BY LUCIE KRISMAN
The city's comprehensive plan is open for public comment until Tuesday.
All Eudora residents, property owners and business owners are encouraged to read and provide comments over the draft for the plan by Tuesday via the city's online survey. Comments can also be submitted in writing to City Hall or made verbally at the Eudora Planning Commission's public hearing at 7 p.m. Dec 2.
The comprehensive plan will serve as a guide outlining projects toward city growth and development for the next two decades in Eudora. City staff previously held a town hall meeting in February for members of the community to express their input about Eudora's future. Charts outlining the most common feedback from residents during the meeting can be found on the city's website.
The plan will be adopted by the City Commission on Dec. 14. At a previous City Commission meeting, city planning consultant Dave Knopick said the plan is intended not as a law but as a guide for the city.
City staff previously asked Eudora residents to complete the online survey over what they wanted for the future of the Eudora community in the spring and received 942 responses.
"The ability to tap into the social network of the community through technology to get that many responses was tremendous," Knopick said.
Maintaining roads and infrastructure, expanding youth programs, downtown improvements, farm and agriculture protection, and stormwater and flooding issues should be top priorities for Eudora, according to the survey results found here.
Among the top concerns for respondents for challenges facing Eudora are managing growth and development and providing what people want while keeping costs manageable.
Respondents also indicated they would like to see more development in entertainment/restaurants, public outdoor recreation and single-family homes. Natural resource areas, retail, senior services and medical services were also top responses.
In the open-ended responses, many respondents voiced a need for more sidewalks, crosswalks and pedestrian connections, like a bridge across K-10 and to schools.
Comments also indicated a need for funding public safety, and loan and grant programs for small businesses.
Due to the unforeseen circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, Knopick said it was important to provide more time for the community to give their input.
"No comprehensive plan really anticipates that kind of catastrophic event," Knopick said. "Given the status of things and where we're at with this pandemic, we wanted to give a prolonged public comment period."
Reach reporter Lucie Krisman at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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