The Comprehensive Plan: Lafayette In A Century (LINC)
Mike Hollier, AICP
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Session:Planning Smart Without Growing SmartSM State Legislation

AREA

The Comprehensive Plan (LINC) includes the official geographic and jurisdictional boundaries of Lafayette Parish.

FUNDING

The Comprehensive Plan is funded through a variety of resources including

  1. Consolidated Government Department Budgets
  2. General and Capital Funds provided specifically by City and Parish appropriations.
  3. Federal and State Grants

TIME FRAME

The Comprehensive Plan is not viewed as a final master document, but rather as a PROCESS that generates changes as needs and circumstances require. The initial proposal is scheduled to be drafted by the Steering Committee for review in May, 2001.

WHY PLAN?:

This question has been raised frequently. There are those who view a Comprehensive Plan as another layer of bureaucracy that will hamper the free enterprise system in the Parish. There are those who lament the lack of a Comprehensive Plan to help coordinate and provide community direction and priorities. The Lafayette Consolidated Government has determined that an overall Plan is in the best interest of the Parish and its future. Specifically cited advantages to LINC adoption are:

  1. Improved public and private sector coordination
  2. Improved government services and efficiency
  3. Improved direction and focus on current and future community needs
  4. Consensus building
  5. Costs/Benefits of long range planning
  6. Global community information/reference resource
  7. Linking/communicating between citizens/businesses and local government
  8. Public awareness and information

PROCESS

LINC will be developed and acted on through five levels of ranked review -

  1. Steering Committee: Established by the Planning Commission, City-Parish Council and City-Parish Administration.
    There are 24 members on the Steering Committee. 9 appointed by the City-Parish Administration, 9 appointed by the City-Parish Council, 5 appointed by the Planning Commission, and 1 appointed by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development
  2. Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee (CPIC): Established by the Planning Commission, the CPIC is composed of 29 agency and department directors responsible for the implementation of LINC. This is a permanent Committee.
  3. The City-Parish Planning Commission. There are five citizens appointed by the Council to the Commission
  4. The City-Parish Council. There are nine members elected from representative districts within the parish.
  5. The Municipalities of Broussard, Carencro, Duson, Scott and Youngsville

Once adopted, LINC is recorded in the Lafayette Parish Clerk of Courts Office with all subsequent amendments.

CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AND INFORMATION

Lafayette Parish citizens are a vital part of the planning process. The LINC Steering Committee is composed of local citizens and is the initial maker and coordinator of the Comprehensive Plan. The Planning Commission is comprised of citizens appointed to review and recommend on LINC to the City-Parish Council where the Plan is formally adopted.

There are specific efforts being made to both involve and inform the general public:

  1. Newspaper display ads
  2. Presentations to civic organizations
  3. Portable displays rotating around the Parish
  4. LCG Web Site - - - lafayettelinc.net
  5. LINC Update Sheet email/faxed monthly to a public list
  6. Public Service media
  7. Public meetings
  8. Public Hearings
  9. Legal Notices
  10. Comment Forms
  11. Neighborhood Meetings
  12. LINC Phone Hot Line 291-5000

MANAGEMENT

The Comprehensive Plan (LINC) is managed by the Planning Division in the Department of Traffic and Transportation working through the LINC Steering Committee, the Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee (CPIC), the Planning Commission, and the City-Parish Council.

PLAN PREPARATION

There are twelve elements to LINC approved by the Planning Commission:

  1. Drainage/Stormwater: Work begun in November, 1999
  2. Land Use: Work begun in December, 1999
  3. Transportation: Work begun in January, 2000
  4. Housing/Neighborhoods: Work begun in February, 2000
  5. Utilities: Work begun in March, 2000
  6. Economic Development: Work begun in April, 2000
  7. Public Services: Work begun in May, 2000
  8. Urban Design: Work begun in June, 2000
  9. Conservation/Environmental: Work begun in August, 2000
  10. Recreation and Open Space: Work begun in August, 2000
  11. Cultural Resources: Work begun in August, 2000
  12. Special Areas: Work begun in October, 2000

STEERING COMMITTEE

The 24 member LINC Steering Committee meets twice a month on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday at 3:00 P.M. in the Auditorium at Postal Square, 101 East Cypress Street, Lafayette, La. The Committee limits meetings to a maximum of two hours. Each month work is initiated on a new element of the Comprehensive Plan. At the end of the month, a Subcommittee is established to continue focus and work on the specific Plan Element. The Subcommittee Chair and membership (consisting of five Steering Committee members) are appointed by the Chair of the Steering Committee.

