With a “hub-and-spoke” model of engagement in place, the City of Rye is prepared to get rolling on its first new comprehensive plan in 40-plus years.
After the comprehensive plan steering committee’s introductory kickoff meeting a month ago, the group, which has expanded to 15 members, will pedal forward when it meets for the second time at 7 p.m. Monday at the Locust Avenue Fire House.
At the most recent meeting of Rye’s City Council, City Manager Brian Shea explained how the committee will lead the charge on the plan’s creation.
“We’re using a ‘hub-and-spoke’ model of engagement,” he said. “At the center of the process is the comprehensive plan steering committee, which will guide the overall planning effort through the next year. Working alongside the steering committee will be a series of technical advisory groups focusing on major planning topics.”
Those six groups’ focus includes housing, economy, transportation, environment, parks and rec, and history and community. The newly formed steering committee will also call upon the city’s existing boards and commissions for their input and expertise.
Surrounding the entire engagement model are Rye’s neighborhoods.
“Neighborhood groups will engage residents from every part of the city to ensure community character, priorities, and challenges in each neighborhood inform the comprehensive plan,” Shea said.
While the steering committee is now finalized, with the addition of two students and two Rye residents named Justin E. Driscoll, Mayor Josh Nathan said anyone who wants to participate in the process will be able to in some fashion, either through the technical advisory groups or neighborhood committees Shea mentioned.
The city’s comprehensive planning website is now live and includes resource documents for the planning process, with meeting materials and opportunities for public participation to be added as the process moves forward. Residents can also provide feedback through surveys and other outreach efforts.
City officials said the committee will serve in an advisory capacity throughout the planning process, gathering public input and helping shape recommendations. The City Council will ultimately adopt the comprehensive plan following public hearings.
The comprehensive planning website lists five phases for the project, as laid out by AKRF Planning, which has completed comprehensive plans for more than 25 New York municipalities, including Mamaroneck, Mount Kisco, New Rochelle, Yonkers, Pelham and, most recently, Mount Vernon.
Currently in Phase 1, “Kickoff & Background Research,” the project will move on to visioning, initial recommendations, drafting a plan, and finally, plan adoption. Initial expectations were for the entire process to take 18 months.
At the committee’s kickoff meeting on June 29, members received an introduction to the endeavor from Nahan and Peter Faroe, senior vice president at AKRF Planning, the White Plains-based consulting firm hired to lead the project.
“They enthusiastically engaged with one another right from the start,” Nathan told The Record after the first meeting. “I am confident from what I saw that their work will be key in our community finding that beautiful tension between preservation and progress and what that means for Rye.”
The steering committee is expected to meet about once a month and work with residents to gather feedback before making recommendations to the City Council.
“This committee’s work is part of an open, collaborative, and community-driven process; supported by highly experienced City staff and consultants,” Nathan said. “By listening carefully, asking good questions, and working together, we will develop a plan that reflects our shared values and provides a meaningful roadmap — a North Star — for the city in the years to come.”
