The Town of Mount Pleasant Comprehensive Plan Update

The Town of Mount Pleasant is launching a major public involvement and outreach initiative to encourage and promote engagement in the preparation of the Town’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan. Throughout the next year, there will be multiple opportunities for Mount Pleasant’s residents and businesses to participate and share feedback and ideas about the future of the Town. This space will be our main avenue to communicate Comprehensive Plan updates and status on a regular basis. 
 

What’s a Comprehensive Plan?

A Comprehensive Plan is a local government’s guide for decision making. It is created by studying the existing conditions of the Town, debating preferred future alternatives and priorities, and identifying practical implementation strategies to help the Town reach its preferred future goals. There are nine required “elements” that every Comprehensive Plan must address – population, housing, economic development, community facilities, natural resources, cultural resources, land use, transportation, and priority investments. Thus, the Comprehensive Plan touches land development decisions, capital projects, and many other governmental decisions that might impact the future health of the Town. In South Carolina, communities are required to prepare new Comprehensive Plans every 10 years. Considering the tremendous growth that the area has experienced over the past several years, Town Council decided to move the process up a year, to help town government identify and address its greatest needs. 

What’s going on now

To begin this process, Town Council has asked the Planning Commission to select a Plan Forum – a group of residents – to provide feedback and guide development of the Plan. The Town solicited applications for a period of nearly three weeks, receiving 275 responses. The applications have been organized into 9 separate “neighborhoods” to aid in the selection process and to verify that all parts of the Planning Area have fair representation. On August 15, the Planning Commission met to review  the applications to select a working group that is geographically and demographically representative of the Planning Area. They selected 34 individuals to serve on the Plan Forum. The successful applicants will be notified by August 18.  (Updated August 16, 2017)

What’s next

The Plan Forum will be  working with the Town’s consultants and staff to begin the exciting work  of crafting a vision for the future of Mount Pleasant. At their first  meeting, they will be identifying key issues that need to be addressed  as well as the Town’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.  Their work-in-progress will be made available for public review at the  first Open House, which will be scheduled sometime in October. This Open  House, the first of three, will also provide the public with the  opportunity to share ideas that will then be shared with the Forum  members.  (Updated August 16, 2017)

Comprehensive Plan Timeline

Timeline

How you can participate

The best way to participate is to  educate yourself about the issues, and to attend the Open Houses to  share your thoughts. There are three Open Houses planned throughout this  process, which will be well advertised in print and online media. The  first will be held in October. We look forward to seeing you there.

For more information about the Town of Mount Pleasant Planning and Development Department and the Town of Mount Pleasant 2018-2028 Comprehensive Plan, sign up on our Notify Me module and let us bring the information to you. Visit our website at www.tompsc.com and and click on the Notify Me button. Customize your experience and engage in information you care about.