Subcommittee Exception: The Steering Committee has designated the existing three MPO Transportation Committees; The Citizen Advisory Committee, Transportation Technical Committee and Transportation Policy Committee to serve as the recommending Subcommittee on the LINC Transportation Element.

Unique Steering Committee Rules of Policy and Procedure:

  1. Each subcommittee must be comprised of Steering Committee members with potentially opposite interests on the focus of the LINC Element to be studied.
  2. Subcommittee Recommendations must be unanimously supported by subcommittee members to be submitted to the full Steering Committee.
  3. The Steering Committee is responsible for the preparation of initial recommendations on each element of the Comprehensive Plan.
  4. Approved Steering Committee Recommendations for each element of LINC are transmitted to the Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee.

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE (CPIC)

The purpose of the Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee (CPIC) is to review and develop Goals, Objectives and Strategies for each Steering Committee Recommendation. CPIC is the "great balancer" for the Comprehensive Plan. The knowledge, experience, and qualifications of these twenty nine directors and agency heads is the on-going heart and soul of the LINC. These members are the managers and supervisors who will ultimately implement the adopted plan. Once Element Recommendations are submitted to the CPIC a subcommittee is appointed consisting of five to seven members with the CPIC Chair designating the Subcommittee Chair.

Unique CPIC Rules of Policy and Procedure:

  1. Recommendations from the Steering Committee cannot be deleted.
  2. Subcommittees prepare and submit Goals, Objectives and Strategies for each Recommendation to the full CPIC by a majority vote.
  3. CPIC may recommend against a Steering Committee Recommendation.
  4. CPIC Goals, Objectives and Strategies for each Recommendation of the Steering Committee must be transmitted directly and only to the Planning Commission.
  5. CPIC may propose and initiate a new Goal for LINC.

CITY-PARISH PLANNING COMMISSION

The City-Parish Planning Commission is required by state law to review, approve and recommend on the Comprehensive Plan. The City-Parish Charter also requires the Planning Commission to review the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) prior to adoption by the City-Parish Council.

The Planning Commission holds a Public Hearing on the Steering Committee Recommendations and the Goals, Objectives and Strategies developed and approved by CPIC. The Commission then prepares formal Policies to govern the LINC Element and makes whatever changes and modifications it deems appropriate. Planning Commission recommendations are transmitted directly and only to the City-Parish Council.

CITY - PARISH COUNCIL:

The City-Parish Council is the final authority and enforcer of the Comprehensive Plan. The Council reviews the LINC documents submitted by the Planning Commission for a formal Public Hearing and then prepares a budget and "Performance Measures" for each Element of LINC prior to formal adoption.

BROUSSARD, CARENCRO, DUSON, SCOTT AND YOUNGSVILLE:

Each municipality will review and act on LINC once the City-Parish Council has adopted the Plan Elements.

PLANNING DISTRICTS:

The Parish has been divided into five planning districts. These Districts are based on the five public high school attendance zones for presentation and reference purposes. The school zones were selected for their neutrality and convenience. It is anticipated there may be differences in LINC elements among the five districts. However, an experimental effort is now underway to test "LINC Designated Neighborhoods" as a foundation and practical application of the Comprehensive Plan. These LINC Neighborhoods are roughly two miles square and are organized around residents, property owners, and businesses and coordinate with Lafayette Consolidated Government Departments and elected officials. Each LINC Neighborhood identifies its priorities and works toward its objectives within the framework of the overall Parish Plan.

PUBLIC WORKSHOPS:

The first series of public forums or workshops on LINC were held:

    Monday, March 27, 2000 from 6:00-8:00 P.M. in the Carencro High School Cafeteria.

