Issue link: http://townofcary.uberflip.com/i/791946
CHAPTER 1:FOUNDATIONS Community-Based Planning Effort Cary has had a long, successful history of crea ng plans that guide growth and investment in the community. Star ng with the Town's first comprehensive plan in 1991, "Cary . . . Growing With a Vision", Cary has maintained a commitment to its comprehensive plan and uses it to guide decisions related to capital investments, desired development pa erns, and design of new developments. That plan was followed in 1996 with a new land use plan, and a series of individual plans for affordable housing, parks, growth management, and other topics, and mul ple small area plans. By 2012 the Town had 20 planning documents and 12 volumes in its comprehensive plan. In late 2010, the Town of Cary began considering the need to update several of the Town's exis ng plans for a few geographic areas. It became clear that a more pressing need was to undertake a comprehensive update to the en re policy context rather than upda ng individual component parts. As a result, in 2011, the Cary Town Council directed Town staff to conduct a complete review of all plans and create a new and more consolidated comprehensive Community Plan -- a consensus vision document to guide decisions and achieve a desired future. This process included an update to all volumes of the current comprehensive plan, including the Town's Comprehensive Transporta on Plan to be er integrate it with the Town's growth framework that guides development decisions. PART 1: THE CHARTER FOR CREATING THE CARY COMMUNITY PLAN (2012) Due to the complexity of the undertaking, the Town decided to approach this ini a ve in two parts. In 2012, the project team worked with Town Council and Town departments to develop the Charter for Crea ng a Cary Community Plan – the plan for effec vely crea ng "the plan." The Charter provided detailed guidance for development of the plan and the public engagement process. PART 2: THE IMAGINE CARY PLANNING EFFORT (2013-2016) Building on its commitment to planning, transparency and ci zen involvement, the Town of Cary undertook an ambi ous four-year planning effort to update Cary's comprehensive plan. Imagine Cary was a first-of-its-kind effort by the Town to update and connect its many specific topic plans into a single, integrated and comprehensive policy guide for the future. It also marked the first me in the Town's planning history to simultaneously generate a coordinated and integrated economic, land use, and transporta on vision for the Town. Through the guidance of the Charter, the Imagine Cary process was designed to be inclusive, focused, inspira onal, and sustainable. The plan was generated through the integra on of technical analysis and community aspira ons set out in four dis nct phases of plan development: 1. Values and Vision 2. Community Choices 3. Plan Framework 4. Plan Adop on DEVELOPING THE PLAN 10