Green Oak Township’s master plan will be the focus of an upcoming meeting, allowing the community’s leaders to reflect on milestones that have been met and future goals to work towards.

A community’s master plan serves as a road map of sorts to help guide decisions made by leaders in planning for the future. The living document is scrutinized every five years and updated as necessary to reflect a municipality’s objectives. At a meeting of Green Oak’s Planning Commission Thursday, commissioners were introduced to some discussion areas of the plan that could be covered at an upcoming joint meeting with the Board of Trustees.

On Thursday, February 21st, both the Planning Commission and the Board of Trustees will share their thoughts on the layout and design of the master plan, key components of the existing plan, important issues that should be highlighted or included, and the public input process. Township Planner Paul Montagno encouraged commissioners to keep in mind that aspects of the plan are intrinsically related to issues like policy development and ordinance amendments.

While the joint meeting will center on officials’ thoughts, Montagno says a big piece of the master planning process is consideration and inclusion of community feedback. Officials are beginning community outreach with a survey seeking residents’’ input, which Montagno says is often used to form policies that are implemented through the plan.

In addition to looking ahead, there will also be a reflection on the progress made since the master plan was last modified. Officials will determine if the chosen strategies were successful in meeting previously identified goals. Montagno says master plans are “no longer just a land use or infrastructure plan” as it is intrinsically related to a variety of aspects that affect a residents’ quality of life. (DK)