Comprehensive Master Plan - City of Alvin

Land Usefacts & figuresreassessment of the overall community vision. This appraisal processshould involve a detailed evaluation of changing conditions andcharacteristics possibly causing reassignment of policies and priorities,the ability to successfully implement the plan’s recommendations,identification of inconsistent or conflicting direction with other plansand ordinances, and re‐prioritizing the recommended actions withimplementation task assignments and funding strategies.‣ Objective B: Review and revise ordinances to effectively implement theComprehensive Plan.1. Conduct a thorough review and critique of the City’s subdivisions andproperty development manual, subsequent to the adoption of theComprehensive Plan, to ensure the ability to enact its policies andobjectives. A comprehensive ordinance review should evaluate thebenefits and limitations of all existing development‐relatedregulations and provide a constructive review and specificrecommendations concerning potential code amendments. The reviewshould give recommendations for the overall code organization,format, readability, and general “user‐friendliness,” as well as theoverall effectiveness of the ordinance in guiding development andachieving the community’s long‐range planning goals.2. Perform annual reviews of the City’s development ordinances andmake amendments, as necessary, to reflect recent changes indevelopment policy as established by land use and growth policydecisions of the Planning Commission and City Commission.COMMUNITY Character • • •There is an essential difference in evaluating the current development patternfrom the perspective of land use, as opposed to community character. Simplyconducting an inventory of uses and classifying them according to theirfunctional use, such as low‐ and high‐density residential, business,commercial, industrial, and public/quasi‐public uses, does not account for thewidely varying characteristics of these uses as to the physical character that isportrayed. Individual uses that may otherwise be classified similarly mayexhibit two very different characters as a result of its scale and design. Forinstance, a neighborhood grocery store and Wal‐Mart both sell groceries andare both commercial uses, but their characters are entirely different. Acommunity character assessment, therefore, examines the generalized use ofproperties, but further categorizes these uses into character classes and typesCommunity characteris a system for evaluatingthe features of individualdevelopments thatcollectively contribute tothe overall character of thecommunity. Thecomponents thatdistinguish the quality ofdevelopment include morethan its use and size toelements such as theamount of preserved openspace and vegetation, theamount of imperviousness,the orientation of buildingsand parking areas, and therelationship of buildings(scale and bulk) to the site.Together with aestheticenhancements such as thedesign of buildings,landscaping and screening,sign control and siteamenities, the communitycharacter may besignificantly improved.Page 3-25April 1, 2005