Taylor residents are weighing in on what they want to see in the city’s roadmap for future growth.
Two sessions held this past week — Monday and Wednesday — solicited comments and suggestions from the public on the updated edition of the city’s comprehensive plan, which remains in the planning stage.
Development Services Director Martin Griggs called it a guidebook for how the city will develop.
“We’re hoping to get a pulse of the community, figure out where people are wanting Taylor to grow and learn about what people desire for Taylor to grow into,” Griggs said. “All that is City Council’s decision at the end of the day. This is the document that helps council make good decisions and be in line with what the community desires.”
The existing plan was completed just before Samsung Austin Semiconductor announced its Taylor development in November 2021, and the city has quickly changed in ways that weren’t envisioned in the original plan, officials said.
“We try to get as much feedback from people as we can upfront. Then we can take those ideas, build them into the plan and show them (that their ideas are being used) to get a complete circle of public trust,” said consultant Chance Sparks of the engineering firm Freese and Nichols, which is designing the new plan.
Sparks said creating a comprehensive plan always begins with community engagement.
The company held its first open house Feb. 9 at the Dickey-Givens Community Center, 1015 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
A second open house was Feb. 11 in the Taylor Public Library Meeting Room, 801 Vance St.
A special workshop to discuss the findings from the survey and community input meetings is 6 p.m. Feb. 23.
At the open houses, which featured displays where opinions could be registered, residents were asked about what types of housing they wanted in the city and where industry should be located.
One poster asked what the city should protect as it grows. Answers included “small-town feel,” “remember agricultural heritage,” “no data centers” and “preserve historic neighborhoods.”
About 45 people attended Monday’s open house.
Community activist Janetta McCoy questioned whether those who showed up are a good sampling of the population, noting that while many of the attendees are always involved in the community, they may not represent all sectors of the town.
“I’m very concerned about the demographic makeup of the group. I don’t know about the solution, clearly, but are we really getting the information that is most useful if we’re not getting (a large portion) of the population represented,” McCoy said. “It’s a huge issue. We haven’t figured out how to communicate across ages, across genders and across races.”
In addition to the open houses, the city planned an online survey to collect public input.
And for the first time, according to South Side resident Pamela Griffin, city leaders went into the historically underrepresented part of town to hear the thoughts of that community.
Griffin said Community Services Director Tyler Bybee and City Manager Brian LaBorde asked for her help to arrange a meeting that residents would attend.
After speaking with her neighbors, Griffin offered her own property as a venue, set up a tent and refreshments, and welcomed LaBorde, Bybee and Sparks.
A representative from Oncor Electric also came to discuss a new transmission-line project.
“The meeting was wonderful. The community feels that they were listened to. The (representatives) responded to their questions. It’s a big change from what we used to get,” Griffin said. “I love my community. I expect for my community to have the same things other communities have. So, I’m trying to fight for this until I can’t fight no more.”
The comprehensive plan is not a zoning document, officials said.
It is a combination of all the city’s master plans into one “guidebook” that provides the basis for zoning and land-use decisions as well as city policies and investments, officials said.
