Terminal Park - next steps

Pointing to the future

This neighborhood plan will hopefully become a major milestone for the Terminal Park Neighborhood. In order for it to have its intended affect, and to remain important to both the neighborhood and City, the plan will need to be amended and updated over time. It should be a living document and guide for future development – both physical and social – over the next two decades.

Coordination with other city plans

A neighborhood plan is a microcosm of broader, community planning documents. The Terminal Park Neighborhood Plan will need to be reviewed periodically relative to these other planning processes. Numerous plans and studies involve various aspects of the City of Auburn. Neighborhood residents may want to pay particular attention to the following planning processes.

Comprehensive land use plan (comp plan)

The City's Comprehensive Land Use Plan is a set of policies intended to guide and coordinate other decisions. The Planning Commission monitors the implementation of the Comp Plan. The Commission may periodically identify Plan changes. It may request or recommend studies that assess planning issues. The Comp Plan can be amended once a year. These amendments may be made to any Plan element or to the main text of the planning document. The entire planning framework is periodically reviewed and updated approximately once every five to eight years. According to the existing Plan, neighborhood plans will eventually evolve into a recognized element of the City's Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

Park Improvement Plan

The City's existing Park Improvement Plan was adopted in 1997. In order to remain eligible for state funding, it is updated approximately every five years. The Park Plan is scheduled for review in 2003. The City's Park Board oversees the development of the Park Plan. They organize a Citizen advisory group to gather additional public input. Public notices are published in the newspaper and posted on the City's website with the times and dates of their meetings. Indidivuals interested in participating in the planning process should contact the City's manager of Parks Planning and Development at 253-804-5106.

Comprehensive transportation plan

Various strategies recommended in the Terminal Park Neighborhood Plan may be considered for implementation through the City's Comprehensive Transportation Plan and its annual Transportation Improvement Program. The Comprehensive Transportation Plan is an overall guiding document for both transportation improvements and design. It is updated every six years. The next update is scheduled for 2003. The City Council's Public Works Committee will oversee the revisions of this plan. A Citizen advisory group will be organized to gather public input. Public notices regarding meeting times and dates will be published in the newspaper and posted on City's website. Individuals interested in serving on the Citizen advisory group should contact the City's transportation planner at 253-804-5050.

The T.I.P. or "Transportation Improvement Program" is a list of projects scheduled for funding or implementation during the forthcoming fiscal year. The T.I.P. is essentially the implementation of the City's Comprehensive Transportation Plan. It is updated annually. The updates begin in the spring and get finalized in late summer. Public notices are published in the newspaper and posted on the City's website with meeting times and dates.

Non-motorized vehicle plan (nmt)

The Non-motorized Transportation Plan is a planning document to guide the development a network transportation routes for pedestrian, bicyclist and otherwise non-motorized travelers around and through Auburn. The NMT proposes specific improvements for sidewalks, bike lanes, landscaped buffers, separated paths, vital linkages, signage and other NMT improvements. Several of the strategies recommended in the Terminal Park Neighborhood Plan may be considered for implementation through the NMT planning process. The State of Washington's Growth Management Act requires municipalities to include non-motorized transportation planning in its comprehensive planning processes. The NMT is updated in conjunction with reviews and updates to the City's Comprehensive Transportation Plan and Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

Plan Review

This plan should undergo a major update every five to six years. Elements of the plan present research and statistics that serve as baseline data. Additional research and data collection will be needed to determine the impacts of the plan and direction for future plans. In this way, the neighborhood planning process can both provide input into the revision of the City's comprehensive plans and/or update the neighborhood plan relative to broader community goals and policies.

Staying In Touch

The City's website is currently under construction. The intent is to post neighborhood plans on the City's website under the Neighborhood Program which is part of the Department of Planning and Community Development. The following information will eventually become available for public review and participation.

• City Services
• Community Development
• Neighborhoods
• Terminal Park
• Neighborhood Plan
• Neighborhood Crime Watch
• Neighborhood Directory
• Terminal Park Neighborhood Group

Under each of the above headings will be additional information that will be periodically updated. The "Terminal Park Neighborhood Group" is a cybergroup that neighborhood residents can use to post information about upcoming events or discuss revisions to the neighborhood plan and its corollary plans.