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Hernando Today

City Contracts With UF For Planning Guidance

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: February 4, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - The city will look to experts at the University of Florida to help in the first step toward a blueprint for the city's future.

The city council on Monday unanimously approved a contract with the university's contract with the Department of Urban and Regional Planning to analyze the city's sundry planning documents to gauge how they can fit into one manageable vision for the city.

The city will pay $18,000 for the university's Center for Building Better Communities to look at the city's comprehensive land use plan, zoning codes, and revitalization plan, among other documents, and see how they compare and differ.

A team will also consider the cooperative planning efforts with the county and the plans of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority, which is including Hernando County in its efforts to develop mass transit.

"You have a lot of things going on in Brooksville and a lot of things happening in your future that I think are very, very positive," Gene Boles, director of the university planning department, who will serve as a project manager for the Brooksville contract. "Your connection and relationship to the Tampa region will continue to grow over time and you need to be preparing for what that means for your future."

Boles will lead a team with Gail Easley, an adjunct instructor, and four graduate students. The project should be completed in six months.

Many officials are surprised to learn that their various planning documents are sometimes "going in different directions," Easley said.

Ron Pianta, planning director for the county, told the council that the county will offer cooperation and staff time for the effort.

"I venture to say this is the first time in history that the county and city are mapping the city's future together," said City Manager Jennene Norman-Vacha, who worked on the proposal along with Vice Mayor Lara Bradburn.

Council member Richard Lewis said he was glad to see a different approach to planning that had been "piecemeal" in the past.

"The assimilation of all this was put on the back burner, so I'm glad to see it come to fruition," Lewis said.

The project could help "relieve the tension" between the city and the county that has built up over the years, Council member David Pugh Jr. said. The price for the service is a bargain and will pay for itself by helping to avoid lawsuits over planning conflicts with the county, Pugh said.

"That $18,000 will probably save us a lot of money in the future," he said.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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