Maitland City Council approves amendments to park site process

In a short meeting on Monday, Oct. 23, the Maitland City Council decided to move forward on new amendments to simplify the Park Site Master Planning process.

After a presentation from Parks & Recreation Director Jay Conn and a short discussion, the move was made with unanimous approval by the council. Part of the plan is to cut the current process, which requires seven steps to four. 

Step one will include PRAB workshops with staff and design consultants. The process then will move into steps two and three, which would involve public meetings. The first will be a public meeting to discuss design options, which will then be followed up by a second public meeting to discuss design options.

The final step calls for a review and action by the City Council.

Earlier preparation of preliminary cost estimates will be done to help inform the process, while simplified language would make it more easily understandable. 

Of the bigger changes to the planning process will be the elimination of the review by the Planning and Zoning Commission in the conceptual design phase — although the commission will continue its usual review of the proposed project during the site plan review process.

With all of the changes being made, the process will cut the Park Site Master plan development from its original nine to 10 months down to four to five months.

After the presentation from Conn, Mayor Dale McDonald praised the new amended plan as he recalled another project and the difficult process that was required to get it going.

“Those of us around remember the brain strain and indigestion involving Kings Row, and the excruciating process — I’m being nice — that we went through to get that done,” McDonald said. “For me, this is a step in the right direction.”