East Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Comprehensive Plan
Janet Tharp was the local project manager for FUTUREBR, the East Baton Rouge Comprehensive Plan. For this plan, which updated the 1992 Horizon Plan, Janet worked with Fregonese Associates, the project lead, and a team of consultants to prepare a Vision for the City-Parish, a Comprehensive Plan with ten elements, and a Strategic Implementation Plan. Janet was involved in all aspects of plan development and public outreach.
FUTUREBR, unanimously adopted in 2011, addressed the growth, development and service pressures that East Baton Rouge experienced following the hurricanes of 2005 and created an environment for positive change and future sustainability. FUTUREBR had a strong commitment to public involvement, with thousands of Parish residents and stakeholders providing input on their vision for the future. The FUTUREBR Plan guides housing, economic development, transportation, land use, the environment, urban design and other areas through the decision-making processes.
Since the adoption of the FUTUREBR Plan in 2011, Janet Tharp has been working with John Fregonese, the Mayor’s office, and the City-Parish Planning Commission to implement plan recommendations. Work has included preparing a Complete Streets Policy for the City-Parish (adopted November 2014) and preparing Urban Design Guidelines. Additional implementation resulting from the plan includes a TIGER grant for the first phase of a streetcar. The next steps of implementation are revising Parking and Landscaping standards as well as reorganizing the development code to align with FUTUREBR.
EAST FELICIANA
Comprehensive Plan
Janet Tharp served as lead planner of the East Feliciana Comprehensive Plan. Initially she held this role while working for Kimley Horn and Associates, and continued as lead planner to complete the project with Tharp Planning Group. As project manager she was responsible for all aspects of the plan and was the plan’s author.
East Feliciana, a parish located north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana contains beautiful rural areas and strategically located town centers. The East Feliciana Parish Comprehensive Resiliency Plan, adopted in 2013, builds on the long history of smart growth development and establishes tools that will continue this development pattern into the future. The Plan identifies areas of improvement needed so that the Parish is prepared to deal with future growth pressures, as they occur.
The Comprehensive Resiliency Plan describes the citizens’ vision of the future and provides short- and long-term strategies necessary for its implementation. The recommended strategies and actions suggest ways to retain the natural beauty of the Parish while providing a prosperous economy and healthy environment for all citizens. The Plan places a special emphasis on economic development research and strategies that work to create a more resilient future for Parish residents.
Preparation of the plan included extensive outreach to residents across the parish, with an emphasis on giving a voice to communities that have traditionally been under-represented.
Northlake, Texas
Comprehensive Plan
The Northlake Vision and Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 2009, updated the 2002 Strategic Plan. The Plan incorporates residents’ desires and aspirations and translates that vision into a plan through implementation of strategic actions to guide future development. The goal of the plan is to ensure that stakeholders have tools available to successfully implement the plan, including appropriate regulations, key public strategies, and incentives to encourage appropriate private investment. Prior to the plan update, Northlake experienced increased development pressures, including several large regional developments. The plan positioned Northlake to benefit from these pressures by putting strategies in place to direct the type and character of development desired by the town’s citizens. This clear understanding of the vision as well as consistent and predictable tools to implement the vision has helped attract desired development.
Following adoption of the Northlake Vision and Comprehensive Plan, the Town of Northlake has continually implemented the plan’s recommendations by revising and adopting new development regulations, updating annexation policies, conducting a parks, recreation and open space plan, making infrastructure improvements and preparing an Industrial Sector Plan.
Janet Tharp prepared the Northlake Comprehensive Plan and, working with Kimley-Horn and Associates, prepared an Industrial Sector Plan to implement key plan recommendations..
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Comprehensive Plan
The PLANiTULSA Vision and Plan, adopted in 2010, lays out concepts for how the City of Tulsa will look, function, and feel over the next 20 to 30 years. PLANiTULSA, describes the kinds of places, economy, housing and transportation choices, parks, and open spaces that the city’s policies should be designed to create.
PLANiTULSA is a product of unprecedented public engagement, developed with the guidance of over 5,500 Tulsans, stakeholders, City staff, and a volunteer Citizens’ Team. Through this vision, Tulsans set the city on a new course towards having a vibrant and dynamic economy, attracting and retaining young people, providing effective transportation, providing housing choices, protecting the environment and providing sustainability, and supporting education and learning.
Working with lead planner, Fregonese Associates, Janet Tharp served as project manager for the PLANiTULSA Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 2010.
Since adoption of the plan, the city has hired a new planning director, updated the zoning ordinance to align with the plan, and prepared six small area plans implementing PLANiTULSA recommendations.