A Year of Collaboration Brings Morganton's Strategic Vision into Focus

After a year of exhaustive information gathering, the City of Morganton’s new strategic land-use plan, IMAGINE Morganton 2040, is a giant step closer to completion, according to the project manager.

Jonathan Whitehurst of Kimley-Horn, the Raleigh-based planning and design consulting firm in charge of the project, told city officials at their annual budget workshop last week the finish line is in sight.

“We’re really at that point in the planning process where it’s time to roll up the sleeves and make some tough decisions,” said Whitehurst, who added he expects the finished plan, which carries a $200,000 price tag, to come before Planning and Zoning in July and the city council for approval in August. 

The plan combines elements of the city’s previous strategy, Mission 2030, which was established in 2009, with new insights gained from a year’s worth of meetings and public-input sessions that have been well attended. Whitehurst said he’s been encouraged by the amount of feedback from the community.

“We were very pleased with the participation of our advisory committee,” said Whitehurst. “We’re getting great input from stakeholders and the public. Staff has been actively involved. It’s been great to see the city council not only at the meetings like this or work sessions, but at the public meetings and workshops. It might come as a surprise, but that’s not the case in a lot of places. 

“A lot of times, the first time city council will really be meaningfully involved in the plan is during the adoption process. And that’s not for them not being invited; it’s just them not taking an interest in the community that they’re serving. So I applaud you all for being involved.”

The project manager added he’s been impressed with Morganton’s strong sense of civic pride.

“It’s easy for an outsider to come in and compare Morganton to other places and see how many things the City of Morganton does well, and I think there’s probably more of those things that outsiders see than you all actually see, because you’re too close to it,” Whitehurst said.

“It’s shocking to go places where that sense of community pride isn’t there, because you can almost feel it as soon as you walk into a community because there’s no interest in what’s going on, good or bad or the other. That’s something that you all should take a lot of pride in.”

MEETINGS HAVE BEEN PRODUCTIVE

Whitehurst said the meetings, workshops, and surveys to this point have produced 725 touchpoints, 21,000 individual data points, and 3,100 written comments. The project website has generated 7,400 visits from 2,200 unique users.

“Our mission is to squeeze as much information out of those folks as possible,” he said.

And there is still more to come, Whitehurst said. There are two more meetings scheduled with the 28-person advisory board; another work session with Planning and Zoning; and a couple more public workshops slated for April 10 and 11. 

“As we look forward to the engagement that is to come in the future, we’re going to go back to the folks who trusted us with their email address and make sure that they know their time has been well spent, but their time is not done yet. There is more to be done from a community engagement perspective,” added Whitehurst.

Among the latest considerations the plan addresses are the extension of the residential density map to include areas on both sides of Fleming Drive; reshaping the downtown edge map to reflect the fluid nature of the city-proper; and seeking more opportunities for access to the Catawba River.  

“We extended the residential density consideration across Fleming Drive,” said Whitehurst. “You’ll see that reflected in the future land-use map.

“Downtown is an evolving thing. It’s thriving and it changes daily.”

THE NEXT STEPS

Whitehurst said the land-use map should be completed this week. A policy framework – which incorporates issues like economic development, housing, and infrastructure – is expected to be in place by April.

Whitehurst said the IMAGINE Morganton 2040 vision statement has been the guiding light for the project since day one. In part, the statement says, “In 2040, we imagine Morganton to be a community of choice that blends a strong local economy, active downtown, first-class recreation opportunities, and strong neighborhoods.”

“This is kind of our North Star,” he said. “As we’re doing everything in the planning process of creating the conceptual growth strategy, creating the future land-use map, everything that we’re doing in the process needs to come back to the vision statement.

“This is how we’re really how we’re going to anchor the action plan and make sure it’s leading us along the path we want to be on.”

Marty Queen is the senior reporter for The Paper. He may be reached at 828-445-8595 or at marty@thepaper.media.