Master Plan - City of Troy

What does the Smart Growth Readiness Assessment Tell Us?Throughout this Master Plan, each Chapter will contain a brief summary of those SGRAT resultswhich most directly inform the topics covered by that Chapter. The SGRAT responses will also playa critical role in the development of implementation policies.Tenets 3 and 5 contained a series of questions addressing cooperation and collaboration, publicoutreach, and the practices and procedures which regulate land development in the City. Thefollowing summaries provide a short description of the City’s score in these areas .Tenet 3: Encourage community and stakeholder collaboration in development decisions.Troy was awarded approximately 40 percent of the available points for Tenet 3. While the participantsperceived the City of Troy to be very good about collaboration in formal settings, such as thedevelopment of new Zoning Ordinance amendments or Master Plan revisions, the perception ofcollaboration outside of those programs was poor. In other words, respondents felt that the City hasroom to improve when it comes to general encouragement of an open, collaborative environmentwith special interest groups, adjoining communities, and the general public, especially as it relatesto smart growth principles.Another area where the City could improve its score in this area is to develop stronger communityoutreach programs with regard to planning and growth issues. While collaboration with schoolsscored well, education and collaboration with the general public, especially when initiated by theCity itself, was not perceived well.Tenet 5: Make development decisions predictable, fair, and cost-effective.The City scored very well with regard to Tenet 5. The City received nearly 75 percent of the availablepoints in this area, thanks to a strong perception that the City diligently maintains its ZoningOrdinance, Master Plan, and other community planning documents, its consistency between itszoning and planning, and perception of fairness to the development community. Respondents feltthat developers are given a fair chance to innovate in Troy, and that most new development makesa strong contribution to the City as a whole.The City could score even higher in this area were it to permit additional density for developers whopropose more smart-growth oriented developments. Also, participants felt that more attention tolong-range planning could be paid, although there was a positive recognition that current practicesfor ongoing development were strong and fair.The City received extra points for supporting participation in elected and appointed official trainingprograms, such as the Michigan State University Extension Citizen Planner Program, and continuingeducation in the area of planning.16 CHAPTER 2: CONTEXT