    Tuesday, March 28, 2000 from 6:00-8:00 P.M. in the Acadiana High School Cafeteria.

    Wednesday, March 29, 2000 from 4:30-6:30 P.M. in the Comeaux High School Cafeteria.

    Wednesday, March 29, 2000 from 7:30-9:30 P.M. in the Lafayette High School Cafeteria.

    Thursday, March 30, 2000 from 4:30-6:30 P.M. in the Northside High School Cafeteria.

The second series of public forums on LINC were held in the last week of June

    Monday, June 26, 2000 from 4:30-6:30 P.M. in the Comeaux High School Cafeteria.

    Monday, June 26, 2000 from 4:30-6:30 P.M. in the Acadiana High School Cafeteria.

    Tuesday, June 27, 2000 from 7:30-9:30 P.M. in the Lafayette High School Cafeteria.

    Wednesday, June 28, 2000 from 4:30-7:30 P.M. in the Carencro High School Cafeteria.

    Wednesday, June 28, 2000 from 7:30-9:30 P.M. in the Northside High School Cafeteria.

Poor attendance characterized the first ten forums.

The third series of public forums on LINC will be restructured around formal Public Hearings by the Planning Commission, City-Parish Council and Municipalities.

THE FIVE "C" PROCESS FOR LINC

The Lafayette Consolidated Government has followed what may be best called a "Five C" guideline in the preparation of a Comprehensive Plan: The Lafayette Plan must be 1) Comprehensive and not single element, 2) Coordinated and not fragmented, 3) Cooperative and not divisive, 4) Consensus based and not special interests, and 5) Communicated and not ambiguous, generalized and confusing. The process is similar to mountain cliff climbing with one toe, foot, finger, hand, elbow, and knee hold at a time.

The obstacles are legion and common:

  1. The movers and shakers of a community are not necessarily your elected officials.
  2. Turf protection by government departments and agencies.
  3. People coming to your public meetings are not necessarily movers and shakers of the community.
  4. The "Silent Majority" does what it does best - - - - stays silent.
  5. The "raison d=etre" for some is to critic government and it is an easy hobby.
  6. Developer opposition
  7. Limited resources (funding and staff)
  8. Conflicting politics
  9. Personality clashes
  10. Getting and keeping the attention of elected officials long enough to explain the cost/ benefits of a Comprehensive Plan.
  11. There are devils in the details of the best laid plans.
  12. The cost of implementation.

THE LEGACY FOUNDATION OF ACADIANA

The Legacy Foundation of Acadiana is a "community foundation or trust" established in December, 2000 to serve the Acadiana Region. This foundation has the potential to facilitate the comprehensive needs and goals of Lafayette citizens together over the long term. Community Foundations have proven themselves to be a major asset in many counties and cities across the country.

THE LAFAYETTE EXPERIENCE

The first Comprehensive Plan for Lafayette was developed by Charles Colbert and Associates in 1955. This "Colbert Plan" was prompted by the growing oil and gas industry in South Louisiana resulting in rapid urban development activity in and around the City of Lafayette. A critical need can galvanize a community into some form of "planning". Since that time there have been many fragmented and specialized studies of one type or another and a number of attempts to prepare a "Master Plan" again, but with little success.

The current effort and work on LINC cannot be termed a public mandate. The initial spark for a new plan was the result of a major infrastructure project affecting an established residential neighborhood ten years ago. Many individuals called for a "Community Plan" and elected officials responded with slow and cautious steps. The formation of the Lafayette Consolidated Government gave new life to the Plan preparation and seed funding was secured from prior government commitments.

The Comprehensive Plan: Lafayette IN a Century (LINC) is designed to look back on what is best about the community and how to keep it and to look ahead at what it wants to be and achieve it. What the final results will be only time will tell. The Planning Division Staff works to facilitate the "Five C Process" and build a solid foundation for the Plan.

Author and Copyright Information

Copyright 2001 by Author

Mike Hollier, AICP
Planning Manager
Lafayette Consolidated Government
Lafayette, Louisiana