Gadsden residents turn out to offer input on comprehensive master plan

Those who don’t participate in the political process often say it’s a waste of time because government on all levels doesn’t listen to them.

However, the several hundred people — crossing economic, residential and demographic lines — who turned out Sept. 19 at the East Gadsden Community Center obviously took City of Gadsden officials at their word that their input was vital to the development of a new comprehensive master plan for the city.

The GROW Gadsden meeting allowed participants to provide interactive feedback to city officials and representatives of Goodwyn Mills Cawood, which is working on the master plan, on their preferences for Gadsden’s direction and the shape of its future.

Mayor Craig Ford stressed the importance of the plan and added, “Your input is what matters, and we want to get this right, y’all, for Gadsden.”

It would be the city’s first new master plan since 1972. “I was 4 years old,” Ford noted. “It’s something we need badly; we need it now and we can’t do a master plan without your input.”

Multiple stations were set up around the recreation center’s lobby. Participants were given a “scorecard” as they entered listing six areas — arts, downtown, housing, mobility, parks and riverfront — each of which had an individual station.

People were asked to consider four alternatives in each area and place a sticker on a graph to indicate how much they liked them (and get their scorecards stamped to receive a gift). The alternatives were:

• Arts: Artistic lighting, murals and sculptures, music venue, cultural tourism;

• Downtown: Mixed use development, outdoor dining, streetscape improvements, street furniture

• Housing: Infill housing (developing vacant or underused property in neighborhoods), housing diversity, revitalization, public housing;

• Mobility: Sidewalks, beautification, bike lanes, enhanced transit;

• Parks: Athletic fields, additional programming, greenway trails, natural parks;

• Riverfront: Improved river access, mixed use development, pedestrial bridge, marina.

Participants also were asked to write, in one word (although most people went over), what they’d like to see most in the city on a piece of paper and post it on a wall.

And a large map of the city was spread out on the floor, and people were asked to place different colored stickers where they lived and where they worked.

Goodwyn Mills Cawood will compile the results and forward them to city officials as development of the master plan continues. Its release is expected in January.

Jason Harper, with the company’s governmental affairs and business development division, called the meeting a “visioning session,” which will provide “tools and fuel” for the implementation of the plan.

“The City of Gadsden needs to be strong both for the state and for Northeast Alabama,” Harper said. “Local engagement is valuable to charting a course. ... Getting this right is extremely important.”

Ford said of those who turned out, “It’s their city and we’re trying to find out what they want us to do for their city.”

He said there were also some developers sprinkled into the crowd “who they didn’t want anyone to know about, and they’re impressed.”

City Council President Kent Back praised the turnout, telling participants, “It’s exciting to feel the energy that you’re bringing as citizens that care about your city and want to have input.”

Information about the master plan is available at https://www.growgadsden.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Interactive meeting on Gadsden's master plan draws large crowd