12 - Update the Subdivision Regulations of the City of Paris to specifically reference the Master Thoroughfare Plan

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Item No. 12 me�mo�ran�dum TO: Mayor & Council FROM: John Godwin, City Manager SUBJECT: THOROUGHFARE PLAN ENFORCEABILITY DATE: July 3, 2019 BACKGROUND: The master thoroughfare plan is an important planning tool used to help ensure that a workable, hierarchical street system is planned, designed, and ultimately constructed. However, if the plan is not enforceable, its utility is greatly diminished. In the past, although the city has adopted and periodically updated its thoroughfare plan, it has not been used as an enforceable guide to development, but instead more of an ideal or long-term goal. There is value in that, but the plan can and should do more. STATUS OF ISSUE: Comprehensive Plan Recommendation 15.15 reads: "Connect the subdivision regulations directly to the Master Thoroughfare Plan to ensure the city's authority to enforce ROW dedications and other needed improvements for plan implementation." By amending section 8 of the subdivision regulations to include enforcement of the thoroughfare plan and required donations of rights-of-way, we will fully incorporate that plan into our development requirements. This in turn will help ensure the plan is actually implemented, rather than being just another plan on a shelf that is never realized. In the attachment, all new language inserted into the existing ordinance is highlighted in blue. The planning and zoning commission met in regular session on July 1, and following a public hearing at which no one spoke, recommended approval of the attached ordinance by a vote of 7- 0. BUDGET: NA RECOMMENDATION: Approve amendments to Section VIII of the Subdivision Regulations requiring that streets be constructed in a manner consistent with the Master Thoroughfare Plan.