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Mountain View looks to the future
Volunteers will help lead meetings to update general plan
The last time Mountain View produced a general plan - in 1992 - Google didn't exist, the Navy still owned Hangar One and a new City Hall had just been built.Today, the city is gearing up to craft another blueprint for growth through 2030. In addition to outlining traditional city policies on open space, housing, retail and transportation, the new general plan will incorporate climate change, said city planner Sarah Goralewski.
"Climate change, sustainability and affordable housing" are likely going to be included in the document, agreed Martin Alkire, a principal planner with Mountain View.
The process of updating the general plan began this week with volunteers being trained to lead meetings designed to find out how other residents and workers envision the city in coming decades. The plan is scheduled for completion in 2010, after which it will go to the city council for review.
Armed with masking tape, sticky notes, data on the city and its residents (78.4 percent drive alone to work), facilitators will hold informal meetings to ask up to a dozen people what they like about the city, what qualities and features they think it should possess in 2030, and what concerns need to be addressed.
One of the volunteers who received a visioning tool kit Wednesday is Bruce England, a member of the Mountain View Environmental Sustainability Task Force.
England said he's asking neighbors and co-workers at Nokia to participate in the discussion about where Mountain View should be headed. People sometimes complain about a lack of transparency in the government process, but don't participate, he said.
"It's not like the city isn't trying" to get people involved, England said.
England said he hopes the future will bring a city that is friendlier to bicyclists and pedestrians.
A city workshop is set for June 7 to discuss data gathered by volunteers. The visioning process is slated to take until August or September. In the fall, the city will begin updating its general plan.
E-mail Melanie Carroll at mcarroll@dailynewsgroup.com.
On the Web
For more information on Mountain View's general plan update, visit www.mountainview2030.com.
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