Student Corner: CED Program Providing Support in its ‘Backyard’

Community and Economic Development – Blog by UNC School of Government

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Student Corner: CED Program Providing Support in its ‘Backyard’

By CED Program Interns & Students

Published June 10, 2011

Andrew Guinn is a PhD student in the UNC Department of City and Regional Planning and a CCP intern.

The School of Government’s Community and Economic Development Program is providing support to the Town of Chapel Hill during the preparatory stages of its comprehensive planning process. In an effort to improve upon the existing plan that was formulated in 2000, the town is placing more focus on service delivery (as opposed to being simply a land use guide). Additionally, greater focus has been placed on the plan reflecting a larger array of stakeholders and incorporating a holistic emphasis on sustainability.

The first project is to provide an inventory of existing conditions in terms of service delivery, including what services the Town provides, what resources are used to provide these services and at what standards these services are provided. The second (and largest) project is to create a community asset map which inventories and briefly describes local faith-based, non-profit, political, and community-based organizations.  The third project is to create an inventory of the Town’s and University’s existing plans and to write synopses of these plans in preparation for an Open House in the fall. By identifying stakeholders and inventorying existing conditions, these projects will help the Town gather and consolidate information that will become necessary during the planning deliberations that will begin this coming autumn.