of the environmental
and cultural resources and to obtain the community’s group and
individual values as a result. The
value documentation phase took the products of Workshop One and produced a
series of maps for Workshop Two. The community values were analyzed and
grouped and then presented to the Steering Committee for verification. The
community value prioritization phase took place during Workshop Two. The
second workshop used the results of Workshop One with the intent to obtain
a broad feel for the community’s prioritized land use values. The goal
of Workshop Two was to prioritize the layers of environmental and cultural
resources both generally and specifically. The
prioritization documentation took the results from Workshop Two; organized
and analyzed the products and produced a composite map. The composite map
is a summary of the Livonia Township’s Community prioritized values for
the land use. Issues The
central issues are to the project: -
Where, how dense, and what type of development should occur? -
What should Livonia Township protect to preserve it’s environmental
health, natural -
What should Livonia Township do about mining and land fills? -
What should Livonia Township do about storm water management and water
quality? The
issue of primary importance to the project is the determination of what
the citizenry of Livonia Township thinks regarding environmental and
cultural resources. By facilitating the integration of the voice of the
community into the planning process, the need to recognize and integrate
community values in the Vision Land Use Plan is foremost.
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Livonia Township Community Vision for Land Use
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