June 7, 2017
The City of Johns Creek has released a
draft version of its Comprehensive Plan update. The purpose of the plan is to review and update the City’s 2008 Comprehensive Plan. The plan seeks to preserve residential neighborhoods and manage future development growth.
The draft Comprehensive Plan update was developed through two public planning workshops held last fall and a three-day workshop held in January of this year. In addition, a 25-person Citizen Advisory Committee comprised of residents and three City council members was appointed in September 2016 by the Mayor and City Council and held ten planning meetings to establish goals, policies, changes to the Character Areas and the Future Land Use Map. City staff from the Community Development and Public Works departments worked with planning and transportation consultants, TSW and Pond Associates, over an eight month period to gather in citizen input and draft the Plan.
The updated plan outlines five new goals that focus on:
1) Creating a city-wide multi-modal sustainable transportation network that reduces traffic congestion, increases intra-city mobility, and includes complete streets, cart, bike and pedestrian pathways that connect neighborhoods to schools, parks, shopping centers, and institutional destinations;
2) Creating an identity for the city that guides future development while preserving its residential neighborhoods and exceptional quality of life;
3) Expanding the city’s economic base to retain and attract high tech industries while protecting residential home values;
4) Providing superior recreational and cultural activities throughout the city, and
5) Developing tools to implement the goals, including developing a Unified Development Code with architectural and site design standards.
In an effort to preserve the residential character of the community and reduce future residential development and density, the plan focuses on lowering densities in residential areas and creating neighborhood villages in key locations within the City.
The updated plan creates a parcel specific Land Use Map and provides specific density, height and use restrictions for all parcels in the City. The Land Use Map identifies sections of the Technology Park Area, Newtown Area, Ocee Area and Jones Bridge Road at State Bridge area as potential neighborhood villages in established commercial areas in the City that should be further studied to permit redevelopment and a possible mix of retail, office and contextually appropriate residential development.
With respect to transportation, the plan identifies and prioritizes future road projects and new sidewalks and trailways that will connect residential neighborhoods to schools, shopping, libraries and parks.
The citizens of Johns Creek will have ample opportunity to review the draft plan and provide comments throughout June and July. Additionally, a public hearing will be conducted prior to the draft being sent to the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) for their review this summer. The ARC’s review typically takes 90 days. A final draft will then be issued this fall for another review by the public before going before the Mayor and City Council for review and approval.