Clarifying the NOLA-CPP and the Master Plan

Are the CPP and Master Planning processes the same? Will the Master Planning process marginalize our citizen driven CPP initiative and push its own CPP agenda? Why isn't the CPP more central to the Master Planning process? Is the CPP being used to legitimize a flawed Master Plan and Charter Ammendment?

These are just some of the questions many of you have asked us about the relationship of the CPP to the Master Plan process. We hope the following will help to answer these and offer some clarity.

1. Are the CPP and Master Planning processes the same?

The process to create a formal CPP and the Master Planning process are independent projects. The Master Plan is being coordinated by the City Planning Commission and the Goody Clancy Planning firm. The goal of the master planning process is to create a city-wide Land Use Plan and Zoning Ordinance for the city that will clarify these areas and dictate what type of developments can be created and where.

The Citizen Participation Project is a non-government organized project to create a formal citizen participation system for the city's residents. The Master Plan will lay the foundation for the physical development of the city as it relates to Land Use and Zoning. Although many topics will be covered in the Master Plan document, these will be covered as visioning principles, goals and policy suggestions.

The CPP on the other hand is currently considering three broad topics as its focus areas. These are: 1. Land Use and Zoning; 2. Participatory City Budgeting and; 3. Public Services Program Review. There could potentially be a fourth area,[Economic Development] as well.

The challenge for the CPP is to create system broad enough to capture the interest of a diverse group of people. If the CPP were only able to address the physical infrastucture of our city through land use and zoning policies, it would exclude many people who don't see those issues as their priority. For instance by taking on the issue of the City Budget, we allow space for a range of issues to be discussed, from Jobs to Recreation, Arts and Culture to Transportation and Streets. In addition, this type of citizen input into the city budget can help communities began to submit their own proposal for local projects and priorities to the city. This type of proactive engagement is one of the most important features of our CPP proposal as neighborhood or project planning without any relationship to a budget is often little more than wishful thinking.

So while the current Master Plan and CZO will help us define where certain types of development can or can not take place, the CPP will help us create the necessary public partnerships with city government that will enable us to see these proposals become reality.

Similarly, by addressing the issue of Public Service Program Review the CPP establishes a system whereby residents can be involved in monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of city services in a number of areas.

As you can see the Master Plan will only address 1 of the 3 issues currently identified by residents and our CPP-Scope of Activities Team as priorities for citizen engagement in our city. With this is mind we can say that the CPP system we are creating will offer us an opportunity to be involved in many issues beyond those included in the master plan. So pairing the CPP to the Master Plan or City Planning Commission could limit our ability to impact the wider issues that impact our lives and the development of our city.

2. Will the Master Planning process marginalize our citizen driven CPP initiative and push it's own CPP agenda?

The Master Plan process is not creating a Citizen Participation System. Community members just like you are and we invite any and everyone to participate in this process.

What is happening within the Master Planning process is that the Future Vision section of the plan is being written to include a chapter on how a formal Citizen Participation process will allow city residents to be "stewards" of the plan.

The Future Vision chapter is essentially a statement with some detail of what we desire for the future of our city. This future vision includes a formal Citizen Participation Program. By including the CPP in this section the City Planning Commission and City Council who must approve the final document are endorsing the creation of a formal CPP but not defining it. This will include a section on procedures for how residents can ensure regular reviews of the Master Plan and a structure for our participation in the decisions related to it.

For instance the proposed charter ammendment states that once given the force of law, all future land use/zoning decisions and regulations must be "consistent" with the Master Plan. However, this term, "consistent" is not defined in the charter. This makes it our responsibility through this planning process to define and create easily understandable indicators of what it means to be consistent with the master plan we create. Then we can judge with confidence when any proposal is or is not in compliance with the Master Plan. Leaving that to interpretation is potentially leaving the plan even with the force of law, open to manipulation by powerful interest.

3. Why isn't the CPP more central to the Master Planning process?

Hopefully this question was answered in the first section of this entry. But to state it in another manner; the City Planning Commission developed its own process for public participation in the Master Plan processs. We are unable to directly influence their decision on this matter. Given that the process was already established there was little room for us to be involved in that capacity. Our role at this point is simply to outline as mentioned above our desires for a formal CPP in the Future Vision section of the plan.

However, if any groups feel the current structure of public engagement limits your access to the process, the Goody Clancy team has committed itself to honoring the additional request of any neighborhood and community organizations who want to set up meetings with them about the plan. If your group would like CPP staff support in arranging these meetings please contact us.

4. Is the CPP being used to legitimize a flawed Master Plan process and Charter Amendment?

As it regards the CPP or its staff, we have never taken a formal stance on the proposed charter change. Like most people, the CPP supports the idea of a legally binding Master Plan to define in a clear and open manner the land use and zoning policies for the city. This can potentially empower residents to demand transparency and hold accountable city government as well as private developers who propose new developments in our communities. However we are not endorsing the manner nor the time at which the idea was brought to the public. We would have liked to see more public discussion about the charter amendment and more time for residents to understand and make a clear decision.

Our interest have always been on trying to ensure a process that allowed for meaningful participation of the city's residents in these decisions. If done correctly, the Master Plan should reflect our communities' priorities as they relate to land use and zoning issues. Once we have defined how to measure compliance with these prioritites we can then judge with confidence what developments we desire and which we do not.

Failing to engage the process would leave our priorities to be determined by others. So while the CPP does not formally endorse the charter change amendment we strongly encourage participation in the process whether or not there is a charter change giving it the force of law at this time. Should the final draft of the Master Plan diverge from the priorities we establish through the public process, we then have a basis to demand accountability from the CPC and City Council on why and by whom were our collective desires not incorporated.

We hope this helps to provide some clarity on the relationship of the CPP to the Master Plan process. If you have any more questions or need further elaboration please contact us.