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Cary Community Plan 2-23-17 Part 2

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9. ACT The preceding eight chapters of this Cary Community Plan outline our community's vision and values, set policy direc on, and recommend policy ini a ves as well as specific ac ons for guiding growth and for helping our community thrive over the next 20 years. This ninth chapter (ACT) offers general guidance and recommenda ons for applying plan policies, for monitoring plan performance, and when necessary, amending the plan. This chapter also provides a summary table of the policy ini a ves and ac ons found at the end of each of chapters 2 through 8, (or in the case of Chapter 6, at the end of each of that chapter's four Special Planning Area discussions). To ensure that the Cary Community Plan is implemented as adopted, it will be important to establish a formal system of plan monitoring for two purposes: (1) monitoring the actual implementa on of the plan to make sure that ini a ves and ac ons are being carried out, and (2) monitoring the effec veness of the plan over me to ensure the vision and policies set out in the plan are being realized over me. Coordinating and Monitoring Implementation As soon as possible a er the Plan is adopted, an Interdepartmental Comprehensive Plan Implementa on Team composed of various staff with representa ve knowledge and/or exper se should be assembled to begin developing a priori zed ac on plan and implementa on schedule that includes designated responsible par es. Once the ac on plan and implementa on schedule are completed and adopted by Council, the team should plan to provide an implementa on status report to the Cary Town Council at least annually. This will serve both to update the Council on the implementa on of the plan, and also to trigger discussion on budget priori es for the coming fiscal year. Monitoring Plan Effectiveness The Plan's effec veness should be monitored to evaluate whether the policy ini a ves being implemented are having the desired impact on the community. This can be accomplished by establishing and tracking a set of performance indicators. A performance indicator is a measure of achievement over a selected me period. It is a measurement that can be used as a reference or as a standard for comparison. Poten al performance measurements can be developed for each policy ini a ve or group of related policy ini a ves. For example, for the policy ini a ve Create a Business-Friendly Environment, a performance indicator could be Percentage of Business Owners Ra ng Cary as a Good Place to Do Business. It will be important to establish a baseline (actual or a Applying Plan Policies development. When a rezoning applica on is received for a site, the site's geographic loca on within the Future Growth Framework, coupled with the per nent guiding policies in the Cary Community Plan, will provide the basis for analyzing the proposal and making ra onal planning decisions. The comprehensive plan's policies provide guidance for making decisions related to private land development proposals, for shaping the appearance, economic vitality, and environmental quality of the community, for coordina ng inter-jurisdic onal planning efforts, and for planning and priori zing service needs and capital improvements. The Future Growth Framework Map and the policies included in this plan should be used by Town Staff and Town Advisory Boards when making their recommenda ons, and by the Town Council when making decisions about land development, capital investments, and community programs. One of the primary uses of the Town's comprehensive plan is for evalua ng development proposals. Landowners and developers who wish to develop property o en need to request a new zoning designa on for their site. The Town's evalua on of the rezoning applica ons begins with the guidance provided in this comprehensive plan. The former Cary Land Use Plan could be characterized as a map-based plan because its future land use map was used as the primary guidance document for evalua ng rezoning requests. In contrast, the Cary Community Plan can be characterized as a policy-based plan, in that the Town's values and future aspira ons are ar culated in wri en policies that provide the primary guidance for evalua ng rezoning applica ons. The Plan's Future Growth Framework Map works alongside the policies to depict the general long- term physical layout and general character of development envisioned for Cary. This shi from a map-based plan to a policy-based plan reflects the fact that there is a dwindling supply of large, undeveloped greenfield sites remaining in Cary's planning area; future development in Cary will increasingly be infill and redevelopment that require the flexibility that a policy-based plan offers for evalua ng individual sites within the context of surrounding exis ng Plan Monitoring

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