The city of Rye has issued a Request for Proposals seeking a consulting firm to help update its comprehensive plan –a guiding document that hasn’t been redrafted in 40 years.
The RFP, which was sent out earlier this month, asks for a consulting firm with a plan that “should concisely identify community current conditions and anticipate future needs and demands based on local and regional trends.” The city is looking to create a comprehensive plan with actionable goals for housing, transportation, and business and culture, amongst other initiatives, according to the RFP.
The RFP is posted on the city website and proposals are due back on May 16.
While municipal standards recommend that communities update their master plan every decade, Rye has not produced a new plan since 1985.
Rye has attempted to revamp the master plan over the years, including in 2017 when the City Council formed a Master Plan Task Force, seeking out community feedback and proposal submission, but the task was never completed.
The city Planning Department, led by City Planner Christian Miller, will spearhead the project along with the chosen consulting firm. In a letter to the council, Miller also encouraged the formation of a comprehensive plan review committee to review submitted proposals from prospective consulting firms, conduct interviews, and recommend a preferred consultant.
According to Miller’s letter, the 2017 task force had a dozen members, including representatives from the City Council, Planning Commission, Board of Appeals, Board of Architectural Review, Traffic and Pedestrian
Safety Committee, city Board of Education, Rye Chamber of Commerce and Rye Nature Center.
Bill Henderson, a Republican councilman and mayoral candidate, suggested discussing forming the committee as soon as possible to jumpstart the process.
“I don’t think we need to wait for the consultant. I’d really like to get moving on this and I think that who’s going to serve on this committee may be one of the things that will take us more time,” Henderson said. “People are going to have different opinions about who should serve.”
Mayor Josh Cohn and Councilman Josh Nathan, a Democrat and mayoral candidate, disagreed, saying input from the consultant while forming a committee would be invaluable.
“In our preliminary conversation with a consultant, the consultant was quite opinionated on how large a committee should be and who might be on the committee, so I really do think that is something we should have,” Cohn, who is politically unaffiliated, said. “Once we have consultant input, I don’t think that the conversation will take terribly long.”
