The City Council approved a professional agreement with Halff Associates Inc. to develop a Comprehensive Plan for the City of Bartlesville. Halff Associates was recommended by the Comprehensive Plan Committee out of a group of 15 firms that submitted proposals.
The total cost for the professional planning process is $244,000, with options for additional services such as regulatory code assessment and reformation, small area/neighborhood plan development, and training on plan implementation, at additional cost. A total budget of $250,000 for the comprehensive plan project was approved in the Fiscal Year 2023-24 capital budget and allocated to the Community Development Department.
Updating the city’s Comprehensive Plan is one of the action steps in the city’s Strategic Plan, Bartlesville NEXT, to accomplish the strategic priorities of Economic Vitality and Community Character for the community. One of the key objectives within the Economic Vitality priority is the reevaluation of the city’s development regulatory policies, to ensure all rules, regulations and processes align with best practices, and reflect the character of the community. Another key objective within the Community Character priority is the development and maintenance of healthy lifestyle options as a segment of our parks, recreation and transportation systems. An updated Comprehensive Plan will provide the basis for achieving both of these objectives, and more.
“The updated Comprehensive Plan will provide guidance to residents, developers, businesses, institutions, stakeholders, city policymakers and staff, for the physical, economic, and social development of Bartlesville over the next 20 to 30 years,” said Larry Curtis, director of Community Development. “The Comprehensive Plan will take approximately 12 months to develop, and it ultimately would be adopted by City Council. It will involve extensive community input from the public and stakeholders, to realize the community’s vision, goals, and objectives for the future.”
The Comprehensive Plan process will include data collection and analysis of current conditions in the city, a projection of future population growth, calculation of land area capacities for current and future land uses, including residential, commercial, industrial, parks and recreation, and employment centers. It will provide an analysis and plan for the provision of infrastructure, and conservation of natural and fiscal resources for the long-term growth, resiliency, and sustainability of the community.