Chances for you to be heard
Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
The city has embarked on a lengthy and intense project to rewrite its General Plan, and a public meeting last Tuesday was one of many which will seek ideas from the city’s citizens and keep them informed.
The citizens should respond and attend these meetings, because they are important to Madera’s future.
The General Plan, mandated by law, is the blueprint for how the city should look and operate.
Want to build a house? It has to conform with the General Plan. Want to build a subdivision? It has to conform to the General Plan. New streets, new parking lots, new business parks, new public parks — all have to conform. The General Plan is a guide, but it also carries the weight of law. A periodic revision of the General Plan is required.
The public already has weighed in on how it wants the city to be in the future, by participating in the Vision 2025 project which began in 2005 and was adopted about a year later. The vision statements don’t have the weight of law, but the city council and city administrators are wisely treating them as if they were codified.
The revised General Plan will very likely reflect Vision 2025 in almost all of its permutations.
The meeting held Tuesday dwelled on environmental issues, which are a major part of the vision statement. “A safe, healthy environment emphasizes the community’s desire to protect Madera’s natural resources, enjoy a secure community and provide healthy educational and recreational activities,” reads a city synopsis of the vision statement on the environment.
A cleaner, greener Madera is likely to emerge from this planning exercise — at least that’s what the citizens say they want.
These meetings are the times for you to speak up.
