Cory Clark, the new city planner for Columbus, believes the city has “good bones” for future development, but that growth needs to follow an intentional design.

That’s why Clark intends to begin developing a new comprehensive plan for the city starting in January to flesh out what that preparation could look like.

“Around the beginning of the year, I’m going to get into it and get the ball rolling on that,” Clark told The Dispatch. “Because … I would like to say it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon when it comes to a comprehensive plan. … I have to meet with different departments and get input from the community, different organizations around the city and whatnot, so we can all come to the table.”

As part of a town hall held Monday by Ward 2 Councilman Roderick Smith at East Columbus Gym, Clark spoke with residents about his plans to develop the city’s newest comprehensive plan, or a guiding document that outlines a community’s vision and recommendations for elected officials to help make informed decisions on infrastructure budgeting and community policies.

Clark said his intention is to craft the plan with recommendations spanning through 2050 in areas ranging from transportation and public health to economic development and education.

In order to best inform those recommendations, Clark plans to host community meetings with residents leading up to January and during its development, alongside having conversations with the entire city council to establish a baseline for what locals want to see.

Clark said the city’s last comprehensive plan, which was approved in 2013, is now outdated, but there are some pieces that may be salvaged or reentered into the upcoming plan.

“What I envision is first of all going and looking at the plan itself … and also finding out what from the current comprehensive plan what actions or recommendations have actually been implemented,” Clark said. “… Looking at what was implemented, how it worked, what worked, what didn’t work, what was the time frame in which it was implemented, and so forth, and taking that knowledge and using it to craft or incorporate it into the new comprehensive plan.”

Clark hopes the plan should take about a year to put together and be ready for council approval in 2028.

Practically, some recommendations the document could include, Clark said, are changing zoning areas for additional residential or commercial development, developing priorities on needed infrastructure projects and timelines for those projects and more effectively marketing city properties for development.

By having those conversations with department heads and other community leaders and working together to develop timelines, Clark said should help make those recommendations actionable.

“We can kind of complete tasks at a reasonable rate,” Clark said. “… We want to make sure that we are crafting recommendations and strategies that fit to the timeline that we want to implement them.”

Clark said the document will be a living document to be tweaked and adjusted as the city completes projects or determines more immediate needs on a yearly basis.

Public apology

At Monday’s town hall, Smith apologized for his tirade regarding Trotter Convention Center usage during the council’s Sept. 15 meeting.

During that council meeting, Smith took personal offense at the council not approving rent-free use of the Trotter for a community Thanksgiving luncheon he hoped to host in conjunction with Columbus Parks and Recreation. He called the mayor a coward and accused his colleagues of offering preferential treatment to certain events and organizations.

“I publicly wanted to apologize to you all, the ones I represent, for letting my emotions take over in a previous city council meeting,” Smith said to residents at the meeting. “I’m taking accountability for what I do because … (we) hold our workers accountable, and just as I want to hold them accountable, I’m holding myself accountable. So to you all who elected me, I want to tell you I’m sorry for the way I conducted myself. Now, the message I’m not saying I’m sorry for, but it was the way it got delivered.”

Smith said Monday he still plans to host the event at 11 a.m. Nov. 23 at the Trotter, but he confirmed to The Dispatch he will pay the $1,550 rental fee for the space.

“It’s my way … of giving back to our community,” Smith said during the town hall. “But also (it’s) telling our senior citizens thank you for what they do and for paving the way for us.”