2018-032 Attachment-Comprehensive Plan Update

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SECTION 12: REFERENCES TO THE ADOPTED 2001 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 1. Introduction. The city staff has stated in Section 1 of this plan update that the current adopted 2001 Paris Comprehensive Plan "...still represents many current state of the art urban planning principles and practice, and contains many very relevant recommendations that are current for Paris." In that regard, the staff wishes to bring to the attention of the Paris Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council two particular discussions within that 2001 plan: They are "The Basis of Decision -Making: Rezoning Requests" (pgs. 7-8) and "Special Use Permits" (pgs. 92-93). (NOTE: A "Special Use Permit in the 2001 plan is the same thing as a Specific Use Permit as discussed in the Paris Zoning Ordinance). The reason that staff is focusing on these two areas of the 2001 plan is that rezoning requests and specific use permits are the most prevalent and most frequent elements within the Zoning Ordinance that Paris addresses regarding the city's growth management. Therefore, the city planning principles and practice reflected in these two parts of the 2001 Comprehensive Plan are of particular and sustained importance to the effective growth - management and city planning in Paris. The following text is paraphrased from the 2001 plan. (A) The Basis of Decision -Making: Rezoning Requests. Decisions regarding zoning and subdivision proposals should be made with reference to sound planning principles and practice. The following procedures should be implemented by the City when processing rezoning requests. First, although the required public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission is a valuable mechanism for evaluating the public's opinions toward development and for establishing the facts of each case, it is important that decisions not be based only on the opinions of the largest or most vocal group of participants. Instead, zoning decisions must be based on the best interests of the entire community, and not just the interests of a particular property owner or neighboring property owners. Further, the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council should try to distinguish between facts and opinions at a public hearing. Unsubstantiated assertions ("This project would reduce the value of my property by 75 percent") or generalizations ("People who live in apartments always drive fast cars and race up and down the streets") should be analyzed for their validity. Even "expert witnesses" should be pressed to give as factual a basis as possible for their judgments. Second, zoning decisions should include consideration of long-range community goals as well as short—range needs. The recommendations of the Comprehensive Plan should be the primary source for this information. Because of its importance in the zoning process, the Comprehensive Plan should be reviewed by the Paris city staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission on a regular basis and amended as necessary to ensure that it remains current. Third, it is important to zone based on land use issues, not the issues affecting the individual applicant. An error frequently made is approval of a rezoning to accommodate an applicant's personal circumstances without consideration of land use conditions and characteristics. Such a 27